C.O.R.E. First Impresssions

[ltccone]

I'd heard a lot of great things about C.O.R.E. so I thought I would download it and play as Germany on normal/normal this weekend.

First I want to say the graphics are great. I love the colors of the countries, ports, the terrain, and even the minimap that shows the real terrain along with the time of day.

I also loved the events (well most of them ). They really keep you on your toes.

I like some of the changes to the tech tree, but I don't understand the reasoning on some of them. Working on a bunch of techs that take one or two years to complete can get really frustrating.

I was able to get basic aircraft and tanks without much trouble. I was surprised though that the basic tank was a PzKw IV though. I was expecting a PzKw III. I was able to build (barely) or upgrade the 12 panzer divisions I wanted for the invasion of Poland. They were PzKw IVs with short 75s. Since most of the Polish and French troops were infantry I thought those would be the ideal tanks for France and Poland.

I was able to build Me109s (I don't understand why you need both interceptors and air superiority fighters though) and enough basic tac and close support to support my armies.

The game started well with all of the resource trading with all of the other countries. After the Anchluss I was surprised that I got just about zero resources from them.

A few months after the Anchluss my economy collapsed. Despite the trading with Sweden I ran out of steel. I had to offer coal on the world market to get more steel, but I could never get enough to keep my economy going at full strength. My economy got much worse when Romania wouldn't ship me any oil in '38 claining they couldn't spare it. So then I ran out of oil and then rubber and coal. I was hoping that whe I got Czechoslovakia in the Spring of '39 I would get some resources. But instead I actually went into the negative for rubber and oil. For half of '38 and all of '39 before the war I limped through with MAYBE 270 or so ICs. Yuch! I felt like Italy! And speaking of Italy I wish I hadn't given them all that coal!

When the war started I noticed that ALL countries had much smaller militaries than in vanilla 1.06. The USSR had 136 Infantry and 25 armored. The Poles had about 30 or so divisions. France had about 50 or so. What REALLY surprised me was that Japan had more infantry divisions than anybody at 139.

Poland wasn't very tough even with Warsaw as urban terrain. When I captured Warsaw I found the Poles didn't have any resources either. France was more of a challenge but I still got the Vichy event before the end of '39. At least there were some resources in Paris to get my economy back to full strength. I attacked Belgium but not The Netherlands when I went after France, but Belgium had no reources to speak of either. After the Vichy even there were no Vichy units in mainland France just like in Vanilla 1.06.

Yugoslavia and Greece joined the Allies in early '40 and I spent the first part of the year overrunning them. I was VERY disappointed at the event that makes you give Thessalonika to Bulgaria or take a dissent hit. You need Thessalonika as a German province to attack from so that if you attack Turkey or Iraq the provinces you attack would be German provinces instead of Bulgarian.

With the Balkans taken care of I went after Denmark and Norway. Denmark had only two divisions and they went down easy. Oslo was a tough amphib assault. There was only one division in Narvik and my 3 divisions of mountain + E brigades took it w/o much trouble.

The event that really bothered me though was the one that gave Greenland and Iceland to the UK. The Germans need Greenland as a national province in the Western Hemisphere to keep the logistic penalty reasonable there and keeps you from having to annex Haiti.

If the Brits CAPTURE Iceland and Greenland it's not such a big deal. At least you can get them back one day and they will still be a national province.

I had some wierd problems with the navy. For some reason even though all of the ships in my main fleet had a reasonable range individually but the fleet together had aTERRIBLE range of 750 km. I couldn't even sail to Narvik w/o going to far!

Another problem I had with the navy was with subs. I was able to get Type IX boats quickly which surprised me. Unfortunately I found out that subs were almost worthless. Their Org was only 19!; and I never did get it higher. After three convoy battles their Org was 0 and back to port they went.

In the early summer of '40 I prepared to invade England. Just as I prepared to launch Sealion the US DOWed me! How in the world could their WE be high enough to DOW me in June of 1940?

