Congratulations!
Now that the UK fleet is out of the way, you can plan your Sea Lion, though I could not help but notice that there are over 100 divisions ready to defend Southern England. It would be interesting to see how that turns out.
Navy Germany
- Thread starter Simon_9732495
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Congratulations!
Now that the UK fleet is out of the way, you can plan your Sea Lion, though I could not help but notice that there are over 100 divisions ready to defend Southern England. It would be interesting to see how that turns out.
He has 88% to Level 7
368/500 Fleet protector
146/300 Fly Swatter
333/500 Air Controller
368/500 Ironside
I had Erich Raeder on Surface raiding for a short time and he got superior tactician, ironside and fleet protector in no time.
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Between Destroyer Leader and the extra 4 attack pips, I think I would pick Raeder. I don't think Hunter-Killer is a great trait, DDs kill SS plenty fast without it, and the AI doesn't make SS3 so you shouldn't have trouble spotting them. In multiplayer, and SS3 aren't banned, I would take it.
I think Big Gun Expert would probably give you more bang for your buck with 3 effective attack pips on your CA, which are your main damage dealers. That would close the gap between them to only 1 attack pip vs Destroyer Leader, which is a solid pick for Raeder, imo.
But if you keep grinding with Lutjens, you can get Destroyer Leader, Big Gun Expert, and maybe even Cruiser Captain. Although at that point, with 3 already unlocked, he'd be gaining xp at 51.2% the normal rate, so Fly Swatter is not really likely.
I think Big Gun Expert would probably give you more bang for your buck with 3 effective attack pips on your CA, which are your main damage dealers. That would close the gap between them to only 1 attack pip vs Destroyer Leader, which is a solid pick for Raeder, imo.
But if you keep grinding with Lutjens, you can get Destroyer Leader, Big Gun Expert, and maybe even Cruiser Captain. Although at that point, with 3 already unlocked, he'd be gaining xp at 51.2% the normal rate, so Fly Swatter is not really likely.
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Planning of Operation Sea Lion is ongoing, but I have to report another battle first.
I thought I'm not in a hurry with the UK, so I took Norway first as naval invasion training and to get airbases to reach the eastern coast of England.
While the Kriegsmarine was supporting the naval invasion of Norway I saw a US fleet sinking italian ships in the channel and immediately sent my Hochseeflotte to partol.
And we got 'em: The second encounter with the US Navy: (April 1942)
US Navy:
4CVs, 3BBs, 7CAs, 2CLs, 54DDs
Kriegsmarine:
4CVs, 4BBs, 4CAs, 16CLs, 89DDs
An equal battle, except - again - light attack. 1002 vs. 150
In special in the first line. My 16 CLs are designed to shred screens.
The battle went like the one with the Royal Navy. We were sinking screens and the US Navy tried to run away:
They managed to escape with a sizeable fleet, but it was no use against the Hochseeflotte on patrol.
We caught them again:
This time the battle was not equal anymore, we were hunting them down. The better positioning was useless for them:
The
USS Ranger
USS Saratoga
USS Yorktown
and USS Texas were sunk.
And only hours after the
USS New York
and USS Lexington...
...and the USS Arkansas
After that losses the US Navy is no threat to the Kriegsmarine anymore.
You could here the sailors singing: "Rule Germania! Germania rule the waves! ..."
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Isn't that a bug/oversight? If they run away from battle and actually moving away from your region you shouldn't be able to battle them again. It's possible though that the AI keeps them in the region in which case refinding them is justified.
If they are spotted again, even in the same region as the previous battle they were in, and your task force is ready to engage, then another battle can take place. It looks like normal game mechanics at work to me, not a bug. They are retreating to another region or to a nearby port for repair, but too slowly and/or too visibly. I see this happening sometimes in my games. Especially if all, or most of their fast screens have been sunk and all that remains are slow capitals (poor screening reduces or eliminates the retreat speed bonus). Or perhaps some ships may have sustained critical hits that make them move at a snail's pace. If the sea region is covered by radar and air superiority, re-spotting the highly visible task force moving slowly can happen very quickly.
This is based on anecdotal evidence, I could be wrong.
Now Simon's case above is a bit extreme, but still plausible. Usually it's a 1-2 punch against a medium-sized fleet: first sink all the screens, and shortly thereafter all the remaining ships, mostly capitals, in a follow-up battle. In Simon's 3rd encounter (15:00 14 April 1942) however, the US ships don't look damaged so it's possible that the healthy remnants of the previous battle were continuing their mission, they were not escaping. In which case, you're right: "the AI keeps them in the region", and it's stupid.
Moreover, it looks like Simon "cheesed" a bit by putting his Hochseeflotte "doomstack" on patrol mission, allowing it to engage in battle immediately once the US ships were spotted, not having to wait for a strike force to arrive.
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Haven´t tested it but I get the Admirals to several Groups:
1. Erich Reader: He get the big Ships-Fleets (East-Sea and High-Sea) with the 2 old Battleships, 2 Sharnhorst-Class BC´s / BB´s, 2 Bismark-Class BB´s
2. Wilhelm Marshall: He get the Torpedo-Boat-Groups (will be 8 at the End) with the 4 old light Cruisers as Leader-Ships. The Torpedo-Boat Groups get the old 1923 / 1924 Torpedo-Boats and the new to build 1935-Class Torpedo Boats.
