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First UK Co-operative AAR!

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OOC: Nope, Ark Royal is a Hermes class Carrier, makes me glad that HOI 2 doesn't put something saying how large the air groups would be, otherwise once the Illustrious-class carriers enters service, those old carriers would be either disbanded or taken out of front line service.

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Tonight was a good night, at least with present company there would be no titles, no ranks, no badges of honor, nothing, nothing but friends. While Sir Thomas Wallace went to the Embassy function, he didn't stay there long since several old friends from his time in the States. In fact he hadn't seen a couple of them since he left in '27.

"Very brave of you to stay there as long as you did," Thomas's smiling wife told him, among the chuckling of his friends, "I know you don't like those sort of events."

Thomas grinned amid the laughter, he knew that one of them, probably Magargee, convinced his wife to tell him that, despite spending a total of 10 minutes there waiting for everyone. It didn't help that many of his friends were also his wife's friends.

Oh well, that's what Wallace expected with his friends, jokes, laughter, a complete lack of seriousness between themselves. Thomas smiled inwardly, he needed nights like this more often.

Eventually they got back to his place and talked about all sorts of subjects ranging from the world situation, to life in the States, Britain, naval concepts, foreign policy, Edward abdication, FDR, throughout the night. This was most certainly better than any cruise, anywhere, just to be among friends, even if it was just for a week.
 
Not disbanded, maybe reserve forces in the med.
 
Adaml83 said:
OOC: Considering that the First Sea Lord trusts you, Braedy, that should help a bit.
Click to expand...

OOC: Sticks and myself are hardly the same, that's very important to note. ;)

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"If everything isn’t done correctly in peacetime, how can we expect optimum performance in times of war? Detail is important...” and Sticks managed to notice the change in demeanor though he wasn't quite certain he knew to what it would change to.

Sir Cyril smiled but Andy wasn't sure if it was sincere or a politician's fake smile. He guessed the former as the general [OOC: an assumption on my part. FM was a wartime rank and also an honorary one if I recall. Easy enough to edit though if I am wrong. :) ] didn't seem the type for nonsense. “But tips on work ethic wasn’t why you sought me out tonight. How can I help you this evening, Captain?”

Sticks returned the smile, "Any tips are appreciated, sir. A wise man never turns away the advice of his superiors as they've likely been there before but, you are right in that I didn't come here solely for sage advice." He paused a moment before continuing. "You seem to know something of naval matters and in that you are my better as I know little to nothing of Army affairs. Of course, you must not hold that against me given that my country essentially has no army," he said somewhat sardonically.

'A bit of cynical humour in this one', Sir Cyril thought. "Well, it is hard to be English and not know something of the Navy. It's Trafalgar this, and Copenhagen that and Nelson this and Hood that; one might think the Royal Navy does it alone. Maybe in days past but certainly not in this century. Artois-Flanders changed all that nonsense and that is where I come in, to look for ways to prevent the trench warfare of the last war. That is my hope anyways, Captain."

Sticks nodded as he recalled some of the stories Jack had told him. "I can understand that. I don't think anyone would want a repeat of the Great War on the ground." Sticks really didn't know much about it and it likely showed on his face. "So, that's why the news of the refit is important. It's part of the changes to prevent that sort of thing in the future. Why you considered it important makes alot more sense. I'd do the same, had I something to do," and he regreted saying it as soon as he said it.

"I am sorry, sir. That was not something I should have said aloud," and Sticks was beet red by this point and muttered something about 'bad taste'.

Sir Cyril thought to myself, 'Okay, he is definitely NOT a diplomat so why on Earth is he here?' The answer didn't take long to find as he recalled what he had heard himself and from others and then he remembered his file. 'He is here because he is exactly what he seems to be. How refreshing and rather clever of the Yanks.'
 
Braedonnal said:
OOC: Sticks and myself are hardly the same, that's very important to note. ;)
Click to expand...

OOC: I meant Sticks. :cool: ;)

edit: Since this post is still at the bottom I'll just edit it. :D
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A couple of days later one of Sir Thomas's friends was talking to Wallace's wife turned to Sir Thomas and smiled, "I've heard that you're back to your old habit Thomas, with junior naval officers again."

Wallace chuckled, "Who, Captain Fitzpatrick? Nah, he can handle himself. Where did you hear this?"

Katherine, who brought up the subject, smiled, "From Ms. Harrington."