It was at this point that I quit. I was running out of steel and oil (again). Even though I had researched improved tanks (which I was surprised find out were PzKw IVs again) I was AT LEAST a year from getting long 75s for my tanks to fight the USSR. A hard attack of 5 won't cut it against T34s. And I wasn't close to getting improved planes, had done NO reasearch on nukes, and had done very little rocket research. I REALLY missed that 100 or so IC a day I lacked for 18 months because of resource problems. I was in no shape to fight a two front war so early.

Another thing that bugged me is losing out on some free techs. I REALLY hate wasting ICs researching techs I would have gotten for free, like bulldozer with the Autobahn event.

Strange things happened with the Navy events too. I built the Frederich der Grosse and Grossdeutchland battleships BEFORE I could complete the Bismarck or Tirpitz. Also on the event about building a sub or surface fleet the event said Raeder would resign if I wouldn't build some battleships, but the tool tip over the event said I would lose the services of Balck, who I believe is an army general.

I made the decision to quit playing when I took at look at Japan. I was going to invite them into the Axis to keep the US busy with them. But even though they were fighting both of the Chinese countries (and doing well at that) and had a Fascist government, when you looked at their triangle they were almost at Democracy? What gives here? I KNEW they would never join me!

I really enjoyed the mod, but it needs tweaking for 1.06. There shouldn't be any reason that Germany's economy should collapse pre-war like mine did.

[MateDow]

Originally Posted by ltccone

I'd heard a lot of great things about C.O.R.E. so I thought I would download it and play as Germany on normal/normal this weekend.

The event that really bothered me though was the one that gave Greenland and Iceland to the UK. The Germans need Greenland as a national province in the Western Hemisphere to keep the logistic penalty reasonable there and keeps you from having to annex Haiti.

If the Brits CAPTURE Iceland and Greenland it's not such a big deal. At least you can get them back one day and they will still be a national province.

This is an historical occurance. The British were 'given' Greenland and Iceland by the Danish government.

I had some wierd problems with the navy. For some reason even though all of the ships in my main fleet had a reasonable range individually but the fleet together had aTERRIBLE range of 750 km. I couldn't even sail to Narvik w/o going to far!

You probably had motor torpedo boat squadrons with your fleet. They have a very limited range because of their coastal nature. Build 1000 ton or larger destroyers in the future to avoid this.

Another problem I had with the navy was with subs. I was able to get Type IX boats quickly which surprised me. Unfortunately I found out that subs were almost worthless. Their Org was only 19!; and I never did get it higher. After three convoy battles their Org was 0 and back to port they went.

This is intentional. Submarines had very limited resources. They weren't able to engage large groups of ships without running out of torpedoes or suffering some damage. The minimal org is to recreate the hit and run nature of submarine warfare. There are some techs and doctrines that will raise their org, but not many. Your best bet is to research and improved submarine design. That will have better org.


In the early summer of '40 I prepared to invade England. Just as I prepared to launch Sealion the US DOWed me! How in the world could their WE be high enough to DOW me in June of 1940?

Strange things happened with the Navy events too. I built the Frederich der Grosse and Grossdeutchland battleships BEFORE I could complete the Bismarck or Tirpitz. Also on the event about building a sub or surface fleet the event said Raeder would resign if I wouldn't build some battleships, but the tool tip over the event said I would lose the services of Balck, who I believe is an army general.

General Balck is a typo in the event . The Bismarck and Tirpitz will be removed from the starting OOB in the next release (they weren't supposed to be in this one). The Bismarck and Tirpitz will be the battleships that are built by your battleship construction events rather than Frederich der Grosse or Grossdeutchland.

I really enjoyed the mod, but it needs tweaking for 1.06. There shouldn't be any reason that Germany's economy should collapse pre-war like mine did.

