Until the bitter end - A German Third Reich Mod AAR

[Mr_B0narpte]

Hey, this is my first AAR so I hope it goes well. Feel free to comment and make any suggestions.

1940-1941
April 1940: Invasion of France part I and invasion of Norway
April 1940: Invasion of France part II
April - May 1940: Invasion of France part III
July 1940 - April 1941: everything but the Battle of the Atlantic
August 1940 - April 1941: Battle of the Atlantic
May 1941 - 21st June 1941: Lull before the storm
22nd June 1941 - September 1941: Operation Barbarossa
October 1941 - November 1941: the onset of winter and Soviet counter-attacks
December 1941: the widening of the war and celebration for the Kriegsmarine

1942
January 1942: further celebration for the Kriegsmarine and trouble in Finland
February 1942: securing Finland, addressing the manpower crisis, costly battles against the Red Army and disaster for the Kriegsmarine
March 1942: successful defence of Smolensk, loss of Melitopol and success for the Kriegsmarine
April 1942: continued production of Atlantik wall, German encirclement of Vyshgorod and further successes against the Allied navies
May 1942: Germans go on the offensive in the east
June 1942: failure of the offensive, bombing of Leningrad
July 1942: Kriegsmarine and Luftwaffe losing the initiative as losses dramatically increase
August 1942: German encirclement of Poltava and Kharkov, capture of Gibraltar, disaster for Royal Navy
September 1942: Luftwaffe increasingly strained, sinking of HMS Ark Royal, UK invasion of Narvik
October 1942: German encirclement of Rostov backfired, Sweden cancels trade with Germany, Germany's industrial plans
November 1942: retreat from Rostov, battle over Stalino, big air battles in the West
December 1942: intensification of the air war, Luftwaffe victories in the east, German retreat behind the Dnieper

1943
January 1943: hope of a Great offensive in the summer, continued Luftwaffe success in the east, Kriegsmarine failure
February 1943: disaster on the eastern front, Kriegsmarine successes, Luftwaffe victories
March 1943: continued Soviet attacks, German counter-attacks, USA and Italy fight in Persia
April 1943: costly battles over Priluki and Mogilev, Second Norwegian Campaign, air battles over Leningrad
1st May-17th May 1943: before the Great Offensive, the international situation, sinking of Soviet convoys
18th May-30th May 1943: launching the Great Offensive, dramatic retreat elsewhere
http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum...ch-Mod-AAR&p=14848078&viewfull=1#post14848078June 1943: the retreat continues, mixed results in Norway, continued disaster in Africa
July 1943: the Soviet pocked is closed, Berlin is bombed, Italian Empire disintegrates and its remaining territory is consolidated
August 1943: fall of Finland, loss of Suez, successful minor encirclement of the Red Army
August 1943: Japan's situation
September 1943: re-capture of the Baltic region, retreat from North Africa, preparing a defence of Italy
October 1943: a couple of German attritional attacks, expanding air war by the Allies, UK taking most of Norway
November 1943: closing the Vyshgorod pocket, Axis Air Forces all over Europe repulse the USAAF and RAF, Casablanca is lost and Sardinia re-captured
December 1943: increased Allied bombing attempts, German victories in Norway, Red Army appears to be weak

1944
January 1944: southern-Norway back in German hands, Red Air Force repulsed, Japan losing the war in Asia
February 1944: Soviets attack Krivoy Rog, northern-Norway being taken back by Germany, Luftwaffe sent to Bulgaria and Italy
March 1944: Germans send the Red Army into disarray in the south, P-51s fly over the Rhineland, all of Norway back in German hands
April 1944: potential to advance further in the south, continued air battles over the Rhineland, US port strike on Palermo
May 1944: several battles over Zaporozhye, Estonia is lost to the Soviets, Japan losses Korea
June 1944: continued advance southwards, fierce air battles over Wilhelmshafen, production of V-1 rockets
July 1944: Maikop and Grozny held, Sevastopol placed under siege, continued air battles over Wilhelmshafen
August 1944: Baku is captured, Vichy Air Force defeated defeated over Vichy, plans to besiege Stalingrad begin
September 1944: battles in the Stalingrad area, USAAF defeated over Essen and Wilhelmshafen, Japan holds Pearl Harbour
October 1944: continued advance south of Stalingrad, fear of an Allied invasion of France increases, successful V-1 attacks
November 1944: loss of Astrakhan, USSR annexes Tanna Tuva, continued success of V-1 attacks
December 1944: eastern front & co: bombing of Moscow, encirclement of Kharkov and Bougchar, unforeseen circumstances force a retreat in the east
December 1944: opening of a Western front!!

