A Kinder, Gentler Germany: Avoiding War for Fun and Profit.

[Darth Moose]

I checked my FTM 3.06b German saves and I dare say your analysis about the threat of France is wrong. A year or so after I stopped raising the threat of France (Sept'38), Italy sees it with a threat of 50+, while Britain sees only 2.5 threat from France.

At any rate, I'm experimenting with a benevolent Stalin right now (no purge), inspired by your docile Hitler...

 

[Secret Master]

I checked my FTM 3.06b German saves and I dare say your analysis about the threat of France is wrong. A year or so after I stopped raising the threat of France (Sept'38), Italy sees it with a threat of 50+, while Britain sees only 2.5 threat from France.

At any rate, I'm experimenting with a benevolent Stalin right now (no purge), inspired by your docile Hitler...

I actually agree with you now.

I did a separate experiment and I was able to get Italy in the Axis with hardly any effort. And France's unity is so crappy that the additional bilateral threat between us doesn't let France enact better laws.

So, disregard what I said and feel free to use France's threat to get Italy in the Axis.

 

[Secret Master]

Chapter 4: The Road to War 1941-1943

An excerpt from Charles Lindbergh’s Wikipedia Page (retrieved by a nameless college student plagiarizing a history paper in November of 2011 at the University of Our Lady of the Pripet Marshes)

First Term as President:

Lindbergh’s first priority was to institute the widely popular “Arsenal of Democracy” program. Repealing the last vestiges of the New Deal in cooperation with Congress, Lindberg’s administration spent much of 1940 expanding shipyards and airfields as US industry began to convert to a mixed economic approach^{[citation needed]}. With a huge industrial base, the goal was to quadruple the size of both the Air Corps and the Navy by 1945. The slogan that became associated with his first term was, “They’re coming right for us!” first imprinted on a naval recruiting poster, depicting the Empire of Japan, riding on the backs of Chinese nationals, landing in San Diego to attack the USA. The conquest of China in 1938 had left even isolationists feeling paranoid, but even as Chamberlain’s government in London tried to establish the same kind of rapport he had enjoyed with FDR, Lindbergh was quoted in Time Magazine as saying, “If I owned both Europe and Hell, I would rent Europe and live in Hell. The United States will not support their petty intrigues and pointless conflicts. Europe can, in fact, just go to Hell.” ^{[media available on Wikimedia]} Both Congress and the President felt that Asia, not Europe, was the site of any future war that concerned the United States.

While his administration had initially good relations with Germany, Lindbergh’s refusal to trade with European powers soured America’s relationship all of them. At the time, politicians criticized his administration’s ham-fisted diplomacy, but economists^[who?] have pointed out that the USA had nothing to trade with Europe anymore. Rare materials, metals, and even coal were consumed by US industries at an alarming rate as his first term dragged on ^{[disputed-see the talk page]}. Whatever else European powers would have hoped to gain from the USA, resources to fuel industry would not be among them.

He would win a second term easily in 1944, but as the war continued in Europe, and as the insurgency in southern China flared up again, it became apparent that Lindbergh had missed the opportunity to help establish a new world order. He had often talked about defeating “Asiatic communism,” but German victories in the east, coupled with high taxes at home, tarnished his reputation.^{[src outdated]}

Scandal

Hoover’s staff at the FBI had been suspicious of Lindbergh for years. Specifically, Hoover feared that Lindbergh would seek a third term. When FBI agents went looking for blackmail in order to forestall a third run for the White House, they discovered links between Lindbergh, the German-American Bund, and German intelligence. ^{[conspiracy theory- see conspiracy disambiguation page]} The paper trail they uncovered led them to discover that Lindbergh’s first run as president had been funded, in part, with German money laundered through select US banks. ^{[fails to comply with the Digital Millennium Censorship Act and IP addresses for this edit have been logged]} When Lindbergh announced the creation of a new federal police agency, Hoover confronted the president with the information his agents had obtained. When Lindbergh threatened to have Hoover fired, he simply fed his information to Lindbergh’s congressional opponents. Because impeachment and a trial would have taken longer than the upcoming election, both the Republicans and Democrats went on national radio, threatening to run a “Unity Party” in the next election to defeat Lindbergh if he sought a third term. Disgraced and feeling bitter, he quietly left office when his term expired, with a “coalition presidency” consisting of Dewey and Truman following him. Within the year, the Patriot Act was passed, which forbade all foreign money from campaign spending (now punishable by life in prison), along with banning all political parties except for the Democrats and Republicans.^[wtf?]