We are working on balance issues as we speak. We rushed the release of the lastest version in order to correct some of the conflicts that were occuring with 1.06. It didn't get our normal pre-release extensive testing. I have played Germany a couple of times for testing and have noticed that you have to be very careful with your trades and your selections for events. The fact that Romania said no was plain bad luck though. That was probably the single biggest cause of your economic meltdown. Enjoy playing more games and look forward to our next update where these problems can be fixed. MDow

[Pkunzipper]

Originally Posted by ltccone

I'd heard a lot of great things about C.O.R.E. so I thought I would download it and play as Germany on normal/normal this weekend.

First I want to say the graphics are great. I love the colors of the countries, ports, the terrain, and even the minimap that shows the real terrain along with the time of day.

I also loved the events (well most of them ). They really keep you on your toes.

First of all thanks for your feedback!

I like some of the changes to the tech tree, but I don't understand the reasoning on some of them. Working on a bunch of techs that take one or two years to complete can get really frustrating.

In CORE we decided to make theoretical tech cheaper but longer to research, this allows minor country to be able to have some decent tech.[/quote]

I was able to get basic aircraft and tanks without much trouble. I was surprised though that the basic tank was a PzKw IV though. I was expecting a PzKw III. I was able to build (barely) or upgrade the 12 panzer divisions I wanted for the invasion of Poland. They were PzKw IVs with short 75s. Since most of the Polish and French troops were infantry I thought those would be the ideal tanks for France and Poland.

Later PzKpfw.IV can be considered improved tanks, but PzKpfw.IVD was a basic tank. It was available in 1939, it was less armoured than PzKpfw.III and it had weak AT capabilities...

I was able to build Me109s (I don't understand why you need both interceptors and air superiority fighters though) and enough basic tac and close support to support my armies.

Interceptors are faster to research (they have less pre-requisites) than Air-Superiority fighters, but are also a little weaker... Air-superiority are only for countries that can afford it!

The game started well with all of the resource trading with all of the other countries. After the Anchluss I was surprised that I got just about zero resources from them.

A few months after the Anchluss my economy collapsed. Despite the trading with Sweden I ran out of steel. I had to offer coal on the world market to get more steel, but I could never get enough to keep my economy going at full strength. My economy got much worse when Romania wouldn't ship me any oil in '38 claining they couldn't spare it. So then I ran out of oil and then rubber and coal. I was hoping that whe I got Czechoslovakia in the Spring of '39 I would get some resources. But instead I actually went into the negative for rubber and oil. For half of '38 and all of '39 before the war I limped through with MAYBE 270 or so ICs. Yuch! I felt like Italy! And speaking of Italy I wish I hadn't given them all that coal!

Which CORE setting you chose at the beginning of the game? It severly affects the number of starting resources and considerably weakens your economy...

When the war started I noticed that ALL countries had much smaller militaries than in vanilla 1.06. The USSR had 136 Infantry and 25 armored. The Poles had about 30 or so divisions. France had about 50 or so. What REALLY surprised me was that Japan had more infantry divisions than anybody at 139.

CORE main goal is historical accuracy, so in CORE you won't see the division number of vanilla HOI. In addition the MP for democracies is set to very low before the war begins.

Yugoslavia and Greece joined the Allies in early '40 and I spent the first part of the year overrunning them. I was VERY disappointed at the event that makes you give Thessalonika to Bulgaria or take a dissent hit. You need Thessalonika as a German province to attack from so that if you attack Turkey or Iraq the provinces you attack would be German provinces instead of Bulgarian.

It seems historical to me...After all Bulgaria is your ally, so if you refuse their demand they will be upset! Next time roll over Bulgaria from the start!

The event that really bothered me though was the one that gave Greenland and Iceland to the UK. The Germans need Greenland as a national province in the Western Hemisphere to keep the logistic penalty reasonable there and keeps you from having to annex Haiti.

If the Brits CAPTURE Iceland and Greenland it's not such a big deal. At least you can get them back one day and they will still be a national province.

Again, this is what happened historically....However there still is a little probability that each historical event doesn't trigger. Germany that only think to be able to take Haiti is all but historical!