1945
January 1945: counter-attacking the American forces in France, American turbojets fly over Essen and Cologne, retreat behind Kharkov
February 1945: Rommel counter-attacks the Soviets, US amphibious attacks on Crete, re-think on the Luftwaffe's situation
March 1945: Continued German counter-attacks, down-sizing of the Luftwaffe, hopes for a summer offensive
April 1945: More small successes for Rommel, as well as some victories for the Bismarck and Tirpitz, gigantic Allied land force spotted, Germany's resource stockpile in peril
May 1945 part 1: USAAF battles over Rhineland, U-boats useless when faced with Destroyers, partisan uprising in occupied-Yugoslavia, cripplingly low resource stockpile affecting Germany's production
[URL="http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/showthread.php?609117-Until-the-bitter-end-A-German-Third-Reich-Mod-AAR&p=16200394&viewfull=1#post16200394"]May 1945 part 2: Germany goes on the offensive, Kharkov is taken, the order to encircle Stalingrad is given, the potential for encircling 30-40 Soviet divisions seems likely
June 1945: Stalingrad is encircled, an attack on Moscow is launched, the USA captures Okinawa
July 1945: UK holds elections, Stalingrad is captured, Royal Navy sinks most of the U-boat fleet in France, USA attacks Malta
August 1945 part 1: USA attacks Palermo, Catania, Lorient and Brest! Soviet attacks around Stalingrad repulsed, Italian navy and air force perform admirably
August 1945 part 2: UK launches attacks on occupied-Netherlands, both the German and Italian surface fleets suffer irreparable losses, US forces in France destroyed

[/URL]
Settings:
1936 GC/Normal difficulty/Normal aggression

I'm playing as Germany using the superb single player Third Reich Mod made by Gringoesteban, that really does make it a challenge to win as Germany. I have played it several times before, but only reached as far as late-1941, after I started to experience logistical problems and was put on the retreat in several areas by the Red Army. I mainly wasn't able to finish that as I was off to university in that month. But now I hope to play till the bitter end, regardless of what happens.

House Rules:

The rules set down in the mod are:
1) Don't go to war with the USSR until May 1941 at the earliest
2) Only deploy submarines and capital ships in German ports (i.e. not occupied French, Belgium or Dutch ports)
3) Don't go to war until Danzig (which I have abided by)
My own rules are:
1) Don't invade the UK until the USSR has been defeated (I might edit the rule to also allow an attempt to invade when also at war with the Soviet Union)
2) Only invite historical countries into the Axis (i.e. Slovakia, Italy, Bulgaria, Hungary & Romania)
3) I can only military control puppet states and Axis minors (as having them as expeditionary forces demands an exacting amount of supplies from Germany)
i) I can only military control Italy if the situation in Africa becomes extremely critical.
4) No reloading.
5) No pausing when responding to any attack or planning a minor attack.
6) ?? Any suggestions are welcome

Starting Situation:
I'm currently at 2nd January 1940. I annexed Poland in mid-September 1939, and I plan to do Operation Weserbrung in April 1940 and to invade France anytime on from March 1940, weather permitting.
The inflicted losses so far are:

My military at the moment is composed of:
Army: 50 inf, 52 mot. inf, 7 HQ, 5 l. arm, 1 arm, 3 mount and 1 cal division.
Navy: 39 SS, 6 BC, 6 CA, 11 CL, 6 DD and 3 transports.
Airforce: 19 INT and 9 TAC bombers.

Plans:

Production: I hope to have 100 mot. inf divisions by early-1941, probably disbanding several of the inf divisions to achieve this. I am also making at least 20 garrisons by early-1941. I have 18 submarine squadrons in production that will be completed in August 1940, with production of these possibly being extended. 2 battlecruisers will be ready in May 1940, with destroyers and light cruisers also in production. I am maintaining an ongoing serial of interceptors, while also making 3 more tactical bombers.

Naval Strategy: As you can probably tell from my navy build, I aim to attack the UK's convoys. This is essentially for flavour, as the UK AI is given plenty of convoys through events in this mod, but I do hope to make some sort of dent in their supply system. These attacks will begin again after France has been taken and all my U-boats have made port in Brest and Bordeaux. However, I do hope to attack a portion of the UK's fleet this month, which is currently stationed in the Mouth of the Thames, with most of the U-boats at my disposal.

Army Strategy: As stated above, I plan to do Operation Weserbrung in April 1940 and to invade France anytime on from March 1940, weather permitting. Then I will invade Yugoslavia and Greece after France has fallen, again weather permitting. After months of recuperation and reorganisation, the USSR will be next with the invasion commencing in May or June 1941.

