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Post by JagdFlanker on Jul 26, 2017 18:22:34 GMT -6
exciting stuff!
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Post by cv10 on Jul 26, 2017 18:29:16 GMT -6
Turn 25: 6th July, 1915:Planning The Admiralty has requested a sortie by the Grand Fleet to sweep the southern North Sea. While optional, I'm going to do it. I have no idea if the Germans intend to come out, but at the very least the Grand Fleet could use the practice. If nothing else, they can sink a few minesweepers as live target practice. Besides, they will be useful for my other planned operation. Ever since I moved the pre-dreadnoughts to the Reserve Squadron, they've been down at Harwich keeping the Channel Approaches safe (more of a story for the newspapers, they can't repel the German fleet if it wanted to come down). However with the German capture at Oostende and Zeebrugge, I now have a use for them. The Germans have naturally set up shore batteries to defend them, and I want to turn them into so much rubble. So for the first time, the pre-dreadnoughts will be sailing to war. The Grand Fleet will sail to the to Point Red and sweep for the Germans. The Reserve Squadron and escorts will cross the Channel and shell the German defenses. If needed, the Grand Fleet can deploy in support. However the real advantage that the Grand Fleet will have is that should the High Seas Fleet be activated to respond to my bombardment, the Grand Fleet will be in a good position to intercept. Submarines have been deployed to form a screen around the German Bight. I have a fair bit of confidence, as we should have superior forces. My pre-dreadnoughts are decently trained, and they have an adequate screen.  The Battlecruiser Force will be also be sailing out to act as a scouting force for the Grand Fleet. Here's hoping for good luck and good gunnery!
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Post by cv10 on Jul 26, 2017 18:31:58 GMT -6
Thank you! If only the Germans would come out and impale themselves on Britain's Finest Sword (aka The Grand Fleet)! I would love a fleet action, as I fear all these fruitless sweeps, minesweeper/destroyer losses inflicted by Capital Ships, and minelaying makes for less than page-turning reading. |
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Post by Noname117 on Jul 26, 2017 19:37:57 GMT -6
Well, they are losing their support each turn. Their battlecruisers are dead. Their cruisers are taking losses. Much of their pre-dreadnought fleet is destroyed. I'm beginning to think that they will just have their battleships and some destroyer cover, with maybe a couple of light cruisers. Which isn't that great of a situation for them.
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Post by cv10 on Jul 27, 2017 17:15:26 GMT -6
Turn 25: 8th July, 1915 While this operation was supposed to occur on the 6th of July. Mother Nature decided to interfere with my plans
 Due to this, I decided to delay the operation by two days in hopes of better weather. While the haze would have in all probability disappeared, I did not really want to chance it, as it was my ships that were going to be doing the bombarding. The weather on the 8th was good, and the decision was taken to sail. The wind was calm, and partial cloud cover gave my forces a degree of hiding from German Scout planes and Zeppelins. The Grand Fleet sailed south towards its objective, with the Battlecruiser Force doing a bit of independent hunting. In the meantime, the Reserve Squadron sailed toward the Belgian Coast. The first shots came from the guns of HMS King Edward VII at 14:47 (2:47).  The bombardment began in earnest, and a lively exchange came, as the German 11 inch batteries quickly found the range. While my pre-dreadnoughts only have central fire control (not directors), our shooting was no terrible. However the 11 inch shells really damaged my poor pre-dreadnoughts, and HMS Edward VII (named for my favorite monarch) was lost. HMS Africa and HMS Dominion were also badly damaged, but made it to Harwich. The destroyers were able to take survivors off.  Since it was clear that the Germans had not sent anything significant out, and having reached its own objective, I decided to have the Grand Fleet take care of the shore batteries. However first I received a report about Germans to the east of Lowestoft. By lucky chance, the Grand Fleet was right nearby, and they found a single German Destroyer (No idea what it was doing there. Perhaps her skipper got really lost). She was sunk, but a badly timed turn resulted in HMS Warspite being hit by a torpedo. However her bulkheads did well, and she suffered relatively modest torpedo damage. She was able to stay in the line of battle. The Grand Fleet bore down on Zeebrugge, and shortly thereafter engaged the Germans. The shore batteries were something of a joke once they were up against dreadnoughts. The Grand Fleet destroyed every last battery on the Belgian Coast, destroying 16 six-inch guns and 16 eleven-inch guns in 4 batteries each Only HMS Erin suffered appreciable damage, and the relentless training of the fleet paid off. Our shooting was pretty good, with between 5% and 10% accuracy being the norm. Even HMS Dominion (one of the pre-dreadnoughts from the first bombardment) was able to achieve 10% hits in spite of her central fire control. 5% to 10% is not bad, but these were stationary targets, so the accuracy might not transfer. The Grand Fleet and the Battlecruisers made it to Edinburgh without incident. The Grand Fleet was then posted back up to Scapa Flow after the op concluded without incident. There was some worry about how the government and nation would receive the news that HMS King Edward VII had been lost. While the shore batteries had been numerous and formidable, the words "battleship lost" don't make for good headlines or reports. However the Admiralty was pleased that the German ability to fire into the Channel Approaches had been eliminated, and the public loved that the vile and beastly hun had been served out. |
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Post by garrisonchisholm on Jul 27, 2017 21:09:19 GMT -6
Mm. The Harwich force may suffer some serious questioning in the press, though they only learned the same lesson later taught at the Dardanelles. What could they be expected to do if the Hun showed off Dover?...