I had some wierd problems with the navy. For some reason even though all of the ships in my main fleet had a reasonable range individually but the fleet together had aTERRIBLE range of 750 km. I couldn't even sail to Narvik w/o going to far!

The total range of a naval squadron is hampered by the ship with the lowest range. It seems that you have some torpedo-boat flotilla in your task-force...

Another problem I had with the navy was with subs. I was able to get Type IX boats quickly which surprised me. Unfortunately I found out that subs were almost worthless. Their Org was only 19!; and I never did get it higher. After three convoy battles their Org was 0 and back to port they went.

We tried to represents subs in a realistic ways. They should be able to fight some hours, trying to put some torpedo on enemy ships before retreating. After 3 convoys battle many WW2 subs would have finished their torpedoes.

In the early summer of '40 I prepared to invade England. Just as I prepared to launch Sealion the US DOWed me! How in the world could their WE be high enough to DOW me in June of 1940?

There are some hardcoded thing in HOI, so if you have a too small army, too agressive in the Balkans or other things like these USSR DoW on you...It seems that your Yugoslavia and Greece invasion were badly seen by Stalin!

It was at this point that I quit. I was running out of steel and oil (again). Even though I had researched improved tanks (which I was surprised find out were PzKw IVs again) I was AT LEAST a year from getting long 75s for my tanks to fight the USSR. A hard attack of 5 won't cut it against T34s. And I wasn't close to getting improved planes, had done NO reasearch on nukes, and had done very little rocket research. I REALLY missed that 100 or so IC a day I lacked for 18 months because of resource problems. I was in no shape to fight a two front war so early.

Again, initial setting can do the difference....

Another thing that bugged me is losing out on some free techs. I REALLY hate wasting ICs researching techs I would have gotten for free, like bulldozer with the Autobahn event.

Untill some CORE user will make a list of all the events that give some tech, you'll be able to know those events only through experience....

Strange things happened with the Navy events too. I built the Frederich der Grosse and Grossdeutchland battleships BEFORE I could complete the Bismarck or Tirpitz. Also on the event about building a sub or surface fleet the event said Raeder would resign if I wouldn't build some battleships, but the tool tip over the event said I would lose the services of Balck, who I believe is an army general.

Those are known bugs. They will be fixed in 0.81.

I made the decision to quit playing when I took at look at Japan. I was going to invite them into the Axis to keep the US busy with them. But even though they were fighting both of the Chinese countries (and doing well at that) and had a Fascist government, when you looked at their triangle they were almost at Democracy? What gives here? I KNEW they would never join me!

It seems Japan went with some un-historical choices in some government type event.

I really enjoyed the mod, but it needs tweaking for 1.06. There shouldn't be any reason that Germany's economy should collapse pre-war like mine did.

Thank you again for taking time to tell us your impression, I hope that with some more game you'll enjoy more CORE.

Pk

[Pkunzipper]

The difference for writing a long post between an English native speaker and me is 16 min.... It's a bit frustrating...

[Steel]

Actually Japan being in the democratic corner of the ideology triangle has next to no effect... Generally speaking about your feedback there's a learning curve associated with the mod, ie think of it as a new game. If you could master it on the first try then where's the fun!

[ltccone]

Originally Posted by MateDow

This is an historical occurance. The British were 'given' Greenland and Iceland by the Danish government.

This is intentional. Submarines had very limited resources. They weren't able to engage large groups of ships without running out of torpedoes or suffering some damage. The minimal org is to recreate the hit and run nature of submarine warfare. There are some techs and doctrines that will raise their org, but not many. Your best bet is to research and improved submarine design. That will have better org.

