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Post by cv10 on Apr 28, 2017 9:40:52 GMT -6
The Concept About a year ago, Randomizer and Fredrik W posted a link to an AAR done on the SAI Campaign Expansion being done on the Grogheads forum. I read the AAR and it inspired me to buy the campaign expansion, and I have been enjoying it since. The game models the North Sea Campaign really well, and playing it gave me a much greater appreciation for Jellicoe’s handling of the Grand Fleet, as I worried, much like he did in RL, about mines, submarines, and torpedo boats ambushing the fleet. Churchill hit the issue right on the head when he said, Jellicoe was the only man who could lose the war in an afternoon.
Having had so much fun playing this game, which helped inspire our own RTW, I have decided to embark on a showcase AAR of the North Sea Campaign playing as the British. I am posting this in the RTW forum for several reasons. First and foremost, my intention is to give this game a bit of publicity within the RTW forum community, it has been out for a while now but is still an excellent game. Two, I think this game does a great job of allowing the player control over the tactical organization of the fleet, and would like to have a similar system in RTW 2, and building off of this, I think the system is not too micromanagement-intensive, and I would like to demonstrate this point. Finally, all of the forumites I know are from the RTW forum. I have checked the rules of posting things on the forums, and I don’t think that this violates either the rules or the spirit of the rules, however if one of the mods or devs disagrees and decides to move this aar, I will respect their decision to do so.
Before I begin, I think I should briefly address the fact that my China AAR died. It died mainly because I found myself unable to adopt a slow pace suitable for an AAR in RTW. My play-style in RTW is to rush to the Dreadnought period and enjoy hammering away at my enemies with 18 inch guns and advanced directors. It also died because I started using Skwabie’s 18 + armor mod (highly recommend it). However I don’t anticipate this being a problem with this AAR. I will be very busy in the next two weeks, however I intend to update this AAR at least every Friday at the least, and most likely much more frequently. More will follow, but I am posting this now to see if there will be any interest, and to give the Mods/Devs time to move this elsewhere if they think that it should be moved elsewhere.
Cheers!
CV 10
[The New Concept] I've been wanting to do another AAR for a while, this time using the excellent fredsanford Arena of Steel. However, I did not want to go spamming the RTW forum with threads about SAI. To avoid doing this, I've decided to simply put my re-boot into this thread. I think that this will be a more narrative-style AAR, and right now, I don't intend to post every about last single minelaying operation (I will probably operate on policy of only posting about actions where fighting occurs, though if a hurricane sweeps through, I might still discuss it). I've also renamed the thread to better fit my current use and any future use of this thread. As a final note, I will repeat what I said back in April: I do this AAR here because I know the RTW community. I also want to reiterate that I fully respect any decision made by the Devs to tell me to move this AAR elsewhere.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 28, 2017 9:49:14 GMT -6
thanks for using the mod! i also played a lot of SAI:CE. the oob management is great and sorely missed in RTW i very much agree. looking forward to the combat reports!
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Post by cv10 on Apr 28, 2017 14:45:02 GMT -6
A Few Preliminaries I will be playing the 1914-1918 North Sea scenario as the Royal Navy. I will be on normal difficulty using two-week turn intervals. This should provide a good balance between the more mundane operations, yet see the big ships come out and fight.
Turn One: August 4th-18th, 1914
August 3rd, 1914: In deliberate disregard of Great Britain’s guarantee to Belgium to protect that country’s neutrality, the Imperial German Army has invaded Belgium and is presently marching on Liege. The Germans are set to reject the demand by His Majesty's Government to respect the neutrality of Belgium and withdraw their forces immediately. In the event that the ultimatum is rejected, hostilities are to commence with the German Empire at Midnight of the 4th of August- God Save the King!
Directive to all units and subordinate forces under the command of Commander-in-Chief, Grand Fleet
“Now the Royal Navy will settle the question of the German Fleet, and if they do not come out and fight, they will be dug out, like rats from a hole”
W. Churchill , First Lord of the Admiralty August 1914
So it begins. Let us first take a look at the respective fleets under our command.
