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humancalculator said:So what rank are Ian and Felix now? Anyway, great update!
Commander and Lieutenant Commander respectively. And glad you liked it.
I've decided to create an Index-post. I won't do it in the first post, but a link will be added to my sig, and linked on the first page.
Thanks. I don't know how British ranks go, let alone special forces. I am too used to regular American army ranks.trekaddict said:
Glad to see Fleming and Leiter honoured, having an exiled American win a medal can only be good PR (even if it can't be shouted about at the moment).
That said don't let medal fever go to your head though; the Sevastapol cannons are only so big, there's not that much material to make VCs out of!
Unless the most awesome screenshot ever is so epic the event it shows it can provide a whole new source of metal for medals.
That said don't let medal fever go to your head though; the Sevastapol cannons are only so big, there's not that much material to make VCs out of!
Unless the most awesome screenshot ever is so epic the event it shows it can provide a whole new source of metal for medals.
humancalculator I understand. Click me!
El Pip True, but rest assured that once the war is over the two men ( given that they survive and that the Empire wins the war ) will be made into great public heroes. As for the medal fevour, according to my numbers 182 were awarded through WW2, and these three are only those I have decided upon, there could be more, as there are many candidates.
Enewald Thanks!
El Pip True, but rest assured that once the war is over the two men ( given that they survive and that the Empire wins the war ) will be made into great public heroes. As for the medal fevour, according to my numbers 182 were awarded through WW2, and these three are only those I have decided upon, there could be more, as there are many candidates.
Enewald Thanks!
Chapter 1 Chapter 53
Chapter 2 Chapter 54
Chapter 3 Chapter 55
Chapter 4 Chapter 56
Chapter 5 Chapter 57
Chapter 6 Chapter 58
Chapter 7 Chapter 59
Chapter 8 Chapter 60
Chapter 9 Chapter 61
Chapter 10 Chapter 62
Chapter 11 Chapter 63
Chapter 12 Chapter 64
Chapter 13 Chapter 65
Chapter 14 Chapter 66
Chapter 14 (2) due to naming error
Chapter 15 Chapter 67
Chapter 16 Chapter 68
Chapter 17 Chapter 69
Chapter 18 Chapter 70
Chapter 19 Chapter 71
Chapter 20 Chapter 72
Chapter 21 Chapter 73
Chapter 22 Chapter 74
Chapter 23 Chapter 75
Chapter 24 Chapter 76
Chapter 25 INDEX PART 2
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 35 (2)
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40/1
Chapter 40/2
Chapter 40/3
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 43 (2)
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 2 Chapter 54
Chapter 3 Chapter 55
Chapter 4 Chapter 56
Chapter 5 Chapter 57
Chapter 6 Chapter 58
Chapter 7 Chapter 59
Chapter 8 Chapter 60
Chapter 9 Chapter 61
Chapter 10 Chapter 62
Chapter 11 Chapter 63
Chapter 12 Chapter 64
Chapter 13 Chapter 65
Chapter 14 Chapter 66
Chapter 14 (2) due to naming error
Chapter 15 Chapter 67
Chapter 16 Chapter 68
Chapter 17 Chapter 69
Chapter 18 Chapter 70
Chapter 19 Chapter 71
Chapter 20 Chapter 72
Chapter 21 Chapter 73
Chapter 22 Chapter 74
Chapter 23 Chapter 75
Chapter 24 Chapter 76
Chapter 25 INDEX PART 2
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 35 (2)
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40/1
Chapter 40/2
Chapter 40/3
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 43 (2)
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Last edited:
cant you just go back and change the numbers?
nice to see the two of them get what they deserve.
nice to see the two of them get what they deserve.
BritishImperial said:
The thing is I would have to re-number all chapters from 14 to 52, and frankly, I'm too lazy for that ATM.
besides, it's not that bad I think.EDIT: I love my computer. Brothers in Arms - Hell's Highway is awesome, looks bloody sweet and it runs as smooth as silk on the highest settings.
Just read entire AAR. Coolest Timeline Ever. That is all i can say. Forward the mioghty British EMpire, but what is this i hear about Thatcher dieing. She was a great PM. I demand her survival.
Now this is the first of hopefully VERY few history book style updates. This one in particular is intended as general overview of the situation at the eve of World War 2. Putting this stuff into a conversation would have it degenerate into a fact dump, so I chose this form. The next update will be set sometime in August, dunno yet, really.