 

[Secret Master]

Chapter 4: The Road to War 1941-1943 Gameplay

Most of the military strength I intend to use at the outbreak of the war has been built. This is where I stand.

The conversion to MECH is complete and we have a good number of support brigades. The navy looks tiny, but the CV/CL fleet with really up to date CAGs is incredibly dangerous. Remember: if CAGs in 1939 can eat the RN for breakfast, what do you think 1943-45 tech CAGs are going to do to 90% of the RN?

Now, in this game, I misjudge how much time I have before the war starts, so I assume that I have about a year before things get hot. So, in January of 42, I guarantee Poland so that when the Soviets attack, I can fight them in Poland instead of Konigsberg. I also switch to 3 year draft and begin getting units up to 75% strength.

The worst part is getting upgrades going. All those big ticket airplanes from early in the build are now a couple of techs behind. So, all those big ticket items need upgrades, which costs a ton of IC. The practicals from building them enabled good research, and when the war starts I can add more with ease, but boy do the upgrade costs add up.

The good news is that all those INF I converted to MECH got issued newer weapons on the way. They still need some upgrades, and MECH is always expensive to upgrade, but they aren’t upgrading from 1918 small arms techs at least. Airplanes and ships get the biggest priority, and if the MECH/SPARTY/TD units are a year or two behind when the war starts, it’s no big deal.

I also have to appoint a resource minister in 42 to slow down the loss of resource stockpiles. Loss of US trade over time (the USA IC-whoring) begins to become a real problem by middle of 42. I have to stay at full IC until I at least take Paris. Then I can ninja London to grab more rares. However, one thing that I didn’t anticipate the first few times I did this is that metal ends up being scarcer than rares if you only take out France and the UK. Neither country has a lot of metal, so while I end up being flush on rares after defeating the major Allied powers, metals never stop being something I worry about until the war is over. I never run out, but there are times it gets really close.

Let’s look at threat:

Japan is still ahead of me in threat; however, Japan isn’t generating any more after the conquest of all Chinese warlords. Japan will not put the UK over the threshold, so I’m still in the driver’s seat.

I can still build some more units, and if I had been playing a better game, I would have delayed Three Year Draft several months and built more units. My assumption, though, was that the UK would be attacking me early 43. That’s not what happens, though.

The UK’s neutrality decay is an unknown factor to me at this time. I can’t tell you the rate; observations I have made seem to point towards a non-linear rate. Regardless, I misjudge when it happens, and I don’t build as many units as I could have. This isn’t a fatal flaw; examine the Maginot Line in 1943.

What are France and the UK going to do to threaten me, exactly? Push out from the Maginot Line? Let me laugh in scorn. They can’t hope to cross that frontier against even my somewhat meager forces. If I under-build units before the war, I can sit back for a month or two and spam some additional divisions under Heavy Industry Emphasis. The lack of brigades when fighting the Soviets is a different problem, but we will address that later.

Had I known that the war would be delayed until the end of 43, I might have built another CTF just for fun. Next time, I might rethink the build plan a bit.

Suffice to say, by 43 we are ready for war with the Allies, and spend the rest of that year doing upgrades, and reinforcing units to Three Year Draft strength, and building some additional units (but not as many as I would have).

I don’t spend much time getting officer ratios up, but that’s because I’ve decided that IF you have a mediocre officer ratio, and IF you know you can control the tempo of the first 3 months of the war, then an officer ratio of 90% is tolerable. I can save some leadership by waiting until Service By Requirement to get the maximum officers per leadership invested.

 

[Hughrocks123]

Gotta say, those Mec Divisions are scary.

I don't think i'll understand UK DOWing Germandy. What happen to "peace in our time".?

 

[loki100]

I really appreciate the way you're putting this together, its an incredibly useful exploration of the mechanics ... and as Hughrocks123 says - those Mech divisions are scary. Presume you can let the Allies batter themselves senseless for the next millenia against them?

 

[Stuyvesant]

I like all your epithets for poor old Neville - you really don't like him, do you?

It also looked like you had a great deal of fun writing your 'Wikipedia entry' on Charles Lindbergh. I enjoyed the steady degeneration of the edit notes.

Now that you have your nice shiny new army, why don't you show us what it can do? I imagine your biggest enemy is going to be the supply and fuel situation - but certainly France won't stand a chance against your Mecha-Monster Divisions.

