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Post by boomboomf22 on Jun 26, 2017 8:37:07 GMT -6
Nah, not for the late 30's with no naval treaty. If not for the treaties, heavy cruisers would almost certainly have carried 10"+ main armament by that point in time. The Ukraina is the kind of ship the Tone would have been in a treatyless world, nothing more. It's been debated whether the Alaskas were cruisers or battlecruisers. In a no-treaty world, I doubt any ship hauling less than 16" main armament by 1935 could have been considered a viable capital ship, so Alaska would have been solidly and irrefutably a heavy cruiser. I actually meant the fact that it is 23k tons and has 12 10" guns. Just futzing around in the game designer and similar designs I worked up cost basically the same amount as a light BC with proper capital caliber guns. I am well aware that the CA was a highly artificial creation of the Washington naval treaty and that 10" armed CAs that were huge sizes would have been a thing without it. Personally I just can't justify building CAs bigger than 16k myself on cost compared to a BC based on what the two types can do late game.
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Post by garrisonchisholm on Jun 26, 2017 21:40:45 GMT -6
I made the same decision in this very chronicle, when in the first war with Germany I scrapped plans for my "great cruiser" because after first contact with the enemy battle fleet I realized I couldn't afford to build a 5.5m/mo. ship that could not stand in the line when I could build 1 1/2 ships for the same price that could. However, 1937 grants me a change in perspective and a couple different rationale. In an historical sense, I am at a point - war with a comparable sea power - where I can feel my fleet should acquit itself with some confidence, having twice beaten a superior sea power. In this light, I saw the very real fact that my enemy had a ship which was faster than anything I had, and could theoretically lap up every non-capital ship I possessed. Given that the real-world Dunkerque and Strasbourg's final designs were cut in response to the German pocket battleships, it felt quite right to pen a design which was a "response" to something my opponent had which I did not. & I did not want to design a 32 knot cruiser-killer only to find an opponent had a 32 knoter to match it, so maximum speed was the order of the day. In a game mechanics sense, I am in the position where my largest non-battle cruisers are my 12,000 ton CA's. If the Game were to put a single fast heavy cruiser into an action, it would not pick my 33,000 ton BC as its foe, it would pick my CA's. So, I need a ship larger than my CAs but smaller than my BCs. It needs to be a cruiser, to be eligible for "cruiser" engagements. It needs to be able to out-gun something with 10 10" guns (which is what the Sankt Georg's older brother is), and be reliably faster than 30 knots. 23,000 tons is the largest anything can be and still reach 34 knots, 100 tons heavier and the hull max steps down to 32. So, it seemed reasonable that my target tonnage should be 23k tons. Accepting 6" of armor maximum was the hardest part, but it really just reinforces what this ship's role would be- a cruiser killer, not a capital ship. I actually applied Airy W 's logic to my design several times, and culled excessive torpedoes, secondaries, and torpedo protection. I really believe I will build at least one, but I am now unsure I will get to 2. For the price of a Ukraina I can build 4 1/2 modern CL's that I need as my Wilno replacements. That is a very large opportunity cost to pay. However! Extraordinary things have happened in the AAR, and I think I will try to take a rough draft at it tonight.
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Post by garrisonchisholm on Jun 27, 2017 0:36:42 GMT -6
Chapter 37.
The first war versus Austria, concluding in 1906, had lasted 34 months through 2 major army offensives netting a grand total of 600 square miles of territory in the Commonwealth's favor. The second war with Austria had lasted 29 months, and though both sides had treated their mutual frontier during the Great War as their “disengaged” front due to the ferocity of their respective major theaters, the border had not changed despite the very real and ever-present violence.
Of months, the 3rd war with Austria lasted 5. At its shocking capitulation, it cost Austria another 600 square miles of territory.
The Navy had had no time to make a contribution, and it fact it was utterly unneeded. The Commonwealth had no greater supply or quantity of men or machines, and though the quality of her arms could quite sincerely be said to have been superior, the crushing defeat which unexpectedly descended upon Austria in June of '37 can be directly related to the maturity and application of her air power doctrine.
