Fatherland - Deutschland über alles

[Kanitatlan]

Killerflood I'll sneak you in as Luftwaffe officer - there are plenty of active roles there, and you also get to have a CV named after you.

Brad1, Bafflegab Well spotted about the aircraft numbers. I did have a look at them and thought about publishing the tooltip list. There are aircraft from absolutely everywhere. Unfortunately there is little potential for a paradrop due to the ridiculous build up time. If I hold off from this target for three months then I can probably arrange a paradrop (2 months might be possible) but this is a ridiculous long delay. Redeploying paras into an area with badly damaged airfields that are already needed for frontline air activities is all a bit pointless.

danielshannon The answer is "Yes" but DOES ANYONE KNOW WHAT MODEL OF TURAN?

Juan_de_Marco, rcduggan, LarsG, WhisperingDeath If your bad puns put one of my better air generals out of commission then there is going to be severe punishment.

Killerflood I will schedule a world map. It is going to be based on the Dec 9th save so it will be inserted in the AAR when I get there. It shouldn't be more than a few days.

 

[Kanitatlan]

00:00 8th November 1941​

Finally I have frontline supply services but even though this is a good improvement taking my TC to 1500 this is far from enough to deal with the massive overload from strategic movements. (see TC display in screen centre).

13:00 8th November 1941​

Khobdo has fallen and is subject to immediate counterattack. The strength of the attack is pitiful considering just how large a force is next door and this attack is soon thrown off.

01:00 9th November 1941​

Next day at dawn the attack of Kyzyl is launched before anything unpleasant can happen. Despite the inappropriate force mix the battle is over before the local airpower can even work out what the target is and join in. This defeat guarantees I can annex Tannu Tuva so most forces here become resistant and significant groups, including the force in Khobdo are sent away.

Captured with tanks?

02:00 10th November 1941​

Now this is bad news, and I don’t just mean accidentally showing the name Japan instead of the Petal Throne. I wanted to keep Frunze as a strong forward base and flank protection anchor. This could cause some problems and whilst there are reinforcements on their way it is uncertain who will get there first and whether my forces will be in sufficient numbers.

06:00 10th November 1941​

Hanging about in Persia has proven its point with a large British force arriving albeit at very low org. They are of course immediately eliminated and now major forces can be sent elsewhere as there are very few British troops left.

07:00 10th November 1941​

A substantial IPTN fleet has turned up far off course south of the Seychelles. This is rather unexpected and shows they are behind my battle fleet screen but I have no idea what the AI thinks it is doing there. I will have to watch this lot as this scale of CVLs could easily cause major positioning issues for my fleets.

23:00 10th November 1941​

The last province has fallen in the Persian pocket and now all troops except for single divisions in retreat targets can be redeployed elsewhere. This is another load on my TC but does provide troops for starting new operations. This has released nearly 60 divisions for other duties.

 

[Kanitatlan]

00:00 11th November 1941​

The first real fruits of Petal-Soviet cooperation (now that’s a nice turn of phrase) is the returning of a nice useless mountain province to Russian control. Unfortunately for its liberators they have now entered the beaten zone for the 16 CAS in Balkhash who have no other target. They take off like a swarm of hungry bees and head for the target (sorry, no petal/flower/bee jokes)

02:00 11th November 1941​

The Petal Throne has sent reinforcements so it is time for the second softening up attack. The second battle of Multan is even easier than the first and makes sure nobody gets a chance to dig in.

00:00 12th November 1941​

A group of really proud scientists announce the development of a great war winning weapon (oh, yeah, right – we all believe that don’t we). They have a rapt audience but little do they know everyone is watching the splendid and efficient destruction of a brand new Mongolian division visible just round the edge of their display.

Somehow I just know this is a bad idea. That rocket looks awful expensive and that warhead looks awful small.

07:00 12th November 1941​

The pinnacle of the amphibious campaign has arrived already and our marines land with no trouble in Ceylon. The enemy remains conspicuously absent but we will soon be able to go looking for him further to the east.

03:00 14th November 1941​

The US navy remains hooked on port strikes but again to no discernable effect. They damage the port, scratch the paint and then flee. The port repairs at no cost to the German economy and everything is as good as new – except those US ships with bombs sticking out of them.

04:00 16th November 1941​

Over in Siberia a quick check on the air power shows that it remains reasonably effective and the bad weather hasn’t closed things down yet. The big fear as that the winter will close down all movement and leave the bombers attacking a dug in target (to no effect).