The battlecruiser division is currently based at Edinburgh, where it is in a good location to sweep the North Sea and German Bight, screen any minelaying forces we send out, and sortie to protect the East Coast from German raiders. It is broken up into two battlecruiser squadrons, one light cruiser squadron of four ships, and 3 destroyer flotillas. Organization is good, as the squadrons are relatively homogenous. The 1st BC squadron is made up of three Lion-Class battlecruisers. HMS New Zealand and HMS Invincible are of different classes, but share the same speed and gun caliber, so should have no problems operating together However, the quality of the crews leaves a lot to be desired, with only HMS Queen Mary having an average crew quality. Both squadrons, as well as the light cruisers, will be detached for training. 1st Battlecruiser Squadron HMS Lion: Lion class BC: eight 13 inch guns, 27 knots, 9 inch Belt HMS Queen Mary: Lion class BC HMS Princess Royal: Lion class BC
2nd Battlecruiser Squadron HMS New Zealand: Indefatigable class BC: eight 12 inch guns, 25 knots, 6 inch belt HMS Invincible: Invincible class BC: eight 12 inch guns, 25 knots, 6 inch belt
My policy for using the battlecruiser squadron is simple. They are a scouting force and a cruiser-killer force. Under almost no circumstances will I have them engage german dreadnoughts or pre-dreadnoughts. They have paper-thin armor (9 in and 6 in) and I have no desire to see them go up like firecrackers. Additionally, they will be leery of engaging the German battlecruiser force, as the German battlecruisers had much better armor and would likely be able to inflict a disproportionate amount of damage. However, I will use them to lure any german battleships and battlecruisers into the teeth of the Grand Fleet if the opportunity should present itself, such as running into the High Seas Fleet at night.
Now to look at the Grand Fleet. With the exception of a few armored cruiser squadrons and destroyer flotillas at Cromarty, the fleet is concentrated at Scapa Flow. It is in a good position to protect the Northern Patrol and sweep the North Sea, however it will be hard to intercept the High Seas Fleet before it can reach coastal cities in the southeastern coast. It’s OOB will need to be reorganized to group ships of the same gun caliber with ships of the same speed. Right now, only the two divisions of the 2nd Battle Squadron are organized into homogenous units. The other battle squadrons have ships of different speed and gun caliber together, and this is not efficient in terms of maximum speed or gunnery. I will reorganize the squadrons as follows.
1st Division, 1st Battle Squadron HMS Bellerophon: Bellerophon class BB: 12 inch guns, 20 knots, 10 inch Belt HMS Temeraire: Bellerophon class BB: HMS Superb: Bellerophon class BB HMS St, Vincent: St. Vincent class BB: ten 12 inch guns, 20 knots, 10 inch Belt HMS Collingwood: St. Vincent class BB HMS Vanguard: St. Vincent class BB
2nd Division, 1st Battle Squadron HMS Dreadnought: Dreadnought class BB: ten 12 inch guns, 21 knots, 11 inch Belt HMS Neptune: Neptune class BB: ten 12 inch guns, 21 knots, 11 inch Belt HMS Colossus: Colossus class BB: ten 12 inch guns, 21 knots, 11 inch Belt HMS Hercules: Colossus class BB:
1st Division, 2nd Battle Squadron HMS King George V: King George V class BB: ten 13 inch guns, 21 knots, 12 inch Belt HMS Ajax: King George V class BB HMS Centurion: King George V class BB HMS Audacious: King George V class BB
2nd Division, 2nd Battle Squadron HMS Orion: Orion class BB: ten 13 inch guns, 21 knots, 12 inch Belt HMS Monarch: Orion class BB: HMS Conqueror: Orion class BB: HMS Thunderer: Orion class BB:
1st Division, 4th Battle Squadron HMS Iron Duke: Iron Duke class BB: ten 13 inch guns, 21 knots, 12 inch Belt HMS Marlborough: Iron Duke class BB
3rd Battle Squadron (Emergency Reserve) HMS King Edward VII: King Edward VII class B: four 12 inch guns, 18 knots, 9 inch Belt HMS Africa: King Edward VII class B HMS Britannia: King Edward VII class B HMS Commonwealth: King Edward VII class B HMS Hibernia: King Edward VII class B HMS Dominion: King Edward VII class B
For the purposes of the fleet, the 3rd Battle Squadron, comprised entirely of King Edward VII-class pre-dreadnought battleships, will take no active role in operations, as they are far too slow and outgunned to stand in the battle line. The only useful role that they could play, unless the entire German battle line is sunk, is to serve as an emergency reserve.