The Commonwealth during the '26-&-7 War with Germany had had the harsh reality of the successful application of air-power brutally demonstrated upon them. The German Air Force inflicted terrible blows upon their ground forces, and it was only the limited number of aircraft which a Germany still recovering from the Great War could field which allowed the Commonwealth the opportunity to eventually neutralize their foe's advantage. Upon hostilities' conclusion and before his retirement, Hetman Drymerr saw that the Commonwealth Air Corps put into effect all the lessons and capabilities learned and observed from that brutal German offensive in the summer & fall of 1926.
Austria had lost her title to Empire after her defeat in the Great War, and with her separation into a collective of states Greater Austria had emerged a weakened shell which still connived at restoring and expanding her influence, but which held on to some decidedly provincial military notions also lacking in intellectual rigor. Air power in the Great War for Austria had been the ability to contest reconnaissance and raids, and the concept of close or direct air support of ground forces was a notion as far flung as fiction from the pen of H. G. Wells. In 1937 the Austrian Army saw air support as something akin to regimental cavalry, and each division in the field had its own squadron in the rear to call upon. Austrian aircraft would be called to the front, and when the squadron arrived colored smoke shells or simple flares were the only tool available to direct their strikes. Austrian Avia's, most effectively the B.534-IV, would deliver their under-wing ordnance and then contest the skies with whatever foe was at hand.
The Avia B.534-IV, 850hp, 245 mph, ceiling 35,000', 4 x 7.7mm mg's & 6 20kg bombs
The CAC on the other hand treated their air power as its own inherent arm, and used the same calculus which the armies' generals would- firepower is a force multiplier, and the surest way to limit casualties is to apply as much force as reasonably practical. The hardest time for the Commonwealth Air Corps were those first 3 months, when the cold and then wet weather hampered operations and the defense of the civic centers. The defense of Krakow especially was their most desperate hour, for they were without a true “air raid” warning system for the bombers which Austrian Central Command dispatched. Once the tide had turned however, thanks to ever present combat air patrols and the swift-climbing Curtis SuperHawk, the air umbrella could be extended to the front-line troops.
Curtis SuperHawk, 1170hp, 340 mph, ceiling 33,000', 4 x 13mm mg's
There, once local air superiority became regional air supremacy in April, localized direct air support began to applied with regularity and increasing effectiveness. After 3 weeks of good spring weather the Austrians and been stunned by the casualty and effectiveness reports coming back from the lines, reports which had spurred their May attempt at brokering a white peace. 8 more weeks of the calamity of 1000 sorties a day by aircraft of all types left them shattered, and their frantic approach to the diplomatic table began with the offer that the Commonwealth keep whatever territory they had gained- it was the survival of the government itself they now realized was at stake. For his part Alexsandr consented that the terms were generous, though he felt he should not really have been asked. The Air Corps had won this war.
On June 30th Peace was declared, but this was no midnight armistice. Austria wanted the havoc ended as soon as the ink was dry. Alexsandr was now glad he had not yet ordered the Ukraina, though there would need to be drastic cuts to maintain the building of the 2 Wirs through peace-time budgets. He looked forward though to being able to complete the program, and whatever next opportunities might be afforded.
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Post by garrisonchisholm on Jun 27, 2017 0:46:07 GMT -6
Yup, completely surprised by that one. Can't say I'm upset though, the prospects for decent fleet action with Austria were very limited given most (all?) my ships are short-ranged. Still, that took some explaining. I hope it makes readable sense.
A 5 month war in RTW, that's a first for me.
Oh, the "600 square miles of territory" is a mere translation of the 6 "Victory Points" of colonies which I couldn't take at the war's conclusion.
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Post by babylon218 on Jun 27, 2017 4:06:39 GMT -6
I once had a war against Italy as GB which lasted about 2-3 months.
Admittedly, Italy had had the stupidity to declare war after I'd just spent about a year wiping out their navy, so 2 months of blockade was apparently enough for them to collapse in revolution.
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Post by aeson on Jun 27, 2017 11:28:22 GMT -6
Just so you're aware, I'm pretty sure that the game's rules for saving tonnage with an all-forwards configuration are that the ship must have A and B turrets and may also have either L or Q turret but not both. Configurations using C turret, main battery wing turrets, or more than three main battery centerline turrets do not seem to get any weight savings in the designer whether they're all-forwards configurations or not. Unless you're already committed to building a ship to the Ukraina design or want to go with the all-forwards configuration for reasons not founded upon in-game mechanical advantages, you might want to consider changing the turret configuration from ABCL to ABVY.