07:00 16th November 1941​

In West Africa another air-supported attack is actually responsible for destroying an enemy unit. Managing to isolate them before attack is quite unusual but after this we can send some more troops away and start focusing on Nigeria. After each part of the coast is closed down the air units “advance” to the next target and the mobile ground troops are sent away to the South African border.

10:00 17th November 1941​

Next day sees the next successful attack pushing the enemy out its last stronghold before Nigeria. I have used the motorised division in Ibadan to support this attack. I was in two minds before I did it and the lack of air cover results in the division ultimately being reduced to 65% strength before the situation is recovered. These are unnecessary casualties and should have been avoided by simply sitting tight.

 

[El Pip]

Dear god those Petal Throne stacks are immense.

I dread to think how big the US coastal stacks are. In fact, assuming the US AI hasn't suddenly become clever, I expect so see a stack at least twice that size on Guam and all the other useless pacific islands the AI insists on garrisoning.

Now that would be a challenge, even if you can get a shore bombardment bonus high enough to reduce them to 1% effectiveness that may not be enough if the stack is big enough. It will be interesting to see how that works out.

 

[Juan_de_Marco]

Juan_de_Marco, rcduggan, LarsG, WhisperingDeath If your bad puns put one of my better air generals out of commission then there is going to be severe punishment.

what kiiiiind of punishment?




seriously though, time to start that immense sub fleet to do some convoy raiding.

 

[dannyboy2016]

I think its a Turan II. Its a shame we already dealt with the Hungarians, so we won't be seeing any of those Turans on the field of battle.

Is it possible to mod the game so that Partisans get tanks instead of militia when they rise up?

 

[Manziel]

Now that would be a challenge, even if you can get a shore bombardment bonus high enough to reduce them to 1% effectiveness that may not be enough if the stack is big enough. It will be interesting to see how that works out.

there is an excellent solution for that :/

 

[El Pip]

there is an excellent solution for that :/

Nuking Pacific Islands does indeed have a proud lineage, but I didn't think the glorious leader was heading down the route of nukes. And even if he does there are a lot of small islands, not to mention the need to smash a hole in the coastal US defences or the bottleneck of Mexico (assuming a South America first strategy)

 

[Kanitatlan]

El Pip,Manziel I am not the slightest bit worried about large stacks on Guam or the like. My biggest concern is how am I actually going to defeat this insane horde I have set up. Landing in the USA is rightly identified as a huge issue but I do find trying to land troops into a nuclear wasteland a little self defeating.

Juan_de_Marco I suspect soft cushions will need to be applied.

danielshannon Oddly enough I am not certain which model it is. I tend to agree that it is a Turan II. I know it isn't a III as the gun if not big enough. Whichever way it works I have no intent of allowing even the Hungarian factories to build these.

And now to continue ...

 

[Kanitatlan]

03:00 18th November 1941​

Now we have the third battle of Multan (is anyone else keeping count as I could easily go wrong here). Repeatedly attacking means the province is never well defended and is a very effective way of inflicting a few casualties but it is all but useless for winning a war.

09:00 18th November 1941​

Our interceptors appear to be wandering targetless in the Baltic so I guess this sea is finally clear of enemy ships. Except for one of those trapped leftovers – an enemy fleet in port in a German owned province in northern Sweden. There is no way (except cheating) to find out what is there as you can’t attack your own port but I have never seen such a fleet do anything unless the allies recapture the port. This therefore means that the Baltic is now safe (cross your fingers anyway)

04:00 19th November 1941​

The enemy has captured Alma Atta giving the Stukas in Balkhash their second target. The enemy won’t last long but this makes Frunze look even more vulnerable.

04:00 19th November 1941 b​

To the south the limited forces already present are driving the South Africans away from our positions. They have been sneaking up on us but this provides two excellent targets for a spot of bombing. The German air presence isn’t that strong at the moment but it can deal with enemies on this small scale.

17:00 20th November 1941​

This is final air battle to secure the air defence of Ibadan. Following this the bombers destroy the allied airfield in Lagos and the combination seems to achieve permanent suppression of allied air power in the area. I should have tried to bomb their airfield as soon as it was in range. It is the slow trickle of recovered org that has allowed the repeated resurgence of allied bombing. I know that there are hordes of low org units in Lagos and a few are likely to recover enough every few days to cause trouble.