Airforce Strategy: With the mainstay of the Luftwaffe being interceptors, its role is to defend Germany's industry from Allied bombing. After the fall of France, the tactical bombers will be used alongside the U-boats to sink British convoys, up until 2 weeks before the invasion of the USSR if not longer.


Hopefully all these plans work out, with Operation Barbarossa being the main challenge.

 

[Mr_B0narpte]

The German navy achieved overwhelming success in March 1940, wunderbar!

With the recently appointed Chief of the Navy Karl Dönitz wanting to prove himself while also remove the threat of the Royal Navy in the upcoming invasion of Denmark and Norway, he ordered the majority of his U-boats to patrol the British coast from Sheffield up-to Scapa Flow once the weather permitted in late February 1940.

It seemed the RN was staying put in its ports, afraid of German attack, and rightfully so as events were later to prove.

After nearly a month of searching, Dönitz was about to recall the submarines due to the chronically low amount of supplies Germany had, caused by its extensive rearmament program still in progress. But then, on 21st March 1940 a squadron of 18 RN ships started attacking the recalled 18 U-boat units, suggesting an equal battle. But far from it, Dönitz made sure it would end in German victory by sending another 6 units into the battle and it turned into a slaughter.

The sinking of an escort carrier, heavy cruiser, two destroyers and a light cruiser was made worse as Dönitz ordered the retreating fleet to be pursued.

Such losses, it is hoped, have deterred the Royal Navy from interfering in the North Sea. But Dönitz, believing the best defence is a good offence, sent out the German submarines again in early April 1940 with quick success. For some unknown reason, maybe the UK planned carrier born aircraft to attack our airfields in Wilhelmshafen as its strategic bombers had taken heavy losses doing so, but a battle emerged off the coast of the Netherlands. During that battle, no ships were sunk but the RN ships had nevertheless taken heavy losses and many retreated due to the disruption caused by the U-boats. Dönitz pursued them, not with his submarines, but with his fast battle cruiser and heavy cruiser fleets; partly because of their speed, partly because of the losses the submarines had taken. This resulted in another success:

The sinking of the battleship HMS Valiant gave a righteous cause for celebration in the Kriegsmarine, Dönitz proved his worth as did the worthy U-boats. All of this had been achieved with no loss in ships for Germany, although the Heavy Cruiser Admiral Hipper had been severely damaged:

(The one submarine that was sunk was the WW1 U-boat, with hindsight I should've just scrapped it)


Now it is France's turn to experience defeat, but not on sea, on land...

 

[unmerged(83789)]

Looking good so far. I think the ships your sinking are mainly the RN's older ships though esp the HMS Angus. Subscribed.

 

[Mr_B0narpte]

Thankyou. That is true, I just wiki'd HMS Angus and it was constructed in 1918, so yeah it's pretty old. Thanks again.

 

[Mr_B0narpte]

April 1940

At the beginning of April 1940 the Heer began to deploy its attack force on the Low countries borders in anticipation for the upcoming assault. It aimed to focus the attacks on the Netherlands and through the Belgian plains while also to seize Liege and Bastogne before French troops could reinforce the provinces.

However it first had to focus on removing Denmark and Norway from threatening Germany's northern borders, in particular the Altmark Incident on 16th February had undermined Norway's supposed neutrality in the eyes of the Germans. War was declared on both countries on 11th April.


With a combined effort from the Heer, Luftwaffe and Kriegsmarine the Norwegian province Kristiansand was captured with minimal casualties on 14th April.

It was hoped Denmark would put up no resistance to German invasion if Kolding was captured, but this assumption proved futile. On the same day as the capture of Kristiansand, the attack on Copenhagen commenced and it fell within a matter of days.

The Kriegsmarine had no problem in the North Sea, showing Dönitz's plan had succeeded in removing the RN from that theatre. The Norwegian navy put up admirable resistance, but it was removed in a matter of days with its submarine fleet being sunk on 18th April and the surface fleet the next day.

With the fall of Denmark, it being clear Norway was going to be defeated soon and the improvement in weather, the Wehrmacht commenced its offensive on the Low Countries and France on 22nd April.

 

[Mr_B0narpte]

April 1940

The battles on the border were costly for both sides, but Germany inflicted the most losses on all accounts, with Eindhoven being the exception as its defence was aided by its natural surroundings.

The speed of the German offensive put the French off guard, with them ordering hopeless counterattacks in their confusion, even attempting assaults on fortified Cologne.