Also, since you're role-playing that air power matters, I'll point out that the all-forwards main battery configuration historically created some problems for getting good all-around coverage from the ship's anti-aircraft batteries because the secondaries and lighter guns all had to be placed towards the rear of the ship to keep them safe from blast effects when firing the main battery guns. Doesn't matter in the game, of course, but it's something to keep in mind for role-playing.
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Post by parrot on Jun 27, 2017 17:17:50 GMT -6
My most recent war with Italy in the Ottoman game didn't last long. I don't remember exactly, but it couldn't have been much more than 5 months. Then again, they literally had no capital ships, so that probably explains it.
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Post by garrisonchisholm on Jun 27, 2017 22:27:02 GMT -6
Just so you're aware, I'm pretty sure that the game's rules for saving tonnage with an all-forwards configuration are that the ship must have A and B turrets and may also have either L or Q turret but not both. ..., you might want to consider changing the turret configuration from ABCL to ABVY. Also, since you're role-playing that air power matters, I'll point out that the all-forwards main battery configuration historically created some problems for getting good all-around coverage from the ship's anti-aircraft batteries because the secondaries and lighter guns all had to be placed towards the rear of the ship to keep them safe from blast effects when firing the main battery guns. Doesn't matter in the game, of course, but it's something to keep in mind for role-playing. Thank you for the suggestion & reminder! As far as the turrets, I did "open design" on the Ukraina and tried ABCY, ABLY, & ABVY, and each time I came up to the same tonnage, -225 (it is "slightly overloaded"- amazing progress for me!). However, when I was designing it I didn't look for the weight saving aspects of an all forward design at all, the IJN Tone was the original inspiration and the high speed desired the faux rationale to make room for the power-plant with an all forward design. I think the weight savings from any change would need to be extraordinary (as in ~3%+ of total tonnage) for me to elect to change the design basics. As far as air power, I will remember that about AA batteries should I have need to bring aircraft into the story again. The only reason I did in this last chapter was because the game results seemed to indicate events far more weighty than my sinking 8 subs a destroyer and a light cruiser could justify. It was a toss-up between A) inventing an extraordinary event, such as the threat of a US invasion or a complete international blockade, B) just saying the army was far and away better, or C) giving the "victory" to the newest military element just coming into its own, air power. The most attractive of these 3 options to me was C. Essentially for 1935 games onward, I am forced to embrace the "conceit of the genre", given that the game was not designed for post 1925 and the evolution of air power. Since reasonably air power could (should?) be a factor in almost any European surface action portrayed by the game post 1935, I must accept that it "could have been present", but for reasons of; weather, logistics, decision-making, technology, etc., it somehow was not. I will bring air power into future "decisions" again if it seems the most plausible course to explain how the game has transpired at a given point.
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Post by garrisonchisholm on Jun 28, 2017 3:32:23 GMT -6
Chapter 38.
On July 1st Alexsandr put his rigid economies into place, as the Coastal Patrol force was laid up and R&D was slashed to 1%. The Jozef Poniatowski returned to service with her extra knot of speed, but though there was a cash surplus sometime during the next year the 4th Wir would need to be halted to complete the 3rd as the coffers dried up.
Relations across the world relaxed greatly with the cessation of hostilities, with only France still bearing any substantial enmity towards the Commonwealth. The Panama Crisis of '33, the Commonwealth's response to both the Balkans turmoil and America's Southeast Asian free trade concerns in '34, and the fruitless attempt at a diplomatic resolution to the '36 Franco-American Trade Crisis had all acted to drive a very sour wedge into French and Commonwealth relations. For the 5 months of the War and the 5 months preceding it since that failed conference in September, hostilities with France had seemed a real possibility to the great consternation of all her European neighbors. Prime Minister Thorvaldsen and to a lesser extent Alexsandr himself had much work to do still to restore the Commonwealth's relations with France.
The remainder 1937 passed peaceably enough however, and on the following April 10 there was momentary jubilee as King Christian I was crowned and wedded as planned on Palm Sunday. Just 2 months later however in June of '38 the world was surprised when French forces crossed the Congo frontier into Angola, successfully seizing the state from Portugal, the very same event which Alexsandr had grasped onto when the Germans had tried it from the other direction to get the Commonwealth into the Great War. This time however Alexsandr raised no objection himself, and none came from the government beyond the most benign censure, as no-one wanted to foul the relationship further. In fact in December an offer came from a French firm to enter into a technology sharing agreement with the Krakow Foundry which Alexsandr accepted, using the good will thereby engendered to warm relations to their coziest point since April of '34. September saw the Wladyslaw V launched, leaving only the final Wir- Kazimierz Jagiellonczyk- yet building.