01:00 21st November 1941​

With my troops ashore all that is left is the matter of capturing Colombo. The conditions are not exactly attractive but the combat modifiers are far from bad enough to prevent me winning. That is one more allied division accounted for.

10:00 21st November 1941​

It turns out the air fighting over Ibadan is still not finished even though I am left with a mere two barely operational fighters. This battle proves to be the last – what a relief.

17:00 21st November 1941​

East of Ceylon the enemy fleets are finally interceding but they are too late. The transports are all in harbour and the troops are ashore. All that they will achieve now is the sort of battle I am looking for. They have a carrier fleet nearly as powerful as mine but the first engagement is a night in rain so very little happens. I have supporting fleets but does the IPTN?

 

[Kanitatlan]

04:00 22nd November 1941​

The follow up engagement after dawn only involves a small supplementary fleet and they suffer rather badly despite the weather.

01:00 23rd November 1941​

I pursue eastwards towards the north Malacca straits. If the IPTN wants to get away then its route is fairly well defined, there is nowhere else to go. It does seem like they have a number of supporting fleets but they are providing little more than target practice and minor movement delays. It is nice to see task force Lemuria (commander VirgilTheChicken – long time no see around here).

07:00 23rd November 1941​

The fourth battle of Multan is another easy affair making sure the enemy defences remain disrupted.

23:00 23rd November 1941​

We have finally engaged a decent sized but no challenge enemy fleet only to find them able to close in to cruiser range. This is deeply disturbing especially since they manage to maintain it. Ultimately little harm is done as the enemy lacks sufficient firepower but the fleet has taken damage when typically we do not. The enemy decides discretion is the best option and withdraws gracefully without loss. I am guessing the CVL is a critical factor in this and I will have to remain vigilant for further risky engagements.

01:00 24th November 1941​

Elsewhere the enemy is not so lucky and another small fleet ceases to exist. I now have 4 major task forces operating, all around this region east of Ceylon.

10:00 24th November 1941​

With the enemy airbase in Lagos fully suppressed I am now confident that further air attack has been successfully suppressed. There are still 33 squadrons there but since they have not been operating we can assume they will continue to not operate until some org recovery is possible.

00:00 25th November 1941​

The series of naval battles around the Malacca straits and Singapore has inflicted a few losses on the enemy but it also gives us a good look at the defences. Java appears to be undefended and Malaya is defended by a single garrison in Singapore. This is just asking for further amphibious operations after the Indian campaign is complete. For the time being my amphibious forces will have to stand ready to support the Indian campaign rather than become embroiled in further operations to the east.

23:00 25th November 1941​

I’m starting to get the idea that the Malacca straits are the place to lurk. The confined waters around Indonesia provide some excellent patrol bottlenecks and have significantly increased the rate of encounter with enemy ships. Hopefully this will help us to reduce IPTN strength more quickly.

 

[Von Uber]

Would the units in Africa make a difference on other fronts?

 

[Kanitatlan]

Would the units in Africa make a difference on other fronts?

Now that is a very pertinent question. Since I have played through to the end of the Indian campaign one thing is apparent. Any offensive requires every single unit I can possibly lay my hands on, my worst enemy is dispersion of effort.

 

[Kanitatlan]

13:00 26th November 1941​

In South Africa I have begun a strategic bombing campaign. They have all but 2 of their IC in a single air zone, which is extremely convenient for setting up bombing. Initial operations are focused on reducing the AA capability but after this we will switch to mixed anti-AA and regular strategic bombing until all their factories are suppressed. I’m not sure what impact this will have but I have strategic bombers and this is a target.

22:00 26th November 1941​

It is very disappointing that there is no good mechanism for forcing longer battles in the enemy. I have repeated encounters with small enemy fleets and end up only sinking their ships in ones and twos even under ideal battle conditions. This is of course one argument to go for the gunfire style of fleet due to the much higher naval attack strengths you get per IC spent. Depending on CVs means successful positioning gives and excellent damage ratio but it also means slow battles achieving limited results in the minimum four hours available.

It also means ineffectiveness at night and in bad weather. When you add it all up CVs sound like a terrible idea and you start to wonder why they were so dominant.

03:00 27th November 1941​

Nice to see El Salvador making their contribution to fish safety.

03:00 27th November 1941 b​

This is the sort of fleet that looks like it has a good chance of closing but doesn’t. It wouldn’t matter since I seriously outgun them at every range but it has the right mix.