 

[unmerged(47028)]

Are you going to have not Phoney War? It would be a kind thing to do

 

[Secret Master]

Gotta say, those Mec Divisions are scary.

I don't think i'll understand UK DOWing Germandy. What happen to "peace in our time".?

They are scary. Well, sort of. Kinda. When used properly. The next update will indicate their limitations.

I really appreciate the way you're putting this together, its an incredibly useful exploration of the mechanics ... and as Hughrocks123 says - those Mech divisions are scary. Presume you can let the Allies batter themselves senseless for the next millenia against them?

The Allies won't even cross the Maginot Line.

The Soviets, on the other hand.... :scary:

I like all your epithets for poor old Neville - you really don't like him, do you?

It also looked like you had a great deal of fun writing your 'Wikipedia entry' on Charles Lindbergh. I enjoyed the steady degeneration of the edit notes.

Now that you have your nice shiny new army, why don't you show us what it can do? I imagine your biggest enemy is going to be the supply and fuel situation - but certainly France won't stand a chance against your Mecha-Monster Divisions.

Well, Neville "Fail Britannia, fail to rule the waves" Chamberlain will not really expect the outcome of the naval war. And as horrid as the supply situation
becomes, the problem the UK has is that supplying divisions by sea is a hell of a lot easier than supplying them through half a dozen SSRs. Suffice to say, I won't do a gamey invasion of the UK.

I also enjoyed doing the fake Lindbergh wiki entry, but you can tell I'm an evil man at heart. I was tempted to edit his entry directly and just link the one I vandalized. But I decided that would be inappropriate. (But if I had thought it out more, a whole fake setup would have been even more fun.)

Are you going to have not Phoney War? It would be a kind thing to do

Well, I wanted a Phoney War, but the Soviets get involved.

So, instead I have a ZOMG! Soviets are marching on Warsaw! conflict in the east while I sit in the west waiting for the right moment to strike. Oh, and does it count as a Phoney War if I am refraining from an attack just until the officer ratio hits 140%?

 

[Darth Moose]

So, instead I have a ZOMG! Soviets are marching on Warsaw! conflict in the east while I sit in the west waiting for the right moment to strike. Oh, and does it count as a Phoney War if I am refraining from an attack just until the officer ratio hits 140%?

I suppose it does.

 

[Secret Master]

Chapter Five: An Excerpt from Roger Ebert’s review of Das Boot!


There is an art to making historical films. Not only must you get the mood right, but you must also make the film understandable to its audience. There is also an art, if you can call it that, to making action films. The pace needs to be quick and the characters need to be kept busy. Das Boot! is an action film masquerading as a period piece. And whatever drugs Wolfgang Peterson was on while punching up the script and shooting could not help the film be interesting.

Clocking in at over 200 minutes, the plot depicts the first and second voyages of the infamous German carrier task force commanded by Donitz during the Second World War. Amateur historians will no doubt recall how pivotal Donitz’s fleet was in securing victory in the west for Germany; they will also recognize how Donitz’s peculiar genius enabled a badly outnumbered German fleet to continually triumph against superior odds. What they won’t remember are some of the most absurdly and pointlessly heroic scenes the film to which the audience are subjected. Donitz is depicted fixing the engines on the KMS Stuggart before a British destroyer moves in for the kill, piloting a torpedo bomber that sinks the HMS Elizabeth with all hands on board, and manning an anti-aircraft gun after his flagship took a bomb to the flight deck. These are real, historical events, but replacing the heroic sailors with the single figure of Donitz apparently simultaneously doing every job in the fleet is the sort of thing that makes one pine for the later films of Leni Riefenstahl and all their bombastic, but well executed, glory.

Jurgen Prochnow, an actor I highly respect, gives the best he can to the role of Donitz, but his unique talents are wasted in such a role. Of course, if I were in his shoes, I wouldn’t have turned down the role, either. With a budget of just around 250 million marks, it could easily afford the 2 million marks Prochnow received for his performance. While there were rumors of fighting on the set, you never get the sense that Prochnow is unhappy with his role. His colleagues, however, turn in tired performances that clearly demonstrate their inability to work with either Peterson or the script.

Those interested in special effects will find the film visually compelling, but only in scenes with no dialog. The flights of German aircraft leaving the carriers in wave after wave are gorgeously done, and I particularly liked the darkening of the sky as the dive bombers and fighters closed in on the HMS Ark Royal and the HMS Hood. The impending doom of the Royal Navy is well communicated, at least until Peterson puts Donitz on the screen again to babble inane comments about how victory will be theirs and how no one could stand against the Reich. He might as well have been a mustachioed villain tying a damsel to a train track.