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Post by cv10 on Jul 27, 2017 22:51:37 GMT -6
Mm. The Harwich force may suffer some serious questioning in the press, though they only learned the same lesson later taught at the Dardanelles. What could they be expected to do if the Hun showed off Dover?... They would sit in port, at least the pre-dreadnoughts would. The Germans used pre-dreadnoughts largely because they didn't have a choice, they needed every gun to try and close the gap with me. There's a reason only 6 pre-dreadnoughts were ever attached to the Grand Fleet. They could be used in the Med. (where the French and Italians could serve out the Austrians) and other lesser theaters of operation, or mothballed to free up manpower. This incident was me largely overestimating their usefulness even in a bombardment mission. If I could, I'd get rid of them, it'd be nice to be rid of the need to base them. Aside from Scapa Flow, I don't have a lot of free space. Those 12 inch guns might make decent shore guns. A pair at each major port could scare off any light cruiser! I tend to use the Harwich Force as a dumping ground for unwanted units (pre-dreadnoughts, armored cruisers, seaplane tenders) and with the exception of its light cruisers (decent enough), I raid it for anything really good (all of those M-Class 33 knot destroyers were supposed to be attached to the Harwich Force). Realistically, it could make a kamikaze run on the High Seas Fleet if it showed up, but that's about it.
However I'd love it if the High Seas Fleet came down to Dover. I could cut them off, hammer them with light forces in the night, and then they'd have the sun in their eyes come dawn! |
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Post by Airy W on Jul 28, 2017 10:37:16 GMT -6
You have seaplane tenders? That sounds exceedingly useful. Think of all the scouting you could do!
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Post by cv10 on Jul 28, 2017 12:13:35 GMT -6
You have seaplane tenders? That sounds exceedingly useful. Think of all the scouting you could do! They only deploy their planes when they reach an objective point that they are supposed to go to. The player can't order them to deploy their planes. In addition, they need a certain set of weather conditions in order to be able to fly (little wind, clear skies, plenty of daylight). As far as I know, you can't use them just to scout for enemy warships (I would love it if they could). I'm not quite sure what they are actually supposed to do. I think that they are supposed to simulate (very) small scale raids on the German Coast. I tend to avoid the AV missions, as most of the AV objective points tend to be dangerously close to German territory, so you have to screen them pretty well. I'd much rather send out a minelayer to lay a field under cover of darkness. I'd love it if I could tell them where they were to stop and deploy their planes. Perhaps something like this could be put into RTW II. |
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Post by bcoopactual on Jul 28, 2017 13:00:16 GMT -6
If I remember my reading they were used once or twice early in the war to try to attack zepplin hangers to prevent bombing attacks on London. At the time there wasn't a viable counter to zepplins in the air so they wanted to destroy them on the ground. I don't think they succeeded because the weather had to be perfect at the launch point as is apparently simulated in game and because they had trouble finding the targets because of navigation and weather issues. I'm surprised the game lets you refuse that kind of mission. It was a significant political issue for the government to try and stop the zepplin attacks as you can imagine.
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Post by cv10 on Jul 28, 2017 14:11:13 GMT -6
I'm surprised the game lets you refuse that kind of mission. It was a significant political issue for the government to try and stop the zepplin attacks as you can imagine. The game differentiates between recommended ops and ordered ops. The recommended ones (which I usually say are requests) are completely optional (the fellows at the Admiralty trying to be helpful/useful), and there's absolutely no penalty for ignoring them. Ordered missions are pre-selected and cannot be unselected. I can refuse a ordered op, however that costs a fair bit of VP, and if a certain number are refused, you get into trouble (dismissed). So far, I've just gotten lucky that the Admiralty has not ordered one. As far as I know, which ops are ordered is random. |
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Post by director on Jul 29, 2017 19:46:04 GMT -6
Germany used their last class of Bs in the High Seas Fleet in part because they were 'just about' fast enough to keep up with the dreadnoughts.
HMS King Edward VII was one of the 'Wobbly Eight', so called because they seemingly couldn't steam in a straight line without constant course corrections. I've always thought that Edward and friends staggering out of their club, full of food and alcohol, deserved the nickname too. I've always had a soft spot for 'good old Tum Tum' as his friends called him.
Edward permitted the Admiralty to name the battleship after him on condition that it must always be a flagship.
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Post by babylon218 on Jul 29, 2017 19:56:45 GMT -6
Germany used their last class of Bs in the High Seas Fleet in part because they were 'just about' fast enough to keep up with the dreadnoughts. HMS King Edward VII was one of the 'Wobbly Eight', so called because they seemingly couldn't steam in a straight line without constant course corrections. I've always thought that Edward and friends staggering out of their club, full of food and alcohol, deserved the nickname too. I've always had a soft spot for 'good old Tum Tum' as his friends called him. Edward permitted the Admiralty to name the battleship after him on condition that it must always be a flagship. Am I the only one who finds calling the King and Emperor of 1/4 of the world's population 'Tum Tum' extremely hilarious?  |
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Post by cv10 on Jul 29, 2017 22:59:55 GMT -6
I've always had a soft spot for 'good old Tum Tum' as his friends called him.
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Post by director on Jul 30, 2017 1:38:08 GMT -6
babylon218 - The King-Emperor was, shall we say, portly, and possessed of an appetite considered remarkable even in a Victorian era of prodigious eaters. His nickname may have been 'Tum Tum' but he reportedly didn't put up with much snark from his friends about his weight. cv10 - I don't know if he bore malice or was vindictive toward Kaiser Wilhelm, but he certainly did not like him and apparently did not have much respect for him. Which really just shows Edward was both human and possessed of good taste.
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