We are working on balance issues as we speak. We rushed the release of the lastest version in order to correct some of the conflicts that were occuring with 1.06. It didn't get our normal pre-release extensive testing. I have played Germany a couple of times for testing and have noticed that you have to be very careful with your trades and your selections for events. The fact that Romania said no was plain bad luck though. That was probably the single biggest cause of your economic meltdown. Enjoy playing more games and look forward to our next update where these problems can be fixed. MDow

How can Iceland and Denmark be GIVEN to the Brits by the Danes AFTER they have been annexed? There is no more Denmark anymore. Neither one is such a big deal anyway. It is just that it takes away a national province for the Germans in the Western Hemisphere so they have to annex Haiti to prevent incredible logistic penalties.

As it stands now subs aren't worth building at a 19 org with 1.06. Prior to 1.06 you could fight convoys for a while before your org ran out. With 1.06 a 19 org won't last you a week on station. Then you have to go repair them for a month or two. As it stands now that is not worth sinking 30 or so merchant ships over a three or four month effort.

My first problem was steel not oil. I then had to trade coal at a 3 to 1 rate to get steel and then Romania did me in with no oil. Germany shouldn't run out of steel in 1938 in normal/normal.

And I still don't understand how why the US had such a high WE in 1940.

I'm definately looking forward to the next update.

[ltccone]

Originally Posted by Steel

Actually Japan being in the democratic corner of the ideology triangle has next to no effect... Generally speaking about your feedback there's a learning curve associated with the mod, ie think of it as a new game. If you could master it on the first try then where's the fun!

I tried twice to ask them to join the Axis. They refused both times I thought the ideology triangle was the reason...

[ltccone]

Originally Posted by Pkunzipper

First of all thanks for your feedback!

Which CORE setting you chose at the beginning of the game? It severly affects the number of starting resources and considerably weakens your economy...

It seems historical to me...After all Bulgaria is your ally, so if you refuse their demand they will be upset! Next time roll over Bulgaria from the start!

Again, this is what happened historically....However there still is a little probability that each historical event doesn't trigger. Germany that only think to be able to take Haiti is all but historical!

There are some hardcoded thing in HOI, so if you have a too small army, too agressive in the Balkans or other things like these USSR DoW on you...It seems that your Yugoslavia and Greece invasion were badly seen by Stalin!

Untill some CORE user will make a list of all the events that give some tech, you'll be able to know those events only through experience....

It seems Japan went with some un-historical choices in some government type event.

Thank you again for taking time to tell us your impression, I hope that with some more game you'll enjoy more CORE.

Pk

You're welcome for the feedback!

I choose the easiest level and still ran out of steel...

I wouldn't really care about Thessalonika if it wasn't for the logistics penalty and where you trace supply from. Next time I'll just take the dissent hit.

It was the US that DOW'd me not the USSR...

[MateDow]

Originally Posted by ltccone

As it stands now subs aren't worth building at a 19 org with 1.06. Prior to 1.06 you could fight convoys for a while before your org ran out. With 1.06 a 19 org won't last you a week on station. Then you have to go repair them for a month or two. As it stands now that is not worth sinking 30 or so merchant ships over a three or four month effort.

Remember that the Germans only had 33% of their submarine fleet hunting convoys at any one time. Of the rest 33% were transiting to or from the North Atlantic and 33% were in refit or training in port. If you rotate your subs the same way you can run an effective submarine campaign with German submarines. Always strive to have three times the number of submarines that you plan to have on station at any one time. MDow

[Steel]

About Iceland: Following the events in Denmark in early 1940, the Royal Navy embarked a landing force and sent a number of warships to Iceland. The troops landed unopposed and took control. This was to the best of my knowledge not in any way sanctioned by the Danish government or the Icelandic Althing (ruling council). It was in effect a military invasion and occupation carried out by the UK to prevent Germany from gaining a valuable base.

In C.O.R.E. this event occurs if you as Germany do not maintain a garrison in Iceland. As the transfer event can occur quite rapidly it's usually necessary to embark troops and be ready to land in Iceland as soon as you are at war with Denmark. In your game, with no German garrison present, the UK landing force would take over just as happened historically.