Following King Christian's coronation relations with England had immediately become 'formal' rather than cordial, as they expressed their displeasure at the former Edward's elevation with a distinctive tight-lipped rigidity. This persisted into 1939, but when the Kazimierz Jagiellonczyk was at last launched in February Alexsandr none-the-less signed off on his originally intended order from Thames Ironworks to start construction on the Ukraina. The original reason to build the ship overseas had been simply that England should be able to finish the ship 3 or 4 months quicker than a domestic yard, but despite the fact that the Commonwealth was no longer at war Alexsandr went ahead with his original plan, feeling simply when asked that those 3 months were still to be somehow important.
At the same time the first of the fleet-rated Gnieznos, Hetman Ostrogoski, was laid down at Puck, with plans to start another before the year was out.
The Hetmans were simply a Gniezno utilizing twin turrets instead of triple, putting the relinquished tonnage into additional armor and protection. Alexsandr wasn't sure how many he could afford the time and investment to build, but he hoped for at least 6 ultimately.
In April, a year after Christian's coronation, came again familiar alarm from the Caribbean though from a new quarter. The Virgin Islands filed a formal appeal with the Sejm to apply for full membership in the Commonwealth, as French posturing & a troop build-up in the neighboring Antilles raised great fears. Unlike Panama however, this time when his advice was sought Alexsandr suggested that a regional committee which was formed under the United State's auspices might serve them in better stead to promote stability and peace. Relations were perfect now with America and he was not at all inclined to threaten an alliance again, and with America's involvement the Virgin Islands seemed to weather their crisis moment with France. The Commonwealth was rewarded for their restraint in June, when America requested their mutual defense treaty be renewed. This did not however prevent Alexsandr from encouraging his crew to do their utmost when they participated in the Hampton Roads Regatta in early October, bringing home the trophy.
A month later however in November the French saber-rattling developed anew, as a rearmament program was demanded which would “permit France to maintain and expand her place in the sun.” Alexsandr paused at this, for this felt to be a truly pivotal moment. France had been steadily aggressive for the last 2 years, and they could not simply keep lying down before them from sheer fear at worsening relations. At a certain point one had to stand up to such bluster, before a loud-mouth became a bully. It was not lost on Alexsandr that the Navy's purchasing would certainly be helped should he suggest that the Commonwealth decry the French declaration. He spoke with Navy Minister Hjal, and in a coordinated appeal to the press Alexsandr's supportive remarks were later used by Prime Minister Thorvaldsen as the platform for the Commonwealth's response. It was a rare moment, for Thorvaldsen struck every chord. The Sejm reacted with enormous zeal, and immediately voted an additional 3 Million ducats a month in appropriations! Alexsandr was floored, and used the windfall to start the second Hetman, Admiral Zamoyski, as well as raise the slashed R&D budget up to 4%.
France was predictably displeased, and relations spiked to a level approaching the tense days of the Austrian War, though to this point no elevated military readiness was yet seen or called for.
In January of 1940 when the new naval estimates came in, Alexsandr used some of their available capitol to start construction of a new submarine. It had been more than a dozen years since a submarine had been built in the Commonwealth, and the boats which they had remaining were hardly fit for modern war. The new sub was long ranged and able to lay mines, and if OP-40 performed well he would see if he could order a half-dozen a year for the remainder of his tenure. The OP arm had been ignored for too long, and he owed his eventual successor a more complete portfolio than the Navy currently offered.
February was quiet, and Alexsandr began to consider designing a modern battle-cruiser once the Ukraina was in-hand, as the Praga's were definitely showing their age. However, come March, the most stunning news reached the Crownlands, and the future of the Commonwealth was suddenly and irrevocably compelled to change.
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Post by HolyDragoon on Jun 28, 2017 6:41:14 GMT -6
What, the French finally decided to stop barking and start biting?