“At the eve of the great Conflict that would come to be known as World War Two Europe resembled two armed camps. On one side the Allies, with the British Empire and the French Republic as principal members, on the other the Axis Powers led by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. At that time the British Armed Forces weren't really ready for war, considering that most of the pre-war build-up had gone into the Royal Navy. It was generally expected that the French Army and the small, instantly ready British Expeditionary Force would be able to hold of the Axis Powers until the military and industrial might of the British Empire could be fully mobilized. At first glance this assessment wasn't all that far from the truth. If one is to discount Militia and Divisions in the Colonies the French fielded a standing Army of around 100 Divisions, mostly Infantry and several independent Tank Divisions, for them a relatively new concept, but one that would prove to be invaluable after the war. The Marine Nationale, the French Navy, was small when compared to the Royal Navy, but nonetheless significantly stronger than the Kriegsmarine, and about on par with the Italian Navy. The French Air Force was numerically strong, but unlike the Luftwaffe or the Royal Air Force had too many different types of planes, many of those outdated, so it would be hard pressed to defend France's air against the Germans. A more detailed breakup of the French Armed Forces in 1939 can be found in the appropriate Chapter.
In the British Empire the situation was very different. The Royal Navy was stronger than ever. The figures are known to most, but there will still be a small summary. In July 1939 the Royal Navy consisted of five Aircraft Carriers, 14 Battleships, three Battlecruisers, and the usual assortment of Heavy and Light Cruisers and Destroyers. It seemed as if Britannia's rule of the waves would be as unchallenged as it always had been and as it is today. A modern observer however might see the fleet's disposition in these late days of peace as somewhat odd. The last Admiral of the Fleet ( the rank was abolished later in the war and replaced with “Grand Admiral of the Fleet” ), Roger Backhouse, had massed all the Carriers in the Mediterranean Sea, where, a he argued, the Air Cover provided by the Carriers for the Battleships was needed, unlike in the open waters of the North Sea. Whether or not the Gun or Carrier Schools would be right in the end would be decided in the next few months and years. In the Air things were not as good but improving fast. 1939 had seen a massive increase in numbers for RAF Fighter Command, with delivery of the new Supermarine Spitfire Fighter Aircraft picking up fast, and the four wings already constructed formed the core of the new and improved RAF Fighter Command. Stationed on the Aerodromes around London, chiefly Biggin Hill, these Wings also formed the backbone of 11 Group. With time, the Spitfire and it's many descendants would make the Royal Air Force and the Royal Indian Air Force the scourge of the enemy, both feared and respected by its adversaries. At the same time Bomber Command had more reason to complain. Ever since light Air Support had been transferred to Fighter Command's Spitfires Bomber Command's responsibilities had been scaled back to Strategic Bombing and such specialized attacks as strikes against enemy Ports and such. This had lead to the priority for development and research being put on Fighters, and as a result of this Bomber Command's heavy Bomber Squadrons were still mainly equipped with the Armstrong-Witworth Whitley, due to delays in Handley-Pages Halifax Bomber programme. The later symbol of Bomber Command's might and power, the Avro Lancaster, was still a pipedream at this point. Still overall the RAF was in a much better state than it had been only a year earlier.
The British Army had always been the stepchild, even more so than the RAF. The British Empire had always been a Naval Power, and so naturally the Army was always the last to benefit from improvements in the technology of warfare. This however was changing fast. During the 1920s and most of the 30s the Army had been pitifully small, stretched thinly across the globe. When the Empire Treaty was signed in 1938 this was bound to change, and almost instantly the meagre British Forces all over the Empire started training local Militias to elevate the danger. Still it wouldn't be until after the war that the Armies of the various Home Nations could take over the defence of their homesteads. The short-term solution to this was that the imperial recruits would join the British Army, forming new Divisions in the United Kingdom. The reasons for this idea where three-fold. Firstly it would allow the Government to raise a much larger Army than it would have been possible had they recruited from the United Kingdom only, and a large Army was needed to combat the vast Military Machine of the Axis Powers. The I Armoured Corps was forming, along with II Corps and VI Corps. Together these three Corps, comprised of six Divisions each would form the core of the BEF. Together with the French they would hold back the Axis avalanche. Equipment was superb. The Lee Enfield was the standard service rifle, and would be during the war, becoming the icon it is today. Ceremonial units all over the Empire and some Imperial Sharp-shooter units still use it today. The Royal Armoured Corps had received the most attention in the pre-war build-up, and by the start of the war it's soldiers finally started receiving the tanks it's main proponents, like Generals Hobart and O'Connor had yearned for for years. The Crusader Mk. II ( description in Chapter XVII ) was not the best possible tank, but at the time it was the best British Industry could produce, and at that time it could hold up even to the most advanced German and Soviet models, despite the in places thin armour.