[Steel]

Regarding subs: in earlier versions of the game submarines inflicted utterly ridiculous losses on merchants and naval task forces. This has been cut back considerably, however there has also been a cutback on how many merchant ships are generated. IIRC the rate in 1.06 is 33% of what was given in previous versions, hence you only need to achieve one third of the sinkings as compared to previous versions.

EDIT: About USA war entry, this is driven by fascist conquests and various events. If Japan was able to progress beyond historical lines then this would affect US war entry.

[ltccone]

Originally Posted by Steel

About Iceland: Following the events in Denmark in early 1940, the Royal Navy embarked a landing force and sent a number of warships to Iceland. The troops landed unopposed and took control. This was to the best of my knowledge not in any way sanctioned by the Danish government or the Icelandic Althing (ruling council). It was in effect a military invasion and occupation carried out by the UK to prevent Germany from gaining a valuable base.

In C.O.R.E. this event occurs if you as Germany do not maintain a garrison in Iceland. As the transfer event can occur quite rapidly it's usually necessary to embark troops and be ready to land in Iceland as soon as you are at war with Denmark. In your game, with no German garrison present, the UK landing force would take over just as happened historically.

I don't understand the need for an event. If Iceland is undefended the UK can just land troops there and take it. Why give them provinces for free?

[ltccone]

Originally Posted by MateDow

Remember that the Germans only had 33% of their submarine fleet hunting convoys at any one time. Of the rest 33% were transiting to or from the North Atlantic and 33% were in refit or training in port. If you rotate your subs the same way you can run an effective submarine campaign with German submarines. Always strive to have three times the number of submarines that you plan to have on station at any one time. MDow

I know all of that. Donitz said with 300 subs he could win the war

Convoy battles are much tougher on subs with damage and org in 1.06 than in 1.05c. Are the org levels the same in 0.8 as in previous versions of C.O.R.E.?

[Copper Nicus]

Originally Posted by ltccone

How can Iceland and Denmark be GIVEN to the Brits by the Danes AFTER they have been annexed? There is no more Denmark anymore. Neither one is such a big deal anyway. It is just that it takes away a national province for the Germans in the Western Hemisphere so they have to annex Haiti to prevent incredible logistic penalties.

Hmmm... Let's just stop for a moment here.
Do you think that Germany had in 1940 real chance for the base on Iceland? And that they could stage invasion on the US from there? I know, you are talking about the change that would make game easier or in some aspects (ability to invade USA) funnier, but the goals of the CORE a bit different (not that we don't want our mod to be fun ). In reality, Denmark goverment has given those isles to the UK. It doesn't matter, that in game you can't see this goverment and that game ignores the fact, that during the WW II existed many goverments-in-exile. We try to keep game close to historical realies and inablity to take Iceland just by anexing Denmark is part of that.

Originally Posted by ltccone

And I still don't understand how why the US had such a high WE in 1940.
(...)

It's probably some ahistorical choices in the events - sometimes USA becomes ahistorically warlike, while sometimes it can go for isolationism - it all depends on the world situation. Which is IMO good, since you really don't know, how much time you have before you wake up "sleeping giant". There is no worse thing that being sure, that USA won't join Allies before the second half of 1941, USSR will sit still until the start of 1942 and so on.

[Copper Nicus]

Originally Posted by ltccone

I know all of that. Donitz said with 300 subs he could win the war

Convoy battles are much tougher on subs with damage and org in 1.06 than in 1.05c. Are the org levels the same in 0.8 as in previous versions of C.O.R.E.?

CORE uses it's own convoy effectiveness parameters, in that part we are quite independent from the 1.06.

[ltccone]

Originally Posted by Copper Nicus

Hmmm... Let's just stop for a moment here.
Do you think that Germany had in 1940 real chance for the base on Iceland? And that they could stage invasion on the US from there? I know, you are talking about the change that would make game easier or in some aspects (ability to invade USA) funnier, but the goals of the CORE a bit different (not that we don't want our mod to be fun ). In reality, Denmark goverment has given those isles to the UK. It doesn't matter, that in game you can't see this goverment and that game ignores the fact, that during the WW II existed many goverments-in-exile. We try to keep game close to historical realies and inablity to take Iceland just by anexing Denmark is part of that.