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[clist123abc]

Awesome! Nice to see another one. Will be nice to compare your experience to mine. I’m a bit surprised you’re building so many motorized. Motorized takes quite a bit longer to upgrade than infantry and will eat up quite a bit of oil, which you need for armored and air force.

Have you researched naval doctrines ahead of other techs? In my naval engagements I always get beat up by the royal navy and I think its in large part because navy is at the bottom of priority list when I research techs.

I was surprised Denmark put up a fight. They usually concede quickly, I just sent in a division up to Aalborg and they capitulated. I also attacked only Narvik and Oslo in Norway to annex quickly and not lose manpower.

It looks like you lost a ton of bombers. What happened? Did you break them up into individual wings to gain experience?

I think you should reconsider military control of Allies. Historically Italians informally followed the orders of German commanders even if they had parallel commands. For instance in Africa, Rommel’s divisions were technically under Italian command but in reality Rommel was the leader and used Italian divisions as if they were his own. In Greece, Crete, Italians and Bulgarians shared garrison duties with the Germans. Same with Yugoslavia. It’s up to you but when you leave the minors on their own they tend to disappoint if not irritate. Romanians, Hungarians are below expectations in the East but with your command you can replicate the important role they and the Italian troops played. I don’t really get where this shame of assuming military control of minors comes from.

One tip that might work is to reduce military salaries to 2 or 3 after you get Vichy until March 41 to increase your funds for later upgrades. Just make sure to ground your planes and not engage the navy. Iv’e had to increase it from time to time when Allies land in Norway.

 

[Mr_B0narpte]

Awesome! Nice to see another one. Will be nice to compare your experience to mine.

Thanks, I've finished my campaign against France and will put the inflicted losses soon, I haven't had any Allied invasion of Norway yet though.

I’m a bit surprised you’re building so many motorized. Motorized takes quite a bit longer to upgrade than infantry and will eat up quite a bit of oil, which you need for armored and air force.

Indeed, I did (and still am) trading quite a lot of money away to build up my oil supplies, so I'll see if it works out in the end.

Have you researched naval doctrines ahead of other techs? In my naval engagements I always get beat up by the royal navy and I think its in large part because navy is at the bottom of priority list when I research techs.

Yes I have, partly at the expense of air doctrines as I've only just finished (mid-1940) all the 1939 fighter and interceptor doctrines and started researching the Advanced Battleship tech in March 1940 and will hopefully finish by August!

I was surprised Denmark put up a fight. They usually concede quickly, I just sent in a division up to Aalborg and they capitulated. I also attacked only Narvik and Oslo in Norway to annex quickly and not lose manpower.

I was surprised too, it looked like I need to route their army in Copenhagen first as it triggered the day after I did so. I'll soon put up the rest of my Norwegian campaign.

It looks like you lost a ton of bombers. What happened? Did you break them up into individual wings to gain experience?

Um... I'm not sure how you got that impression, maybe from the inflicted losses table? I have not used my 8 initial TAC bombers as they still need upgrading and only used my new TAC in the Norwegian campaign as there was no Allied air force there.

I think you should reconsider military control of Allies. Historically Italians informally followed the orders of German commanders even if they had parallel commands. For instance in Africa, Rommel’s divisions were technically under Italian command but in reality Rommel was the leader and used Italian divisions as if they were his own. In Greece, Crete, Italians and Bulgarians shared garrison duties with the Germans. Same with Yugoslavia.

True, but, IMO it's completely unhistorical that Germany would be army to control the entire Italian army, navy and airforce. I just hope Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania give me plenty expeditionary forces that I can command.

It’s up to you but when you leave the minors on their own they tend to disappoint if not irritate. Romanians, Hungarians are below expectations in the East but with your command you can replicate the important role they and the Italian troops played.

True but I'd rather face the challenge of having blundering allies and having to adapt. (I say that now but I'll probably be fuming if Italy falls in 1941!)

I don’t really get where this shame of assuming military control of minors comes from.

I think it's generally considered historically implausible that any government would hand over complete control of its military to another state, but I agree with you on it, I'm just doing it for the challenge.

One tip that might work is to reduce military salaries to 2 or 3 after you get Vichy until March 41 to increase your funds for later upgrades. Just make sure to ground your planes and not engage the navy. Iv’e had to increase it from time to time when Allies land in Norway.

Yeah I noticed you did that on your AAR. Reduce it to 2/3 per cent? Surely attrition during the winter of 1940/41 would sky rocket if I did that. But I will need to do something to manage all these upgrades by mid-1941, maybe down to 80% mil salary and 75% research.

 

[clist123abc]

True, but, IMO it's completely unhistorical that Germany would be army to control the entire Italian army, navy and airforce. I just hope Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania give me plenty expeditionary forces that I can command.