I will also be a bit leery of allowing the 1st Division of the 1st Battle Squadron to bare the brunt of any fighting. Those 10 inch Belts has me worried, as I don’t think that it will stand up to German fire, and it makes the ships with them only slightly better armored than the German battlecruisers. However, they will sail with the rest of the fleet when the time comes.
As a final notes on the Grand Fleet, I have declined to seize the Ottoman battleship Sultan Osman I (HMS Agincourt). I will also place the remaining Iron Duke class battleships in the 4th Battle Squadron as they arrive to join the fleet.
As for the Harwich Force, it has 3 destroyer flotillas, 1 Light Cruiser Squadron (presently with exactly one cruiser in it), and a minelaying division of elderly protected cruisers. This is a bit weak, and considering the Force’s location on the Southeastern Coast, I might transfer an armored cruiser squadron to Sheerness to add some heft. Operational Phase
Due to a shortage of Operations Points available, the opening moves of the war will be rather constrained. Two ships of the 1st Minelaying Division will sail to a point off Texel and lay a minefield perpendicular to Texel. Aside from this, the entire battlecruiser fleet is ordered to conduct training exercises to get the crews up to snuff, as will the 3rd Battle Squadron. Further orders to individual ships to commence training are taken on the recommendation of the Chief of Staff. Th Fleet Engineer reports all ships ready for service.
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Post by babylon218 on Apr 28, 2017 15:35:27 GMT -6
Isn't it technically against international law to lay mines off the coast of a neutral nation?
Look forward to watching this campaign develop!
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Post by cv10 on Apr 28, 2017 15:45:42 GMT -6
Isn't it technically against international law to lay mines off the coast of a neutral nation? Look forward to watching this campaign develop! Britannia rules the waves and waives the rules! If those cheese-making neutrals want to complain about it, they can make their complaints to the muzzles of my dreadnoughts!
In all seriousness it is against international law, although my mines will be well outside of the three-mile limit, and will only cover areas accessible to the High Seas Fleet. It is unlikely that the British would have laid them that close to the Dutch coast, unless the German fleet had given provocation by sailing too close to Dutch shores. The British entered the war to defend the rights of neutral Belgium, and while their blockade did affect neutral nations on the North Sea, they generally tried to avoid antagonizing neutrals needlessly. If they had laid a minefield so close to the Dutch coast, they may have felt obligated to inform the Dutch so they could avoid, which would have defeated the purpose as the Germans would have likely found out. I characterize this as a violation of the spirit of international law. That being said, the Dutch had the problem that they were not in a position to argue about what the great powers did in the North Sea, and as such, would probably have been forced to accept such a situation.
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Post by cv10 on Apr 28, 2017 18:48:59 GMT -6
Turn One (August 4th 1914) Summary
The war began with a wimper and not a bang. The minelaying cruisers HMS Apollo and HMS Intrepid sailed to their designated target and laid their mines without incident. We were rather lucky tonight all things considered. While this operation was small in scale, had so much as a few German destroyers appeared, it might have been a calamity. These old cruisers are lightly armed and can only make 18 knots. Plus, a hit before they had laid their mines could have easily set their mines off. It might seem like I exaggerate, and to be fair, I thought this was rather mundane while it was occurring. Then I saw what the Germans had sent out to sweep the North Sea.
Had the Germans come south to raid the Dover Straits, my mine-laying force would have run into three battlecruisers. I consider myself lucky that they decided on a fruitless sweep of the empty North Sea. Overall, this was an acceptable start to the war, in spite of the "Marginal German Victory". That is really caused by the presence of a German blockade runner that the Northern Patrol (AI controlled) missed, and those will be few and far in between, as well as the fact that player designated mining ops do not generate VP. The only real way that this could have been better would have been for me to have sunk their battlecruisers (insert Battleship joke). [/span][/div][/div] [/font][/div]
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Post by theexecuter on Apr 28, 2017 18:55:35 GMT -6
I need to subscribe to this!