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Post by aeson on Jun 28, 2017 9:39:29 GMT -6
Just so you're aware, I'm pretty sure that the game's rules for saving tonnage with an all-forwards configuration are that the ship must have A and B turrets and may also have either L or Q turret but not both. ..., you might want to consider changing the turret configuration from ABCL to ABVY. Also, since you're role-playing that air power matters, I'll point out that the all-forwards main battery configuration historically created some problems for getting good all-around coverage from the ship's anti-aircraft batteries because the secondaries and lighter guns all had to be placed towards the rear of the ship to keep them safe from blast effects when firing the main battery guns. Doesn't matter in the game, of course, but it's something to keep in mind for role-playing. Thank you for the suggestion & reminder! As far as the turrets, I did "open design" on the Ukraina and tried ABCY, ABLY, & ABVY, and each time I came up to the same tonnage, -225 (it is "slightly overloaded"- amazing progress for me!). However, when I was designing it I didn't look for the weight saving aspects of an all forward design at all, the IJN Tone was the original inspiration and the high speed desired the faux rationale to make room for the power-plant with an all forward design. I think the weight savings from any change would need to be extraordinary (as in ~3%+ of total tonnage) for me to elect to change the design basics. As far as air power, I will remember that about AA batteries should I have need to bring aircraft into the story again. The only reason I did in this last chapter was because the game results seemed to indicate events far more weighty than my sinking 8 subs a destroyer and a light cruiser could justify. It was a toss-up between A) inventing an extraordinary event, such as the threat of a US invasion or a complete international blockade, B) just saying the army was far and away better, or C) giving the "victory" to the newest military element just coming into its own, air power. The most attractive of these 3 options to me was C. Aircraft catapults, maintenance facilities, and storage facilities concentrated towards the stern of the ship will tend to push the secondary/AA battery forwards much like having main battery guns in that area would, so if the Ukraina is assumed to have these (and since you're modelling it on the Japanese Tone-class cruisers I presume this is the case) then the secondary/AA battery should be concentrated towards the center of the ship much as is the case for ships with a more evenly-distributed main battery. I'd thought when I saw the Ukraina that you might be going for something more like a down-scaled Nelson - which doesn't have anything at the rear of the ship pushing the superstructure, secondaries, and light AA guns forwards to balance the push-back from the all-forwards main battery - than an up-scaled Tone (I guess I overlooked or missed the significance of the comments on the previous page regarding the Tone). Anyways, while it doesn't really matter since you have reasons not related to game mechanics for the design you chose, my thinking on suggesting that you change the Ukraina from ABCL to ABVY was essentially that at no cost in tonnage (so far as the game is concerned, at any rate) you get superior coverage with the same number of guns. 4x3 ABCL has six guns on the forward arc from -45 to +45 and twelve guns on the broadside arc between +45 and +135 or between -135 and -45 but has no guns covering the rear arc from +135 to -135 (+270); 4x3 ABVY puts six guns on that rear arc and has the same number of guns in the forward and broadside arcs as ABCL for the same tonnage. Regardless, I'll be interested to see how your Ukraina performs; my luck with late-game armored/heavy cruisers has almost invariably been bad, although a large part of that may be due to my habit of building my battlecruisers as fast battleships and using them as my primary capital ships for most of the game, which tends to result in all navies having large numbers of battlecruisers against which any armored/heavy cruiser of mine might be matched.
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Post by garrisonchisholm on Jun 28, 2017 23:22:50 GMT -6
Chapter 39.
In the Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth's long history, Sweden holds a very special place. Throughout its ancient gestation and struggle for suzerainty, Sweden was always the powerful northern neighbor which sought to dominate them by trade and sword. In fact more than one elected monarch of the old Commonwealth had more or less accepted the throne with the comment, “Well, alright, but only until I can get the throne of Sweden.” Eventually Sweden's wealth and power however had petered out, and though the PLC had likewise been in dire straits for nearly a century, she had at last entered the 20th Century as the clear victor in their long competition for national power and prestige. Sweden in 1900 had been a resignedly small state with its influence drawn down to borders which would never again reach out beyond her shores. Sweden's informal, subconscious concession of the contest had in fact brought the two states closer together, and though not allied they were certainly now cordial and respectful of one another. The King and Queen of Sweden had been guests of honor at Christian's coronation.