True but I'd rather face the challenge of having blundering allies and having to adapt. (I say that now but I'll probably be fuming if Italy falls in 1941!)

I think it's generally considered historically implausible that any government would hand over complete control of its military to another state, but I agree with you on it, I'm just doing it for the challenge.

That's a common misconception from what i'd read and seen through documentaries relating to subordination to German High Command plans. The Romanians for instance were crucial in helping Manstein take Sevastopol and then holding the Kuban bridgehead so that List's forces could get back without being cut off. Hungarians and Italians, who sent their best general to the East, were also important in keeping the flanks secure as the advance toward Stalingrad was made. After 41 Hitler sent Keitel on a secret mission to both Hungary and Romania asking for more troops and both countries ponied up because they were rivals and didnt want the other to ask for territorial revisions. All their armies were subordinated to act in concert with whatever Army Group they were attached to. I just think you're hamstringing yourself if you dont' use them as you see fit but it will be fun to see how the AI reacts.

Are you planning to release Ukraine and Baltics?

Once you get close to annexing Greece can you save and check to see if Italian troops on Greek provinces disappear upon annexation? I didnt have paratroops so i had to use Italian troops to take Crete to annex Greece and after that they all disappeared. Curious to see if it happens to you too (I now take the island and load them back onto transports before annexing to save them). This might be a bug we might have to report to Gringo if you experience it as well

 

[Mr_B0narpte]

April - May 1940

After the many failed French counter-attacks, the German High Command (OKH) got over confident and hoped to defeat the significant French force in Arlon. After only days of combat, with the French pouring in reinforcements and Germany not being able to maintain parity it had to pull off the offensive on 28th April after suffering heavy casualties.

However success was still in the air, with victory in the battle of Narvik a day later. After an unopposed landing in Mo I Rana nearly a week before Norway was divided into two and its defeat was sealed. The battle for Oslo was won just 2 days later, with it being annexed on the 5th May to the jubilation of the German people.

Meanwhile in France, the OKH repeated the mistake made in Arlon in its attack on Rheims. Intially the attack looked promising, with the stationed French forces being disorganised and outnumbered. However, as with Arlon, they reinforced the province with fresh forces and were able to amount another serious defeat on the Wehrmacht.

But the bigger picture was very different. In the north the Allied forces were still organising hopeless counter-attacks while being routed on all flanks, with German forces capturing Paris and encircling the main Allied forces in the north on 3rd May, with the battle of Lille on 8th May forcing the northern Allied forces into an even smaller area.

Still, the French put up a dedicated resistance with German forces in Paris having to retreat due to a successful counter-attack.

French resistance was completely overcome after the encircled northern forces had eventually been destroyed with their defence of Ghent, freeing up much of the Wehrmacht that was able to ensure Paris was not captured while also route French forces in Rheims and Compeigne. After the fall of Ghent, Germany was so confident it completely forgot to record the rest of its campaign against France. :happy: But it does remember it aimed to encircle the majority of the French army by capturing Besançon on the Swiss border, with France capitulating before the encirclement was completed on 19th May.

The costs of the campaign were rigorously analysed by German statisticians:

With an inflicted loss rate of nearly 9:1 in regards to manpower, the Wehrmacht has rightfully taken pride in its conduct in the war so far. However, it has also noted the painfully high casualties suffered with an estimated 80,000-90,000 losses suffered in the campaign. While there is consensus that attacking concentrated forces should be avoided when necessary, there is debate raging among the German generals on whether the encirclement was even needed or if it would have been better to fully utilise the speed of Germany's motorised forces by defeating the forces in pitched battle, then over-running them during their retreat.

However now the focus has now turned to the Kriegsmarine as it rebases most of its ships in French ports in anticipation of its upcoming attack on Britain's maritime trade routes...

 

[Mr_B0narpte]

That's a common misconception from what i'd read and seen through documentaries relating to subordination to German High Command plans. The Romanians for instance were crucial in helping Manstein take Sevastopol and then holding the Kuban bridgehead so that List's forces could get back without being cut off. Hungarians and Italians, who sent their best general to the East, were also important in keeping the flanks secure as the advance toward Stalingrad was made.

All of this will *hopefully* be represented by the expeditionary forces I'll be given by Hungary and Romania.

After 41 Hitler sent Keitel on a secret mission to both Hungary and Romania asking for more troops and both countries ponied up because they were rivals and didnt want the other to ask for territorial revisions. All their armies were subordinated to act in concert with whatever Army Group they were attached to. I just think you're hamstringing yourself if you dont' use them as you see fit but it will be fun to see how the AI reacts.