The only good performance of the film was given by the relatively unknown British actor Patrick Stewart ironically playing Captain Jean de Laborde. Since he dies early in the film, going down with all hands on the Paris off the coast of Porto, we only get a glimpse of this promising film actor. While I know that, historically, the loss of the Paris was a pivotal event early in the war, the film could have used more Stewart and less Donitz.

At the end of the film, I could not be help but feeling cold and empty, even as Donitz docks the fleet at Kiel in preparation for the invasion of Egypt amid a clamorous and boisterous crowd singing his praises. I could say that this film is pure propaganda in support of the regime’s past, but that would be disingenuous. Yes, Das Boot! was intended to be a film that would raise the flagging support of the Nazi party, but I would be surprised if even the government was pleased with what the grant money given to Peterson accomplished. At the end of the day, nothing produced in Germany about the war has ever trumped George C. Scott’s performance in Rommel, and no amount of LSD could have enabled Peterson to get even close.

 

[Secret Master]

Chapter 5: It’s a mad, mad, mad, mad, mad world.


So, the war has started. What now?

First, I tidy up some things.

Now that the war has begun, threat is largely irrelevant to my life. We annex Austria since our spies have been supporting our party for years on end. The manpower boost is nice, though I don’t really need it. The IC and resources are what I really want. Italy joins the Axis instantly. Surprisingly, Italy is a powerful ally. They performed amazingly well this game, but we’ll talk about that later.

But even as I start getting fleets and planes into action, this happens.

Germany is now in a two-front war. I anticipated this (and it took Stalin a few weeks longer to do it than I anticipated), but I have to live with the consequences of my choices. The Soviet threat, coupled with my generally congenial behavior, means that nations will start falling into the Axis without any real effort. However, I do not accept all of them immediately. Estonia, Latvia, Finland, Czechoslovakia, and Norway are all fairly eager to join during the first year of the war, but I want them to not die, so I refrain from inviting them until the Soviets are at a point where they cannot quickly annex any of them. Finland in particular is a sticky situation. I really need the Gulf of Finland effect because resources are being consumed quickly, but I can’t fire it until I own Leningrad anyway. So, the Finns are sidelined until the situation warrants their entry into the war.

It is awesome to see Poland willingly join the Axis, though. That’s worth the price of admission right there.

But what strategy should Germany pursue? I could, hypothetically, try to fight tooth and nail on both fronts, but I’ll be honest. I’ve tried it, and it lead to the game where I defeated the Allies but the war with the Soviets became a WWI slugfest 50 kilometers from Moscow, with Germany at a deficit of 500 manpower and the Soviets at a deficit of 800 manpower. Not a real win for anyone.

Instead, I toggle AI control in Berlin Theater, attach about half the Luftwaffe, and tell Berlin to defend a line of provinces through the middle of Poland that roughly corresponds to the demarcation line of the historical M-R Pact. This is just a coincidence; I really want the defense line to be well within range of that level 10 RADAR in Lotzen (remember that?) and the huge airfield I built there. I want Rommel and Gunderian, as Army commanders, to dig in and defend there while the Luftwaffe can cover them using RADAR and base proximity bonuses in combat. Combined with the technological and doctrine advantage I have over the Soviets, the outnumbered air wings attached to Berlin Theater will have the overall advantage. The only downside to this plan is that the Polish army doesn’t seem to grasp the situation and fights pointlessly hard in provinces I have no intention of covering. But that’s the AI for you.

What about France?

Shall I run a standard invasion of France? I can’t. Invading the Netherlands and Belgium is a no-no with my house rules. Besides, they willingly join the Axis later. I’m the nice guy, so no invasion through the Low Countries (not even tiny little Luxembourg). And they won’t join the Axis until Europe is more or less secured from the Allies anyway, so I can’t have them join the Axis and invade via my allies in the Low Countries either. (There may be a way to convince them, but it was faster to just do my own thing.)

How about just storming the damn Maginot Line? How about no. Yeah, I know, I have uber-combined arms bonuses. And yes, I can bomb the French army into dust. And I can even drop PARA into Metz or on the line itself to open up additional axes of attack, but all of that is a waste. Germany would rather spend its hard earned industrial advantage in other ways. Upgrades aren’t cheap, and even with practicals, new divisions are pricey. MECH and TDs are just not cheap to fix when they get shot to Hell. Besides, guess who didn’t build engineers?