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Post by marcorossolini on Apr 28, 2017 21:58:59 GMT -6
Wow, it seems I will be waving my credit card at you guys way earlier than I anticipated! (RTW2)
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Post by srndacful on Apr 29, 2017 3:12:13 GMT -6
I'm interested in AAR's in general, and in this game in particular - chalk up another stalker for as long as you're willing to update.
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Post by zardoz on Apr 30, 2017 8:28:36 GMT -6
Very good .... I was also interested learning more about the SAI campaigns.
Beside this, conventions and international law are only for bloody foreigners. UK is supranational and, therfore, not binded to any thing ... only the others.
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Post by cv10 on Apr 30, 2017 14:50:34 GMT -6
Turn Two: August 18th-1st September, 1914 The Masthead
Seeing to in that Jack Tar Gets All The Facts
War News
The Following is a summary of all the news concerning the war for the last two weeks
August 4th: German Warships in Med. bombard cities of Bone and Phillipeville in French North Africa. Allied Naval Commanders vow vengeance, say that butcher Wilhelm Souchon and his ships will be sunk. BEF to Belgium, government vows to support embattled Belgians. August 5th: Batteries at Fort Nepean, Melbourne, fire on German ship attempting to fleet the Port of Melbourne. War Office confirms that these were first shots fired by British forces in the war. Australian High Commissioner to dispute use of "British forces" to describe the Fort Nepean Garrison August 6th: Vile Austrians declare war on Russia, His Majesty's Government due to declare war on Austria-Hungary within daysAugust 7th: Confirmed that British troops have occupied German Togo-land in Africa. Valiant French at Mulhouse. French President declares that Germans will be expelled from France. August 12th: His Majesty's Government has declared war on Austria-Hungary in support of Russia and Serbia. In Haelen, brave Belgian Cavalry route German hordes.August 17th: Russian Armies advance into East Prussia as German resistance dissolves. Tsar Nicholas pledges to drink toast to victory with His Majesty the King in Berlin Stadschloss before the end of the yearTurn Two: August 18th Operational PlansLast turn's training improved the battlecruiser Fleet by a good deal, as all crews are at a basic competence level of 0. However further training will be needed before they are ready for deployment. Crew skills of at least 1 are needed before I will risk sending them into battle. With their thin armor, they need to rely on hitting the enemy first, and knocking out his guns and battering him into a burning hulk, rather than their ability to take hits. The scouting cruisers are all at crew level of 1 now, so I might use them to scout for the Grand Fleet until the BC squadrons are up to snuff.
For this turn's operation, we have been given a target of sweeping the North Sea with a small force of dreadnoughts. While this objective is not required, I will carry it out. However, to send out a mere 4 dreadnoughts would be rather foolhardy. Such a small force could easily be overwhelmed if the High Seas Fleet comes out, or if the German battlecruisers are set to do a sweep. All it would take is one lucky torpedo hit or magazine detonation to reduce such a tiny force by a full qaurter of its streangth. My own doctrine regarding the use of the battleships is essentially send all or none. While expensive in terms of scarce ops points (no mining or training this turn), this strategy does at least ensure that if I run into the enemy, the probability is that he'll come off the worse for it. As such, here is the order of battle that I will be sending out And here is how my ops points pool is looking right now This might seem like overkill, and foolish, but I'd rather send the whole fleet out for nothing than to send part of it out and have it surprised and smashed in detail. In the event that the Germans do not come out this turn, my ships will sail to either Helgoland or Borkum and shell the German coastal installations.My only real regret is that I don't have enough ops points for a few more destroyers or scouting cruisers. [/font][/div] [/div] [/div]
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Post by Airy W on Apr 30, 2017 16:03:26 GMT -6
What does accomplishing the sweep give you (besides a chance to catch the hun)?