Sir Thomas laughed, "Somehow I'm not too suprised any one of them came to that conclusion. It must have been pretty big news that I of all people decided to visit them in the American Embassy. But no, Fitzpatrick has a good head on his shoulders and doesn't need any help from me on naval matters."

"Ahh, so what's it like being so important?"

Wallace grinned, "It's hit or miss, to be honest." By this time the whole crowd was listening to the conversation, "It works excellently for business-related stuff, but outside of that it can place some unnecessary worry into people that just isn't appropriate for the situation. It's why I like the staff officers I have and the Admiralty offices in general. They're used to me. Get more work done that way."

Magargee nodded, "Sounds like as long as your status doesn't get in the way of work, or regular social meetings you have no problems with it. But you don't want people to disregard yours or anyone's accomplishments."

Thomas grinned, "Exactly, speaking of work, that's where I need to go. See you all this evening."
 
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Sir Cyril actually chuckled at the Captain's blurted comment, "You know back before the Great War I remember a friend who felt as if he'd been sidelined by his superiors. Now remember this was when every officer was getting involved in one Colonial war or another, and my friend was stuck in Whitehall drawing up plans for mobilisation. He was downtrodden, dejected even and kept complaining that his career had reached a dead end." He stopped to sip his sherry. The young American shifted feet and waited for him to continue. "Ah, good sherry that. Anyway, when war came he was 'Johnny on the spot', ended up on General French's staff."

Captain Fitspatrick smiled, "So the moral is that I should be patient?"

"Good heavens NO!" exclaimed Sir Cyril. The comment was so loud that several other guests stopped their conversations to stare. Sir Cyril noticed that the Ambassador took a furtive glance to ensure he wasn't needed to smooth over any arguement.

Sir Cyril continued, "You see, he'd spent all his time in the position trying to get postings to combat commands. When mobilisation actually happened he was lost, didn't know his job and ended up ballsing the whole thing up."

The American was confused by now, "So, what happened?"

"Well........ after he proved absolutely useless at his job they needed to get him out so they promoted him and gave him a command." He stopped again to sip his sherry. "Two weeks later his unit went up against Jerry at First Ypres, he ballsed up the timetabling orders and died when the second line failed to support his local counter attack. Took a lot of good men with him because he didn't know how to handle paperwork."

"That's a terrible story sir. Why in heaven's did you tell me that?"

"Seems to me you two are very similar." Sir Cyril said as he sipped his sherry again.

"Sir, I.... I don't understand."

Sir Cyril could see he was lost, so he decided to help him out. "Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying you're incompetent but i think I'm right in saying you don't feel you belong in this post." It was a statement but the American nodded his ascent anyway. Sir Cyril continued, "Well so was this other chap. He spent all his time looking forward to what he wanted to do instead of focusing on where he was. As a result when he got his command, it turned out to be to the detriment of all, him, his unit and his country."

He sipped his sherry again before continuing, "Not everyone that gives you what you want likes you and not everyone that gives you a dull job hates you. Your superiors have given you this position because they feel that: 1. You'll do it well and benefit the country; and 2. Because it will make you a better officer, which in time will benefit the country. The least you can do is trust them to know that and make the most of it."

The young Captain contemplated that for a moment, "You know sir, Jac...... the Ambassador said something very similar to me not long ago."

"I'm not surprised, he's army. We're a smart bunch, What!" and with that Sir Cyril flashed his best smile at the young man. He was past fifty now but Sir Cyril remembered when that smile used to attract young ladies like a magnet. From the Captain's face it appeared not all of its power of persuasion had gone.

"You're a smart lad but you're here to do something more than just paperwork and tours of British dockyards. I'd say tonight is a part of that lesson, wouldn't you?"

"Sir, I'd say it is." The captain looked to still be embarrassed by his comment but Sir Cyril decided he was slightly more at ease than he had been.

"Good, now let's practice your other talents. Tell me, what do you make of our recent political changes? And don't just regurgitate what James told you, what do you think?"
 
Should it come to a war on the continent, will we take military control French forces? And commonwealth for that matter?
 
OOC: Humpy - The Frenchies I think will be open to debate but I think we'll be justified in taking control of the Commonwealth. Definately something we'll be discussing later.........

Thanks Addy.
 
Because Australia and New Zealand have a fairly good army (lots of cavalry). Maybe we should ship them to the middle east to "train and prepare" for any campiagns against the Itali.... sorry groups in Palestine.
 
What patch are we playing with?
 
Cause if it was 1.1, then it would be wise to cosy up to Italy.
 