Politically the setting could not have been more different. Not surprisingly, in the Axis powers the populations were more or less lusting for war, believing what years of propaganda had told them, in the Allied Camp however, the situation was different, especially in France. While the British were not yearning for war, but prepared to fight it to the bitter end if they had to the French were weary, and there were even those who called for France to leave the Allied Powers, in order not to be drawn into a 'Anglo-German dispute'. Demonstrations in front of both the British and German Embassies called for peace and negotiations, but to no avail. Some openly accused the British of wilfully escalating the crisis by cutting diplomatic relations and refusing to come to the table until those responsible for Operation Pine Tree had been handed over to Imperial authorities. These however were a minority, and despite it all the average Frenchman on the street understood why the British had acted like they had done. Still, France was going into this war deeply divided. In the British Empire however the situation was different. While the population in the more distant parts of the country saw the conflict with indifference as they mostly didn't hear the news until it was a few weeks old, something unthinkable in today's information society, in the United Kingdom and the bigger cities all over the globe the mood was sombre but determined. If the British Empire was attacked then she would fight, and fight to the bitter end. Such was the public mood in Britain.
The weeks between July and mid-august 1939 have often been called a 'little cold war' between the Allies and the Axis, and this, albeit overstated, is true in a way. Numerous border incidents almost threw the world to war, most prominently the Hotspur Incident in the North Sea. This has been recreated in numerous publications of every imaginable form, so this work shall only give you the basics. The Battle-Class Destroyer HMS Hotspur, on trial runs in the north Sea, came across a German Freighter, the Wilhelm Gustloff. At that time Royal Navy vessels had orders to stop and search any and all vessels flying the German banner, military and civilian that violated a 30 mile zone around the British and French Coastlines. The Gustloff was spotted about three miles inside of that limit and was therefore signalled by the Hotspur to heave to and prepare to be boarded. The German refused to comply, so as per standard procedure the Captain of the Hotspur fired a warning shot across her bow, and he still would not stop disabled his rudder. After the Gustloff was boarded the crew resisted the British sailors tooth and nail, and three were killed. The Gustloff was thoroughly searched, and as it turned out a large shipment of German-made small arms was found, bound for Ireland, from where the guns presumably were destined for Northern Ireland. This however will never be proven beyond doubt as the Captain managed to destroy most of the log-book before the British boarding party reached the Bridge. The Germans protested violently via the French Embassy in Berlin, but to no avail, the Gustloff was towed Scapa Flow where she spent the rest of the time until war broke out at anchor. In early 1940 she was refurbished as a hospital ship and served as RMS Sewastopol in India and the Pacific.
This incident and many others showed clearly that war was only a matter of time, and by mid August Europe could go aflame any day.”
“The Royal Indian Army in World War 2” - Calcutta University Press, Imperial Dominion of India, 2005
[Game notes: The next update will be set on August 20th, on the eve of the Hotspur Incident, about a week after the incident itself.]
Chapter 53
“At the eve of the great Conflict that would come to be known as World War Two Europe resembled two armed camps. On one side the Allies, with the British Empire and the French Republic as principal members, on the other the Axis Powers led by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. At that time the British Armed Forces weren't really ready for war, considering that most of the pre-war build-up had gone into the Royal Navy. It was generally expected that the French Army and the small, instantly ready British Expeditionary Force would be able to hold of the Axis Powers until the military and industrial might of the British Empire could be fully mobilized. At first glance this assessment wasn't all that far from the truth. If one is to discount Militia and Divisions in the Colonies the French fielded a standing Army of around 100 Divisions, mostly Infantry and several independent Tank Divisions, for them a relatively new concept, but one that would prove to be invaluable after the war. The Marine Nationale, the French Navy, was small when compared to the Royal Navy, but nonetheless significantly stronger than the Kriegsmarine, and about on par with the Italian Navy. The French Air Force was numerically strong, but unlike the Luftwaffe or the Royal Air Force had too many different types of planes, many of those outdated, so it would be hard pressed to defend France's air against the Germans. A more detailed breakup of the French Armed Forces in 1939 can be found in the appropriate Chapter.