Maybe if the situation in the Eastern front does get seriously bad then I'll military control Hungary and Romania, I've edited that house rule.

Are you planning to release Ukraine and Baltics?

I've been debating whether or not to, I'm just not sure. IRL Hitler would never allowed such a thing, he even vehemently opposed the use of the 'Hiwis'. I'll check the event for it, if the penalties for releasing the puppets aren't harsh enough then I'll edit them and then decide if I want to go through with it when the time comes.

EDIT: The events regarding this don't severely penalise Germany, with it only getting 1% dissent per country it grants 'independence'. However it does massively penalise the newly created states, as they start of with -500 manpower, which effectively means they won't be able to field any divisions throughout the whole game. But releasing them would help Germany's TC and its resources. I still don't know what to choose.

Once you get close to annexing Greece can you save and check to see if Italian troops on Greek provinces disappear upon annexation? I didnt have paratroops so i had to use Italian troops to take Crete to annex Greece and after that they all disappeared. Curious to see if it happens to you too (I now take the island and load them back onto transports before annexing to save them). This might be a bug we might have to report to Gringo if you experience it as well

It might be that the Italian troops were forcibly redeployed, if you still have the save where all the units have disappeared, load up as Italy to see if they're in the force pool.

 

[Mr_B0narpte]

July 1940 - April 1941: everything but the Battle of the Atlantic

After the defeat of France, the Heer turned its attention to the meaning Yugoslavia on Germany's southern border, declaring war on 16th July 1940. Hungary joined the Axis on 21st July 1940 after the Battle of Belgrade had been won. Bulgaria joined on 3rd August 1940 after Yugoslavia had been defeated. To the bemusement of the Luftwaffe in France, the Yugoslavian airforce was discovered and destroyed in that theatre. Greece was subsequently annexed after Yugoslavia had been defeated.

However, Hungary and Bulgaria then leave the Axis in September 8-9th over conflict with Romania, Germany makes plans to invade Romania too but events elsewhere distract the German High Command.

Allied forces try and attempt multiple invasion attempts in Norway, on Kristiansand and Stavanger in September 11th, with the newly commissioned Bismarck and the fully repaired Prinz Eugen being sent out to find the invading naval forces. However, somehow the Allied navies evaded them while performing amphibious operations with German forces experiencing defeat on land in Stavanger on the 13th. However Kristiansand was held on the 15th at the cost of 932 German lives and 3632 losses for the Allies. This success was also achieved in Stavanger on the same day as reinforcements arrived from Bergen while the German naval task force comprehensively sank the Australian fleet. The German High Command concluded this haphazard and disastrous invasion must have been planned by Churchill, reminiscent of the 1915 Gallipoli campaign.

After Norway had been secured, Germany once again turned its focus back to Romania but was deterred by the extreme likeliness Romania would join the Allies and thus never make peace should Germany invade to make it a puppet state. However, in a clever feat of diplomacy, after the Wehrmacht had deployed nearly 40 divisions on its only border with Romania, the oil-rich country offered to join the alliance on September 18th. Seizing on this opportunity to puppet both Hungary and Bulgaria instead, the German government readily accepted. Budapest was seized on September 22nd at the cost of 308 brave Germans. This lack of resistance on the part of the Hungarians was due to them concentrating their main force in Debrecen, which culminated in the costliest battle of the Hungarian-Bulgarian campaign that Germany could not have avoided due to the repeated offers of becoming a German puppet state that were rejected beforehand. Hungary eventually accepted the inevitable and capitulated on October 5th after Bulgaria had already done so 3 days before.

Attention was now focussed on the North African campaign. Germany had already sent a couple of divisions to aid the Italians there, with the Battle of Alexandria being particularly costly. The losses suffered in this battle deterred the Heer from launching any attack on the heavily fortified Suez Canal for the time being, with the German forces being given the mandate to push as far south as possible before being pulled out of Africa entirely in early-1941. With the Battle of Addis Ababa being won on September 26th, the UK intensified its effort in the area, sinking several of the German convoys in the Mediterranean before the German destroyer flotilla sinks two of the Royal Navy's submarines off the coast of Athens on October 13th.

With Syria joining the war in late-October, Germany felt obliged to help its new ally, sending more divisions to be used in the Mediterranean campaign. Within two weeks of landing in Haifa, the Axis had managed to surround Suez.

After the annexation of South Africa in late-1940, all German forces south of Egypt were ordered to Zapazig for some R&R before the planned attack on the Suez Canal. With the last divisions arriving in mid-April 1941, Germany attacked on 14th April. After an epic 10 day battle, aided thankfully by Italian forces, the Axis were able to exact a devastating defeat on the British empire with the fall of Suez with Italy virtually having a free hand in the eastern Mediterranean from now on.