Alexsandr looked up from his desk when his door swiftly opened. He was surprisingly not surprised to see Kazimierz Kleeberg standing before him in his white hat, but rather extremely surprised that he had heard him use the door. The former intelligence minister's breathless state immediately doubled Alex' tension.
“You have 6 hours to get the battle-cruisers off Oslo.”
Alexsandr blinked, mentally striking the first two obvious questions from his list due to the intense sincerity boring into his soul from Kleeberg.
“It is impossible, th-”
“Try!”, Kleeberg almost screamed.
With perhaps only another tenth of a second's hesitation he reached for the phone; “Operations.”
He looked to Kleeberg while the connection was made, waiting for the explanation which he knew now would come.
“A French infantry corps will disembark in Oslo at dawn and then march overland to conquer Sweden. They have been planning it for two months, ever since Sweden refused their demands to stop exporting iron and steel to us. Norway is complicit but will claim they could do nothing in the face of such force and were innocent victims. French ships could be based in Stockholm by tomorrow night if you fail.”
“Operations,” came the dull but attentive report over the line.
“Raise steam in the battle cruiser squadron and set out for the Norwegian coast with no delay- wait for no man to return from liberty, I don't care if it is a captain. Every active destroyer will accompany them, I want the fleet at 25 knots in 45 minutes- they may form up at sea, orders will be radioed within the hour. War Plan Blue.”
Alexsandr disconnected before a question could brook further delay. He looked at Kleeberg in amazement.
“...how could you know this?”
Kleeberg took what was for him a deep breath, and settled his hat again upon his narrow head.
“J'avais un homme en place. Bonne journee.”
He turned and exited, and as the door silently closed Alexsandr picked up the dossier which had been left on his desk. It included no summary, but seemed to be a simple assemblage of intelligence notes collected in haste and thrown together. Alexsandr rang the Navy Minister, and advised him that he had best call the Prime Minister and the King.
Few Danes had ever seen such reckless pace in the Oresund, and when nearly 30 ships ignored harbormaster file instructions to use the straits and tore clean through at better than 20 knots it gained Immediate attention. The fleet was in the Kattegat when Prime Minister Thorvaldsen had issued his public ultimatum to France to stand down its force. The French force did turn back before dawn and was never sighted, but the morning papers in France carried only one headline; “War!”
Alexsandr activated the coastal patrol, and collected all his briefing papers for the King's Council of War that evening. News that afternoon came that it seemed a French battle-cruiser had been detached from the French transport fleet to harry his squadron's return, but though the Wiednia and Praga could not find it in heavy rains, it was forced to return without causing any harm to merchant or marine. Alexsandr that night then laid out the balance of affairs before the King.
France had 14 Dreadnoughts and 3 building, along with 2 Heavy Cruisers and 14 Light. Of these only 12 dreadnoughts and 8 light cruisers were in Northern European waters. Though the French had a tonnage advantage, it was not excessive, and it seemed a not unreasonable match could be found should the fleets come into contact. Unfortunately, Alexsandr was forced to point out one other fact, that France had the largest submarine arm in the world. 61 boats, only two of them older than 1927. Alexsandr advised the King and Ministers that they should be prepared for so many submarines to score a success, and within the first few months. They would do their best, but Alexsandr may even be forced to pull Makrelas from the active fleet to bolster the coastal patrol if the losses were too great.
Their Battleships were by and large slow, which was good as it meant no maneuver advantage over their own 19 knot battle line. They were also in general older, however they did all mount 14 or 15 inch guns leading to a significant firepower advantage. Their newest and most numerous ship was the 47,000 ton Nancy class battle cruiser, which were heavily armed and as fast as their Makrelas.
The disadvantage of not all of the French dreadnoughts being in Northern Europe of course was that that meant that they had heavy units in foreign waters where the Commonwealth had none, and only 3 light cruisers each protected Dominica and Madagascar. Great caution would be needed, and likely great hazard faced.
Deep debate was held into the night, and slowly as they went through their intelligence reports Alexsandr's Chief of Staff realized something. Notes were checked and double checked, and when a hasty phone-call and negotiation came to fruition there was stunned silence as slow smiles formed all across the room.
Thanks to Denmark & Norway's somewhat compelled agreement to admit nominal replenishment of Commonwealth vessels out of North Sea ports, Alexsandr would be able to order his first blockade of a belligerent's trade.