In the British Empire the situation was very different. The Royal Navy was stronger than ever. The figures are known to most, but there will still be a small summary. In July 1939 the Royal Navy consisted of five Aircraft Carriers, 14 Battleships, three Battlecruisers, and the usual assortment of Heavy and Light Cruisers and Destroyers. It seemed as if Britannia's rule of the waves would be as unchallenged as it always had been and as it is today. A modern observer however might see the fleet's disposition in these late days of peace as somewhat odd. The last Admiral of the Fleet ( the rank was abolished later in the war and replaced with “Grand Admiral of the Fleet” ), Roger Backhouse, had massed all the Carriers in the Mediterranean Sea, where, a he argued, the Air Cover provided by the Carriers for the Battleships was needed, unlike in the open waters of the North Sea. Whether or not the Gun or Carrier Schools would be right in the end would be decided in the next few months and years. In the Air things were not as good but improving fast. 1939 had seen a massive increase in numbers for RAF Fighter Command, with delivery of the new Supermarine Spitfire Fighter Aircraft picking up fast, and the four wings already constructed formed the core of the new and improved RAF Fighter Command. Stationed on the Aerodromes around London, chiefly Biggin Hill, these Wings also formed the backbone of 11 Group. With time, the Spitfire and it's many descendants would make the Royal Air Force and the Royal Indian Air Force the scourge of the enemy, both feared and respected by its adversaries. At the same time Bomber Command had more reason to complain. Ever since light Air Support had been transferred to Fighter Command's Spitfires Bomber Command's responsibilities had been scaled back to Strategic Bombing and such specialized attacks as strikes against enemy Ports and such. This had lead to the priority for development and research being put on Fighters, and as a result of this Bomber Command's heavy Bomber Squadrons were still mainly equipped with the Armstrong-Witworth Whitley, due to delays in Handley-Pages Halifax Bomber programme. The later symbol of Bomber Command's might and power, the Avro Lancaster, was still a pipedream at this point. Still overall the RAF was in a much better state than it had been only a year earlier.
The British Army had always been the stepchild, even more so than the RAF. The British Empire had always been a Naval Power, and so naturally the Army was always the last to benefit from improvements in the technology of warfare. This however was changing fast. During the 1920s and most of the 30s the Army had been pitifully small, stretched thinly across the globe. When the Empire Treaty was signed in 1938 this was bound to change, and almost instantly the meagre British Forces all over the Empire started training local Militias to elevate the danger. Still it wouldn't be until after the war that the Armies of the various Home Nations could take over the defence of their homesteads. The short-term solution to this was that the imperial recruits would join the British Army, forming new Divisions in the United Kingdom. The reasons for this idea where three-fold. Firstly it would allow the Government to raise a much larger Army than it would have been possible had they recruited from the United Kingdom only, and a large Army was needed to combat the vast Military Machine of the Axis Powers. The I Armoured Corps was forming, along with II Corps and VI Corps. Together these three Corps, comprised of six Divisions each would form the core of the BEF. Together with the French they would hold back the Axis avalanche. Equipment was superb. The Lee Enfield was the standard service rifle, and would be during the war, becoming the icon it is today. Ceremonial units all over the Empire and some Imperial Sharp-shooter units still use it today. The Royal Armoured Corps had received the most attention in the pre-war build-up, and by the start of the war it's soldiers finally started receiving the tanks it's main proponents, like Generals Hobart and O'Connor had yearned for for years. The Crusader Mk. II ( description in Chapter XVII ) was not the best possible tank, but at the time it was the best British Industry could produce, and at that time it could hold up even to the most advanced German and Soviet models, despite the in places thin armour.