 

[Mr_B0narpte]

August 1940-April 1941: Battle of the Atlantic

While Germany experienced both a series of costly victories and at times defeat on land since the fall of France, it had achieved overwhelming success attacking Britain's convoys in the Atlantic. This success could even be seen as early as September 1940, with the remnants of the 'Free' French airforce stationed in the British Isles completely lacking supplies.

There were many skirmishes between German U-boats and the Royal Navy but many of these ended with no casualties on either side or one or two screen ships being sunk by the Kriegsmarine. However there were some overwhelming naval successes in 1941.

The Battle of Rias Bajas commenced on January 14th 1941 after a large Royal Navy surface fleet started attacking U-boats in the area. With submarines in the vicinity being sent to aid their comrades, a catastrophic defeat was inflicted with the sinking of 3 of Britain's aircraft carriers.

On Feburary 9th 1941 another great victory was won by the Kriegsmarine just off the English coast, demonstrating the UK's weakness in not being even able to defend its own shores.

Just a month later, on 8th April 1941 another significant defeat was inflicted on the RN, sadly at the cost of the German heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper and its screens, demonstrating the power Britain still has at sea.

However big or small these defeats were in undermining the Royal Navy's claim to naval supremacy, one thing that was assured was the complete crippling of Britain's convoy system. Beginning in June 1940 the German U-boats began a devastating attack on Britain's maritime trade. Only being given R&R in September 1940 for two weeks, the attacks in the Atlantic were virtually endless. Pictures speak louder then words:

During the battle of Suez, it was clear the British army was lacking supplies. It appears that Germany and Italy have managed to severe Britain's ability to trade with others as well as maintain its own overseas colonies. Since December 1940 there had been a drop in sinkings, which is believed to have been caused by the significant reduction in Britain's convoy pool. With such a reduction that will be continued until no British convoys are spotted in the Atlantic, and now the Mediterranean as Suez has been captured, Germany believes Britain can no longer sustain any overseas army or trade with a foreign nation let alone perform any amphibious assaults on Axis territory. Wunderbar!

 

[Barvinok]

Has this mod made submarines deadly to surface ships? Or did your surface fleets sink all those RN ships?

 

[Mr_B0narpte]

I don't know what edits this mod has made to submarines, but it certainly looks that way as the majority of the surface ships were sunk (or severely weakened) by submarines. I've heard people saying how overpowered submarines are on 'vanilla' AoD so it *could* be a general imbalance with naval combat. But either way, I'm cool with it

 

[clist123abc]

what happened to cause Hungary and Bulgaria to leave the axis only a month after coming in? Did you refuse to support the Vienna Diktat?

What brigades do you build and research? Only Armored cars?

Are you building coastal forts for Norway and France?

After you puppetted Hungary and Bulgaria did they still give you their divisions or did they disappear?

What is your promotion policy. I see you’ve already made von Bock and von Kortzfleish full Generals. Do you promote a lot of generals to prevent overstacking? Have any criteria for it or just do it random?

Congrats on cleaning up Africa so fast and on dominating with your subs. I kinda regret not building them now seeing how successful they are.

Britain seems to be on its last legs. If you have the TP’s you might even be tempted to do a Sealion. Only worrying thing is your MP if you head east by June.

 

[Mr_B0narpte]

what happened to cause Hungary and Bulgaria to leave the axis only a month after coming in? Did you refuse to support the Vienna Diktat?

I think Romania said no when Bulgaria demanded Constanta so theywent to war, then a few days later Hungary allied with Bulgaria to fight the Romanians. Just one of those rare cases where the AI has a 3% chance of accepting the ahistorical, but now I have two more puppet states so I'm happy.

What brigades do you build and research? Only Armored cars?

Yeah, literally only armoured cars at the moment, they're probably not the best brigade but I like the higher org and soft attack they give.

Are you building coastal forts for Norway and France?

After seeing your AAR I am. I've started placing coastal forts all along, from the Dutch coast down to the Spanish border at the moment. Once I have two coastal forts on every French, Belgian and Dutch beach I might start placing some in Norway. My main defence for Norway is the Bismarck and Tirpitz at the moment.

After you puppetted Hungary and Bulgaria did they still give you their divisions or did they disappear?

I military controlled them after that, but many divisions of both countries are severely understrength due to my war against them.

What is your promotion policy. I see you’ve already made von Bock and von Kortzfleish full Generals. Do you promote a lot of generals to prevent overstacking? Have any criteria for it or just do it random?