Okay, how about just taking Paris with PARA? Yeah, that would fire the Fall of Paris event, but I won’t just ninja Paris and then pretend that is a real strategy that somehow showcases the kinds of options available in a late-war scenario.

Instead, I create Fall Rot. The plan involves a number of distinct phases for all three major arms.

Phase I:

Defend Germany.

The army deploys 1 division to each province opposing the Maginot Line. This might seem like a miniscule drain of resources, but bear in mind that I don’t have 50 billion divisions. All those divisions represent a significant portion of Germany’s land forces. However, given terrain and combined arms bonuses, we don’t need more than 1 in each province, even after the BEF shows up, stacking 5-7 divisions per province.

All MR fighters not fighting the Soviets run air superiority over French airfields. My starting INTs cover areas from strategic bombing. TACs not fighting the Soviets get tasked to ground attack French units near the Maginot Line, but not on it. Those STRs I build begin logistic bombing three provinces behind the Maginot Line.

The goal of the initial portion of the air campaign is to establish air superiority, damage the French strategic reserve while avoiding bomber losses against the provincial AA of the Maginot Line, and to bomb the BEF as it comes into that part of the front. The logistic bombing is there to kill the ability of all units near the Maginot Line to fight or move effectively, especially the mobile units. It takes weeks, but I am able to cut both fuel and supplies going to the Maginot Line to practically nothing. Three hour probing attacks on the Maginot Line reveal that all units are at least at the -39.9% penalty for lack of supplies, and some are completely out of supply. Mobile units are moving slow due to lack of fuel, and foot units have to run the gauntlet of TACs at their default speed if they want to leave the front.

In other words, the majority of the French Army and the BEF are locked in place; the place where I have no intention of attacking.

Donnitz is placed in command of the CTF and he goes into the North Atlantic outside British land based air cover. He positions the German fleet over our own overseas trade routes, which also overlap with some British convoy routes. The CTF runs patrol missions, killing convoys and protecting German convoys (not many left since the USA isn’t trading with anyone anymore, but still they could use some coverage), forcing both the French and British navies into fighting in on equal terms. The goal is for Donnitz to maim both navies while Italy runs amok in the Med, killing as many ships as possible and keeping the others in port with damage and low ORG.

During this period, remaining upgrades go to the army (the planes and ships had priority before the war started) and I get the officer ratio up. By the time the Luftwaffe and Donnitz have softened the enemy, the officer ratio will be at 140% and phase 2 can commence.

The German navy performs phase 1 admirably.

Phase 2:

Everyone gets a break, except the STR.

The navy takes a short break to repair damage. This is important because the navy needs to be at full strength for Phase 3.

The Luftwaffe starts giving TACs more holidays to regain ORG and repair. The air superiority campaign get some micromanagement attention with the fleet in port. Air superiority missions start being flown further into France, leaving airfields near the Maginot Line somewhat free to operate.

Special forces embark on planes and transport ships. Additionally, MECH forces are also loaded on transports. The pre-1936 German navy is assigned escort and sails into the Channel once Donnitz and the CTF are ready. The CTF goes ahead of them.

Phase 3:

The officer ratio takes a hit as a number of new divisions finish building simultaneously. (Heavy Industry emphasis). Had I planned better, I might have delayed Fall Rot. But, the results are still spectacular.

PARA take Paris, MAR secure a beachhead, but the follow on mechanized forces are already in the Channel. The moment the MAR take the ports, MECH can go ashore and start running around. You can’t see it, but within two days, MECH are already close to linking up with the PARA in Paris. The majority of France’s army and the BEF are stuck on or near the Maginot Line. They are kind of bombed out, out of supply, and unable to move quickly to respond to the threat.

Note that the logistical bombing in 3.06 does not hurt infrastructure too much; but the lack of fuel really prevents those mobile units from reacting to the invasion quickly. And since they’ve been hurting for supplies while being bombed badly, the strategic reserve is also kind of shot up. The units that might help the most are least able to do so.

The Fall of Paris fires slowly this time, so I’ve actually linked up with the PARA and have MECH running all the way to the end of Brittany before the French surrender. Germany has added the puppet wargoal to all members of the Allies, so France remains completely intact, but they are now at war with the Soviets. The BEF is kind of in limbo, unable to do much of anything.

The CTF has to retire to port for a few months to repair those CAGs, but the damage sustained by the RN is severe. The loss of the Ark Royal is particularly painful. But the RAF is still in the fight and it will be some time until an invasion of the UK can be launched.