Politically the setting could not have been more different. Not surprisingly, in the Axis powers the populations were more or less lusting for war, believing what years of propaganda had told them, in the Allied Camp however, the situation was different, especially in France. While the British were not yearning for war, but prepared to fight it to the bitter end if they had to the French were weary, and there were even those who called for France to leave the Allied Powers, in order not to be drawn into a 'Anglo-German dispute'. Demonstrations in front of both the British and German Embassies called for peace and negotiations, but to no avail. Some openly accused the British of wilfully escalating the crisis by cutting diplomatic relations and refusing to come to the table until those responsible for Operation Pine Tree had been handed over to Imperial authorities. These however were a minority, and despite it all the average Frenchman on the street understood why the British had acted like they had done. Still, France was going into this war deeply divided. In the British Empire however the situation was different. While the population in the more distant parts of the country saw the conflict with indifference as they mostly didn't hear the news until it was a few weeks old, something unthinkable in today's information society, in the United Kingdom and the bigger cities all over the globe the mood was sombre but determined. If the British Empire was attacked then she would fight, and fight to the bitter end. Such was the public mood in Britain.
The weeks between July and mid-august 1939 have often been called a 'little cold war' between the Allies and the Axis, and this, albeit overstated, is true in a way. Numerous border incidents almost threw the world to war, most prominently the Hotspur Incident in the North Sea. This has been recreated in numerous publications of every imaginable form, so this work shall only give you the basics. The Battle-Class Destroyer HMS Hotspur, on trial runs in the north Sea, came across a German Freighter, the Wilhelm Gustloff. At that time Royal Navy vessels had orders to stop and search any and all vessels flying the German banner, military and civilian that violated a 30 mile zone around the British and French Coastlines. The Gustloff was spotted about three miles inside of that limit and was therefore signalled by the Hotspur to heave to and prepare to be boarded. The German refused to comply, so as per standard procedure the Captain of the Hotspur fired a warning shot across her bow, and he still would not stop disabled his rudder. After the Gustloff was boarded the crew resisted the British sailors tooth and nail, and three were killed. The Gustloff was thoroughly searched, and as it turned out a large shipment of German-made small arms was found, bound for Ireland, from where the guns presumably were destined for Northern Ireland. This however will never be proven beyond doubt as the Captain managed to destroy most of the log-book before the British boarding party reached the Bridge. The Germans protested violently via the French Embassy in Berlin, but to no avail, the Gustloff was towed Scapa Flow where she spent the rest of the time until war broke out at anchor. In early 1940 she was refurbished as a hospital ship and served as RMS Sewastopol in India and the Pacific.
This incident and many others showed clearly that war was only a matter of time, and by mid August Europe could go aflame any day.”
“The Royal Indian Army in World War 2” - Calcutta University Press, Imperial Dominion of India, 2005
[Game notes: The next update will be set on August 20th, on the eve of the Hotspur Incident, about a week after the incident itself.]
Nice incidents.
And shouldn't you rename the Axis alliance?
Doesn't Axis stand for the Berlin-Rome axis, so if it is Berlin-Moscow-Rome, why not a Triumvirate of Hitler, Stalin and Mussolini? :rofl:
3rd trimvirate.
Or axis might be just fine.o
And shouldn't you rename the Axis alliance?
Doesn't Axis stand for the Berlin-Rome axis, so if it is Berlin-Moscow-Rome, why not a Triumvirate of Hitler, Stalin and Mussolini? :rofl:
3rd trimvirate.
Or axis might be just fine.
o
Sorry for bringing something from another AAR, but how about the Trialistic Alliance (In "The Habsburga la Vista, baby" AAR, someone suggested Dualist Austria-Hungary to become "Trialist").Enewald said:And shouldn't you rename the Axis alliance?
Doesn't Axis stand for the Berlin-Rome axis, so if it is Berlin-Moscow-Rome, why not a Triumvirate of Hitler, Stalin and Mussolini? :rofl:
3rd trimvirate.
Or axis might be just fine.
Anyway, great update!
I can't wait until the war starts.
An effective fact dump, as the summary says (and the video link shows) the Royal Navy was always the priority service. As is right and proper.
i actually quite like the history book style format. good for an overview anyhow.
i wish the news was like that now, so much more inspiring. little did they know that two weeks later everything would go tits-up. giving the navy another chance to shine after that in a different capacity.
i wish the news was like that now, so much more inspiring. little did they know that two weeks later everything would go tits-up. giving the navy another chance to shine after that in a different capacity.
The Trialist suggestion was me,humancalculator said:Sorry for bringing something from another AAR, but how about the Trialistic Alliance (In "The Habsburga la Vista, baby" AAR, someone suggested Dualist Austria-Hungary to become "Trialist").
Anyway, great update!
I can't wait until the war starts.
Anyway very nice updates, I don't mind history-book styled updates anyway.