I do try and prevent over-stacking where possible, but apart from that it is random. However I do promote certain generals on the basis of their experience or traits, for example any officer with 4 skill and the offensive trait becomes at least a Lt. General and officers with two or more valuable traits (offensive, defensive, logistics, winter specialist) can become Generals or Field Marshalls. I have utilised all the officers with the offensive doctrine trait with skill 3 or above to try and simulate the German offensive spirit and also because I hope to rarely be on the defensive.

Congrats on cleaning up Africa so fast and on dominating with your subs. I kinda regret not building them now seeing how successful they are.

Thanks, Italy still has the French and Belgian Congo to conquer but I'm not sure if it'll be able too as France has a significant amount of forces there.

Britain seems to be on its last legs. If you have the TP’s you might even be tempted to do a Sealion. Only worrying thing is your MP if you head east by June.

Britain really is no longer a threat to me, it must still have a lot of transport ships but even if it does perform a successful landing, it wouldn't be able to supply its invasion force. Yeah, my MP is really too low for a Sealion plus it would go against one of my house rules. I'm in late-May 1941 now don't know whether I should start Barbarossa early or not as the weather has cleared up now.

 

[Titan79]

Very interesting, although a bit ahistorical so far (not that you have to strictly follow the course of history, of course. It's just my personal taste).

In my current TRM game I've been using subs in stacks of 3, patrolling the Atlantic for British convoys, but I didn't even remotely have the successes you scored; maybe it's also because I've never had more than 14-15 patrolling at once. However, can I ask you how do you use them? Mine seem to get sunk very easily by the RN and, while occasionally sinking a destroyer or two, they're proving absolutely antieconomical for me, at least after (almost) two years of war.

By the way, subscribed

 

[Mr_B0narpte]

Very interesting, although a bit ahistorical so far (not that you have to strictly follow the course of history, of course. It's just my personal taste).

Personally I prefer sticking to the historical too, I just found it more practical to invade France and then Yugoslavia much earlier. But if I do make another AAR with this mod, I'll stick to the historical dates.

In my current TRM game I've been using subs in stacks of 3, patrolling the Atlantic for British convoys, but I didn't even remotely have the successes you scored; maybe it's also because I've never had more than 14-15 patrolling at once. However, can I ask you how do you use them? Mine seem to get sunk very easily by the RN and, while occasionally sinking a destroyer or two, they're proving absolutely antieconomical for me, at least after (almost) two years of war.

When the RN was a threat I used stacks of 6 with all the stacks staying close together so if one if under attack, the others can defend them. One problem I had was that typically when attacked by capital ships, the submarines instinctively retreat and are thus completely vulnerable to attack, when I told them to force engagement they normally won their battles. I've used upto 24 submarines in one battle before in order to achieve victory. I also used heavy cruisers and battlecruisers that have been particularly effective against Britain's escorts.

By the way, subscribed

Great! Stay tuned as Barbarossa is coming up

 

[Mr_B0narpte]

May 1941 - 21st June 1941: Lull before the storm

After the fall of Suez Germany turned its attention to the most ambitious invasion ever undertaken in history.

However while the Heer, Luftwaffe and Kriegsmarine were all undertaking preparations for this undertaking, Germany was still achieving success elsewhere, albiet at quite a cost.

No naval battle has been as costly in terms of U-boats then the Battle of the Channel Approach in early-May 1941. While it was a glorious victory for the crews with the sinking of 2 British heavy cruisers and 7 screens, it was won at the cost of 7 whole U-boats as well as the weakening of many more. There is slight consternation over the advantage of U-boats as they are not designed for this war of attrition, especially against one of the largest navies in the world.

Meanwhile in the mid-Atlantic an overwhelming victory helped quash those concerned with a German capital sheep fleet sinking four valuable screens of the small Canadian navy with no casualties on the German side.

Another victory showed the importance of the Mediterranean theatre, with the Prince of Wales battleship being spotted alongside a considerable fleet off the Tunisian coast. Unfortunately German U-boats were not numerically strong enough to sink this ship, but they were able to send a British heavy cruiser and 3 of its screens to the bottom with the rest of the fleet retreating to Malta for repairs.

The Italians also showed their strength and independence in the alliance with the annexation of Oman on 20th June 1941 with no German support or guidance at all, giving the German people consolation they are not alone in fighting this war.

The British Empire tried to go on the offensive in the air, with disastrous consequences for the RAF's interceptor force.

All these victories are minor compared to what is in store for the German Reich, with the biggest invasion force being all ready to destroy the Soviet bear on 22nd June 1941....