OOC: Been reading up some on a certain guy named Neville along with having my car fixed and nursing a sprained ankle back into working order (I hope it's just sprained but I'll never know due to lack of medical insurance--gimmie your social medicine please :eek:o ) so I've been busy.

I'll post a reply to Sir Cyril tomorrow, I promise. It might be fun to see what you could do with the French Army and be an interesting 'what-if' for this AAR but then again it might just be a logistical nightmare for you, Dury, especially if you take the Commonwealth too. Alot of units to manage by that point.
 
We're using 1.1 because that's what Formy started with and I am too scared of changing now.

The French army would be interesting but as I said, a debate for another day methinks. Humpy, of course the Aussies and Kiwis are good armies but I think the Iraqi division I comandeered is enough to contain the Palestinians....... for the moment ;)

Braedy, take your time. Ankles are such delicate things. Five years on from busting an ankle I still feel it on cold days........ even with Medicare! I look forward to your masterpiece.

Dury.
 
Iraqi divisions you say? Ah well. Keep your eye on Kuwait, sometimes it springs up in rebellion.
 
OOC: Masterpiece? Hardly, but I did need to research a bit about the new PM. Historical stuff from 1938-1940 doesn't help now, lol.

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Sticks thought a bit about the question and realized he didn't know alot of what was going on politically in Britain. Despite that, he answered with what he knew.

"Well, in some ways it has been difficult to track. I mean, I've seen a couple of kings come and go and a new Prime Minister now and there have been other changes in the more political parts of the military command as well," and he paused a moment to further collect his thoughts.

"The loss of the Kings, while not pleasant, didn't much change things until the last. That Prime Minister Baldwin stepped down changes things an awful lot, does it not? The government itself doesn't change as the Conservatives are still in power and Prime Minister Chamberlain was the 'heir apparent' to Baldwin so this is no surprise to anyone. What I wonder about though is that the new Prime Minister doesn't much seem like a Conservative at all. In some ways, he reminds me a bit of our own President. For some reason, I feel the two of them would get along 'grandly'.

Sticks reflected a bit on that and chuckled, "Grandly, I've been in London too long, it seems. Pretty soon I'll be saying 'bloody this and that' too and playing cricket.

Sir Cyril laughed, "We will turn you into a proper Englishman yet." He turned a bit more serious. "So what else do you think of the changes?"

"Well, I am also wondering how he will deal with the Fascists. I've heard from some that he is dovish and while that isn't necessarily a bad thing, I wonder how that will mix with Herr Hitler. While I'd like to think Hitler is just a silly man playing in a uniform like some said of Wilhelm II, for some reason I don't feel that is the truth of the matter at all. I've heard him speak and while I don't know more than a few words of German even I can feel that his words have power. I pray that Mr. Chamberlain can deal with him on an equal footing."

Sticks spoke more of his heart than he meant to but something about Hitler just put him off even though he seemed just a simple nationalist. "What do you think, sir? You likely know far more than I about the changes and what they will mean for England and the Empire."
 
adaml83


OOC: That's a screenie of your fleet, for the purposes of the OOB the levels of your ships will be in (II).
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To: Vice Admiral Stewart
From: First Sea Lord
Subj: Order of Battle- Mediterranean

Mediterranean Fleet- Vice Admiral Stewart
6 Battleships - Queen Elizabeth-class (II)
6 Heavy Cruisers- Kent-class (II}
1 Light Cruiser- Leander-class
4 Destroyers- 1 A-class (II)
3 V-class (I)

Fleet Air Arm - Commander pending- will escort Med Fleet
4 Aircraft Carriers- Courageous-class (II)
3 Light Cruisers- Caledon-class (I)

Task Force Lyons - Vice Admiral Lyons
2 Aircraft Carriers - Hermes-class (I)
1 Heavy Cruiser- Kent-class (II)
3 Light Cruisers- Caledon-class (I)
3 Destroyers - V-class (I)

Task Force Lyons will recieve the Ark Royal once it finishes in November of next year and once the air group for it finishes.

I hope this helps plan for your offensive against any enemy that is stupid enough to attack us.

Good day and long live the King.

First Sea Lord
Sir Thomas Wallace

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OOC: Dury what I'm running the save game you sent me is 1.2 and should you decide to upgrade we'll probably face a much more aggresive Axis diplomatically.

That means Nat. Spain, Italy, possibly more. It's up to you, and possibly could make for a fascinating AAR.
 
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