12:00 28th November 1941​

Finally we have a decent encounter. This large Petal Throne carrier fleet has a wide mixture of ships but only six CVs to my eight. The German fleet is also much more experienced. Rather foolishly I accept their willingness to stay and fought far to long since I could have escaped without loss. The losses so far are 3 IPTN CVs for 1 German CV leaving the odds at 7:3 so I decide to push it even further and try to finish them off. Even with promise of a great victory it is upsetting to take the first naval loss for many many months.

06:00 29th November 1941​

Bombing of South Africa is beginning to eat up their IC. This will give them a massive reduction in industrial output and at least stop them from growing even more whilst my forces build up to attack them.

19:00 29th November 1941​

Who can tell use what this picture means?​

03:00 30th November 1941​

The naval battle has raged through the whole day with the final battle length being 39 hours. I have finally been forced to retreat with the sudden loss of two more CVs. This is very bad there is no way even this great victory can justify the loss of three CVs and the corresponding loss of 6 German manpower. This is a sad day and we must all wear black armbands. There is much discussion at HQ with the phrase “never again” being repeated over and over. Hubris finally allows the AI its revenge

Final losses

Germany

3 CV

Petal Throne

3 CV
1 BB
2 BC
1 CVL
3 CA​

Most would see this is a major victory with a loss ratio of nearly 3:1 but sadly the AI production advantage means that I need to sustain a loss ratio nearer 10:1. This battle must be looked upon as a bad choice and a mistake never to be repeated.

And there is even worse news (which some will have spotted in the image). One of the ship sunk is the KMS Remble. This is our fifth most experienced ship (61.1 experience at last save) credited with more than 20 kills. It will be sorely missed. The production team have been consulted and a new KMS Remble has been assigned in the shipyards to be launched shortly. Unfortunately it will have an inexperienced crew (as far as Germany allows such things).

 

[unmerged(55467)]

Wow, this game looks like it'll be getting even tougher as dominance of the seas becomes more important, if a naval battle like that is actually a defeat.

 

[Manziel]

I have repeated encounters with small enemy fleets and end up only sinking their ships in ones and twos even under ideal battle conditions. This is of course one argument to go for the gunfire style of fleet due to the much higher naval attack strengths you get per IC spent. Depending on CVs means successful positioning gives and excellent damage ratio but it also means slow battles achieving limited results in the minimum four hours available.

well, if you use gunfire-fleets (like i prefer for style) you will have a small but steady trickle of losses, so in your case i think CVs are the right choice (if there can even be a right choice)

 

[Herbert West]

(how many GB of RAM do you have? With such a large amount of troops, the game ougth to munch away at ram like a hungry crocodile at a dead gazelle)

Edit: and what are those drilled holes on the mörser gun? Are they for cooling?

 

[Brad1]

I like the steady stream of updates! Keep it up!

 

[Kanitatlan]

DirtyCommiePuke This game is getting tougher and at a point towards the end of the Indian campaign I started thinking I don't know how to win this game, which makes a change. We are entering unknown territory.

Manziel I tend to agree. Going with CVs is the only way to achieve zero loss naval combat. Even so that is getting difficult.

Herbert West I'm currently running on a 1 Gb machine but can put another Gb in if it turns out to be important. It is slowing down (significantly) but still runs faster than I want to go.

I don't know what the drilled holes are for. the rate of fire on the Sturm Tiger was sufficiently low that cooling can't really have been an issue. It is more like a rocket launcher than a gun anyway.

Brad1 I'm glad you like the update rate - there is more to come (much more)

However, I am temporarily suspending updates until someone answers the 29th November question

 

[unmerged(59906)]

We have finally engaged a decent sized but no challenge enemy fleet only to find them able to close in to cruiser range.

The Light carrier is responsible for them closing. Any fleet with one of these will close to guns range if they do not have a full size Carrier. Had you sunk the Light Carrier the range would have opened again. Had the enemy fleet sunk your escorts, CL/DD, the range would have closed to 1 nm.

Also worth noting is the major Carrier battle. Carriers attack big ships and ignore little ships, which is why no escorts were sunk. Conversely a SAG needs to destroy the escorts before it can target Carriers to any degree.

I am sure you already know this but its worth pointing out anyway.

Maybe you need to name a Destroyer after me instead, I don't seem to do well with Carriers

Edit: 40 M Turan 1 based on the Skoda T-21. Now start posting