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Post by garrisonchisholm on Jun 30, 2017 1:12:55 GMT -6
What, the French finally decided to stop barking and start biting? They did. In my test game Germany claimed Sweden *&* Norway within the first 5 years or so, before I could even contemplate doing something about it, and I was never strong enough to challenge them after that. This time they both stayed neutral until the PLC was mature and capable, so we'll see how this one goes. Early returns are mixed.
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Post by garrisonchisholm on Jun 30, 2017 22:06:46 GMT -6
Chapter 40.
It was on the train back from Warsaw that Alexsandr changed his mind. The mothballed coastal patrol would need help the most during the first 5 or 6 months that they worked themselves back into shape, and that was also when there would be the greatest number of subs operating against them. 10 of his 36 Makrelas were rated elite, and he penned an order right then to assign all 10 to the coastal patrol until the French submarine threat was reduced. At the same time he ordered 6 modern coastal submarines, simply to have launches coming to replace eventual losses.
By the almost stubborn retention of his oldest ships, Alexsandr had given himself the opportunity to impose a blockade. The implied cost of this ability however was that he would need all of those old ships to patrol the blockade. This was made rather difficult if the fleet were operating out of the nearest Polish harbor, Gdansk, so managing to obtain Norway and Denmark's assistance was critical. Denmark's main motivation to agree was not wanting the RCN steaming back and forth through the straits excessively, having already demonstrated their indifferent regard for maritime authority, but Norway – having been politely told their hand was caught in the cookie jar – was very aware that if the Commonwealth lost then the French might return and decide to stay.
Now 36 of the oldest destroyers on the coastal patrol were still coal-fired, the 2 Burzas and 34 Wichers, but given they need not stray far from home ports this was not an issue. However, the 4 Mazowsze armored cruisers were also still coal fired, and this was a problem. Not only did they need coal, but their consumption was horrendous. Their loaded endurance was barely 80 hours at even their best cruising speed, so any forays beyond the English Channel were clearly something to be avoided.
Sailing through the English Channel however was exactly what new Commodore Rolnik elected to do with Mazowsze and Wielkopolska during the first month of the blockade that April. Fortunately he was dutifully cautious and the steady rain favored him, and while he made no contacts, ...on the plus side he made no contacts. Before returning to the North Sea he had to coal his force in Porto, the nearest port which would accept them without restriction. The encounter though was not a total loss, as a French destroyer managed to strike a mine that had been recently laid, though it returned to port.
Mines affected the Commonwealth as well. The French commerce assault swiftly laid mines which found the old light cruiser Warszawa, which that day had so-far strayed but a mile from her berth. They estimated 5 months for repairs, a span of time that some wondered if the expenditure of effort was worthwhile. 11 Commonwealth merchantmen were sunk by submarine and a further 3 by raider in the North Sea and Atlantic, for which price only 4 French subs were claimed.
In May it was no better, as the old Monsun class Szczupak was torpedoed and sunk, along with a further 11 merchantmen, for which again an additional 4 French subs were destroyed. The raider news was better though, as the omnipresent Commonwealth cruisers forced the French raiding light cruiser Lavoisier to be interned in Newcastle, but then in the Irish Sea 2 more of them came upon another French raider, the Tage, and she would fight. As it happened, it was Wilno herself who brought her to bear.
Wilno and Dyneburg had no way to force a fight, as the sighting was still an hour before dusk and Tage had a 9 knot advantage on them. She was convinced she was the predator though when she spotted the two smaller ships, and she closed. This was the true test of the Wilno, who could not have fairly been expected to succeed against 2 Freya heavy cruisers in the '27 war. Both sides presented broadsides and opened fire.
Dyneburg was farther away in the search pattern, but the range seemed to matter not at all. Both ships struck repeatedly, and by the time Tage realized her mistake she could no longer open the range. She capsized while turning 10 knots after only 30 minutes battery, her flooding being concentrated upon her starboard beam.
Wilno was lightly damaged by a penetrating engine room hit, but she could still make 17 knots on her return. It was counted a great victory, and a blow to French maritime prestige; a modern light cruiser had lost to a ship designed in 1903. After 3 months of blockade, France had yet to demonstrate that her navy could defeat it.
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Post by boomboomf22 on Jul 1, 2017 8:44:11 GMT -6
That is some serious failboad work on the part of the AI. It shouldn't have lost that fight.
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