Germany had no chance to keep Iceland or Greenland in 1940. However if the Germans are later in the position to invade the US then they would need a base in the Western Hemisphere that is a national province because of the logistics penalty. If Greenland is a national province then that would work. If it is GIVEN to England then it will no longer be a national province. If not then you have to pick on Haiti . The possiblities of a Bitter Peace and the conquest of England are not out of the question...

[ltccone]

Originally Posted by Copper Nicus

CORE uses it's own convoy effectiveness parameters, in that part we are quite independent from the 1.06.

OK, then that makes sense...

[Pkunzipper]

Originally Posted by ltccone

Germany had no chance to keep Iceland or Greenland in 1940. However if the Germans are later in the position to invade the US then they would need a base in the Western Hemisphere that is a national province because of the logistics penalty. If Greenland is a national province then that would work. If it is GIVEN to England then it will no longer be a national province. If not then you have to pick on Haiti . The possiblities of a Bitter Peace and the conquest of England are not out of the question...

Germany in WW2 had no chance (really impossible!) to invade UK, so USA and, Iceland, Groenland, Haiti and USA are really a gamish dream....!

Please, read this great article about "Sea Lion"!

[Steel]

Originally Posted by ltccone

I don't understand the need for an event. If Iceland is undefended the UK can just land troops there and take it. Why give them provinces for free?

The smallest unit possible in HoI is really a division, historically the operation to seize Iceland involved only 815 men. From a design point of view the choice is quite simple: historically this occurred with no intervention from Germany and in game the onus is therefore on Germany to achieve the insertion of a garrison to prevent the event.

Perhaps I can interest you in a little reading

London offered assistance to Iceland, seeking cooperation "as a belligerent and an ally", but Reykjavik declined and reaffirmed its neutrality.

The British Strike

Britain was now concerned about a coup by Germans already in Iceland (a small diplomatic staff, a few resident nationals, and a few individuals stranded by the war, plus 62 shipwrecked German sailors not yet repatriated) as well as an invasion by sea or air.

On 28 April 1940, Winston Churchill, First Lord of the Admiralty at that time, initiated planning to forestall German occupation and establish a British presence on Iceland. The Foreign Office deemed there was no chance of Reykjavik granting any request for such an intrusion but nevertheless opposed occupying Iceland without prior negotiation. The Admiralty preferred to land first and negotiate later. The War Cabinet sided with the Admiralty.

"Force Sturges" sailed from Greenock on 8 May. The force, commanded by Colonel Robert Sturges, was built around the 2nd Royal Marine Battalion of the 101st Royal Marine Brigade (including three batteries of artillery) amounting to 815 officers and men plus a small intelligence detachment. Aboard two cruisers (Berwick and Glasgow) and two destroyers, the expedition entered Reykjavik Bay on the morning of 10 May. Upon landing they were guided by local Britons and quickly secured important localities without incident. German citizens were taken into custody and the consulate seized. On the same day, the German offensive against France, Belgium, and the Netherlands was unleashed.

Although the Icelandic government issued a formal protest and stood by its neutral status, the British occupation was tacitly accepted. The Prime Minister of Iceland spoke of the UK as "a friendly nation" and asked his people "to consider the British soldiers as guests and consequently to show them as all other guests all courtesy." Likewise, the United States accepted the British move. All parties considered it a necessary and prudent step to forestall a German invasion.

[ltccone]

Originally Posted by Pkunzipper

Germany in WW2 had no chance (really impossible!) to invade UK, so USA and, Iceland, Groenland, Haiti and USA are really a gamish dream....!

Please, read this great article about "Sea Lion"!

As the situation was historically in 1940 the Germans had no chance. However we have the chance to change history. We start in 1936 and can do many things different than Germany historically did.