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Post by cv10 on Apr 30, 2017 16:28:57 GMT -6
What does accomplishing the sweep give you (besides a chance to catch the hun)? Before I answer this, I would like to welcome Airy W , skwabie , theexecuter , babylon218 , marcorossolini ,srndacful ,zardoz and all other forumites to this aar. Thanks for showing such interest!
To win the game, much like in wars in RTW you accumulate victory points (the magic number for this scenario is a 2 million point different between you and the other side) Completing this sweep earns me 1500 VP, and like you said, hopefully a chance to catch Jerry Hun and paste him. I can activate ships without selecting an objective (some are mandatory) but by selecting this one, I guarantee myself 1500 points if nothing else happens. A difference is that if both sides complete their objectives, but don't sink or damage any enemy ships, both sides can earn points for that turn. For this op, I intend to shell the German fort at Borkum after I've reached the point in the North Sea that the Computer Admiralty wants me to, unless I should find the German fleet or they start shelling a city or attack the Northern/Dover. Patrol. Hopefully I'll find a way of supplementing those 1500 points!
One of the nuances of this game for the British is that there aren't that many targets for you to pick from, and to a certain extent, you have to react to the Germans. The Germans can try to raid the Northern and Dover Patrols, attack my coastal cities, and sink my coastal traffic. Right now, I can shell Helgoland (big coastal guns there) or Borkum (well fortified as well) or a few other places, however eventually the Germans will deploy mass minefields in the inner German Bight that will make it impassable (the British get similar fields that narrow the approaches to the coast). Aside from that, I can conduct mine-laying, deploy subs, and sweep for the Germans. One of the frustrating things in game (and probably in RL) for the British is that, short of a lucky SigInt interception (they don't always pan out) or a sub spotting, you only find out what the Germans have sent out and are trying to do when you either find them, or they start attacking something.
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Post by babylon218 on Apr 30, 2017 17:10:44 GMT -6
Actually, early on Intel was pretty good for the British as far as movements via Borkum went. Nearby Bremen was a hive of British agents who would cross the Ems into the Netherlands, telegraph their information to Blighty, then return across the river to Bremen. The Harwich Force was able to catch a division of German torpedo-boat minelayers before they could mine the Dover Approach and threaten a group of monitors bombarding German forces near Antwerp thanks to Intel gathered in Bremen. However, Intel regarding movements out of Wilhelmshaven and Kiel, or short-notice sorties, would have been harder to discover I suspect.
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Post by cv10 on Apr 30, 2017 22:04:40 GMT -6
Actually, early on Intel was pretty good for the British as far as movements via Borkum went. Nearby Bremen was a hive of British agents who would cross the Ems into the Netherlands, telegraph their information to Blighty, then return across the river to Bremen. The Harwich Force was able to catch a division of German torpedo-boat minelayers before they could mine the Dover Approach and threaten a group of monitors bombarding German forces near Antwerp thanks to Intel gathered in Bremen. However, Intel regarding movements out of Wilhelmshaven and Kiel, or short-notice sorties, would have been harder to discover I suspect. I better tell my gun crews to use judicious accuracy, I wouldn't want to kill any of my own spies! It doesn't surprise me that the British would have such a decent intel system set up for a major port like Bremen. With such large ports, it was probably hard for the Germans to keep an eye on everyone. Also, with travel to neutral Netherlands from Britain still possible, I'm not surprised that it became a hotbed for British intelligence. IIRC the germans had agents in Amsterdam and Rotterdam, though their agents focused on devious ways to try to smuggle "contraband" into the Netherlands that could then be secretly sent to Germany. Problem was that certain things (with a direct military purpose) were impossible to smuggle in! British officer: "What do the Dutch need with 14 inch gun barrels from the United States?" Suspicious Shipping Agent: "They von't tell me! All zee zay ist...is... that ze musst have them. Somesing about festungbauen in die Niederlandisches Ost-East Indies" British officer: "Hmmm. something seems rotten in the state of denmark" Suspicious Shipping Agent: "Ve are nicht in Denmark? Ve are ins Niederland?" British Officer: "Yes... Quite Right!"
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