With France now in the Axis, most of the Germany army can now be posted in Poland. However, before any significant offensive can be undertaken against the Soviets, we have to do something kind of counterintuitive.

That will be in the next installment.

 

[misterbean]

amazing start. blitzkrieg indeed.
as a side note: I didn't even know you could delay the Anschluss that much. nice to know. where does czechoslovakia stand?

 

[Darth Moose]

That is one hell of a brilliant game! I don't think you can annex the Czechs, as that requires you to be at peace IIRC. You'll still get the nice strategic bonus from Skoda.

The only downside I can see so far is that your leadership will be lower compared to a normal Germany game (Austria late, no Czechoslovakia, puppeting France, etc.). But you only use mechs & special forces, no need for most tank techs and several of the land doctrines...

 

[loki100]

very impressively done, its nice to see an AAR where all the tools are deployed to real effect, but the openly gamey exploits are ignored. I like the phasing of the clash with France and the way you've cycled through each of your strengths to build up to the final blow

 

[sprites]

So you won the naval battle and have a reverse debarquement in Normandy? interesting

 

[misterbean]

missed your "review" of Das Boot earlier.
loved it.
"relatively unknown british actor Patrick Steward" (playing a French ship's captain, no less )
great stuff.

 

[Secret Master]

amazing start. blitzkrieg indeed.
as a side note: I didn't even know you could delay the Anschluss that much. nice to know. where does czechoslovakia stand?

That is one hell of a brilliant game! I don't think you can annex the Czechs, as that requires you to be at peace IIRC. You'll still get the nice strategic bonus from Skoda.

The Czechs will join the Axis a bit later. And you are right; you cannot do any of the Munich chain if the conditions are not correct, so you either need to invade and annex (which I can't) or butter the up. Since I've been nothing but a good neighbor to the Czechs, while the Soviets and the UK have been bullying poor, poor Germany, they are another country that falls into my lap.

The only downside I can see so far is that your leadership will be lower compared to a normal Germany game (Austria late, no Czechoslovakia, puppeting France, etc.). But you only use mechs & special forces, no need for most tank techs and several of the land doctrines...

Correct, the loss of leadership and of some IC is a blow. The good news is that Germany has tons of leadership anyway, and since all of continental Europe (barring two countries) joins the Axis either willingly or as puppets, I have a horde of allied forces not unlike the EU3 vassal horde that HRE emperors can sometimes get.

Another thing to consider: Germany loses leadership with my setup. However, because the war starts so late, I have more time to get certain techs into action in time for Fall Rot. I'll discuss that in more depth in the next chapter.

very impressively done, its nice to see an AAR where all the tools are deployed to real effect, but the openly gamey exploits are ignored. I like the phasing of the clash with France and the way you've cycled through each of your strengths to build up to the final blow

Thanks. I'd like to think that even without the Fall of Paris, France was done when I executed Fall Rot. I just managed to keep most of the French army intact so I can send them to Russia.

So you won the naval battle and have a reverse debarquement in Normandy? interesting

Yep. Well, Donnitz wins a number of naval battles. Some of them are not super exciting. But when I felt he had sunk enough ships and enough of the RN was in port licking its wounds, it was time to press the advantage.

It was still costly, though. The CAGs were completely shredded. But repairing CAGs is cheaper than building new BBs and CVs.

missed your "review" of Das Boot earlier.
loved it.
"relatively unknown british actor Patrick Steward" (playing a French ship's captain, no less )
great stuff.

I really love that movie. I actually think that because it tells the story of submariners from the side who lost the war, and it ends with the captain dying while Allied aircraft strafe and sink his sub, it carries a very specific kind of pathos and gravitas. It just wouldn't work the same way if it was told from the perspective of the winners.

 

[Stuyvesant]

Color me impressed (admittedly, it doesn't take much ). You managed to mangle the RN and the French navy to the extent that you could invade from Normandy, with the French Army immobilized at the Maginot Line. Good use of the tools at your disposal and some creative thinking.

Also enjoyed the 'Das Boot' review. Perhaps Wolfgang was inspired by our OTL 'Pearl Harbour', with its own <ahem> strict adherence to realism.

 

[Daffius]

Very interesting indeed. The idea to keep the french forces intact for your use is pure genious!

IF you press against the soviets through Poland, wouldn't all that occupied territory go to Poland? Supply problems? Not as if I'm anticipating anything so "normal" in this AAR...