3. Hermann Boehm: He get the Main Mine-Laying Fleet with the 2 Mine-Layers and the 4 first 1934 DD´s.
4. Admiral Lütjens: He get the 2 Trade-Disruptor-Fleets with the 3 Tank-Cruisers-Ships and 3 Heavy Cruisers from the Hipper-Class.
5. Karl Dönitz: He get the submarine-Fleets
6. forgotten Name: He get the Recocniscance-Fleets with the 2 Leipzig-Class Cruisers and 12 DD´s 1934A.
1. Erich Reader: He get the big Ships-Fleets (East-Sea and High-Sea) with the 2 old Battleships, 2 Sharnhorst-Class BC´s / BB´s, 2 Bismark-Class BB´s
2. Wilhelm Marshall: He get the Torpedo-Boat-Groups (will be 8 at the End) with the 4 old light Cruisers as Leader-Ships. The Torpedo-Boat Groups get the old 1923 / 1924 Torpedo-Boats and the new to build 1935-Class Torpedo Boats.
3. Hermann Boehm: He get the Main Mine-Laying Fleet with the 2 Mine-Layers and the 4 first 1934 DD´s.
4. Admiral Lütjens: He get the 2 Trade-Disruptor-Fleets with the 3 Tank-Cruisers-Ships and 3 Heavy Cruisers from the Hipper-Class.
5. Karl Dönitz: He get the submarine-Fleets
6. forgotten Name: He get the Recocniscance-Fleets with the 2 Leipzig-Class Cruisers and 12 DD´s 1934A.
Honestly, I reckon Lütjens should have the Battleship Adherent trait as well similar to Raeder as his most famous positions were being in command of Scharnhorst and Gneissenau during their raid in the Atlantic during Operation Berlin as well as commanding Bismarck during her first and final cruise during Operation Rheinübung.
Raeder himself did not command at sea much but was more in charge of overall strategy similar to Nimitz for the Americans. Honestly if they ever do another rework of the navy commanders like him, Dönitz and Nimitz etc. are sort of the archetype for what a Naval version of "Field Marshal" could be if the system allowed assigning a higher commander to for example command an entire theater,
Raeder himself did not command at sea much but was more in charge of overall strategy similar to Nimitz for the Americans. Honestly if they ever do another rework of the navy commanders like him, Dönitz and Nimitz etc. are sort of the archetype for what a Naval version of "Field Marshal" could be if the system allowed assigning a higher commander to for example command an entire theater,
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I wouldn't say that was cheesy.
I saw that a big US fleet was fighting some Italian ships in the channel.
I had no Patrol Fleet at that point, and I knew already that I will find them in short time.
So sending the big fleet on patrol is reasonable. Why would I detach a smaller fleet to patrol and have the larger one on strike force?
(And I had already good results with the main fleet on patrol when I know the enemy is there.)
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I think I will end the run here. (Unless you insist on seeing a Sealion...)
Here a final list of my ship designs:
CV: 4 built and in action:
SHBB: 2 not finished. Bismarck and Tirpitz:
1936 BB: 2 built and in action: Scharnhorst and Gneisenau
1940 CA: 14 built, 10 in action, 4 in training
1940 CL: 17 built, 14 in action, 3 in training
1940 DD: ~75 built
Kriegsmarine in June 1942:
Here a final list of my ship designs:
CV: 4 built and in action:
SHBB: 2 not finished
. Bismarck and Tirpitz:
1936 BB: 2 built and in action: Scharnhorst and Gneisenau
1940 CA: 14 built, 10 in action, 4 in training
1940 CL: 17 built, 14 in action, 3 in training
1940 DD: ~75 built
Kriegsmarine in June 1942:
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I don't want to make a big deal out of this.
I may be wrong, but I don't think the AI ever does this (putting a doomstack strike force on patrol and on "always engage", at a moment's notice). So in regard to the game mechanics in singleplayer, I wouldn't say it's an outright abuse, but "it's not fair", and "it's too easy". One might also note that it's not realistic: such a big fleet cannot be on patrol 24/7, it burns too much fuel.
You could argue that the English Channel is so small, it wouldn't have made a big difference whether you had a dedicated patrol force and your main fleet on strike mission. And I would mostly agree, in this particular case.
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SHBB: 2 not finished
How is the super heavy battleship getting 15.6 anti-air? I have never built a super heavy battleship, but that one aa gun seems to provide more anti-air than a single aa gun on your other ships. Am I overlooking something?
He has DP secondaries. Each one is worth 3 AA attack (x4 is 12), plus the 1936 AA and the % bonuses from that and from radar. I'd actually have stuck even more on (2 more open slots can fit them) and stripped off the third big gun (only turrets or AA available, but I'd leave it empty for higher speed and lower cost), but I understand that people want their huge battleships to have huge battleship turrets
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