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Author Topic: Enioch's naval shenanigans - RTW as Germany - [Image Heavy!]  (Read 136568 times)

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Re: Enioch's naval shenanigans - RTW as Germany - [Image Heavy!]
Hammerzeit?

 

Offline Enioch

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Re: Enioch's naval shenanigans - RTW as Germany - [Image Heavy!]

Not yet, not yet.   :p
'Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent'  -Salvor Hardin, "Foundation"

So don't take a hammer to your computer. ;-)

 

Offline Spoon

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Re: Enioch's naval shenanigans - RTW as Germany - [Image Heavy!]
These subs are amazing  :lol: enemy nations trying to counter something that absolutely needs no countering at this stage.
Whereas Hertha is actually amazing
Urutorahappī!!

[02:42] <@Axem> spoon somethings wrong
[02:42] <@Axem> critically wrong
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Offline Enioch

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His Excellency, the Herzog von Mecklenburg on the 1906 peace talks

"For the third time, peace negotiations had been derailed by His Majesty, out of what I can only imagine to be a mistaken impression of what our enemies were willing to surrender. The Italians were a hardy foe (as they had proven aggain and again on the battlefield) and they perceived the Long War as more of a challenge than a direct threat. Despite the long, drawn-out hostilities, there was still a healthy amount of respect and, to some twisted degree, even camaraderie between the clashing Armies and Navies, as evidenced, primarily, by the Christmas Truces and the several occasions of German ships allowing a selective lifting of the blockade. The Italians were not as desperate as His Majesty would have liked to believe; and, after the end of the war, I had the chance to speak candidly with some of their officers and diplomats.

"'Of course we knew we were going to lose the war,' Lieutenant General Ermanno Aebi told me in May 1910, when I had the pleasure and honor of meeting him in Vienna, 'The important thing was to win the peace, not the war. Your Kaiser nearly jeopardised that as well.'"

-From the private writings of Herzog Johann Albrecht von Mecklenburg, Reichskanzler 1902-1920.



July 1906. The Peace negotiations have foundered once again; the Germans are asking for much more than the Italians are willing to give. Spirits are low in the Admiralität as the war is likely to extend over several more months. Some celebration is had when the R & D department reports that improved compressed air containers for the German torpedoes are now ready to be put into production.





And then spirits promptly fall again as the submarine service reports this month's losses. There is simply nothing to sink out there; the German submariners just sail around and put themselves in danger for no reason.



Thankfully, the French carry their weight with a summer offensive over the Alps. Considerable progress is made; after more than two years of war, the French are now at the gates of Turin and are shelling Genoa. The German Navy once again seeks to draw the Italians out...



...but the Italians refuse to engage, to the exasperation of Büchsel.



And then, a potential opening. German and French intelligence have collaborated in locating and hosting the known revolutionary and anarchist Paolo Badoglio; they are considering smuggling him back into Italy, where he might foster discontent and discord.

The Kaiser is incensed and nearly torpedoes the nascent project. The French, however, are adamant: their armies have been dying in the Alpine front for two years and this stalemate needs to end. They have little concern about the dangers to monarchy this move will create; they want the war brought to a swift close. Von Mecklenburg agrees; and after two weeks of argument, the Kaiser is convinced.

Hertha has the dubious honour of ferrying Badoglio to Sicily, where he is put ashore under cover of nightfall. He is welcomed there by others of his ilk and gets to work, for a time slipping under the radar of the Germans and French.



August: R & D reports the development of new, smaller and lighter boiler designs...



...no change in the 'Italians don't wanna fight' front...



...and yes! - SMS Medusa slips the ways. She's a small minnow compared to the Schlachtkreuzer under construction, but she's welcomed to the navy with open arms. The Kaiser, still moody and discontent at the recent turn of events, is present in the commissioning ceremony and appears revitalised, on the deck of the little cruiser.

"My knights-errant of the seas," he says to Galster and Tirpitz, who are also present. "I know her time is already past, but I'll be damned if she isn't a beauty."









His mood would nosedive in September, when the Italian raiders sortied in a concentrated effort, slipping past the blockade on numerous occasions. And their fleet refused to fight, verdammnt nochmal!.







Go die in a fire, Spaghettis.



Holy crap.

Literally overnight, Italy explodes in anti-war and anti-monarchy riots. Half of Napoli is burning. And Badoglio is in the middle of everything.

It is difficult to describe the ferocity of the disturbances of October 1906; the October Revolution, as it has been described by some, was barely contained; and resentment continued to simmer under the surface. The French were ecstatic at the success of the ploy; the Germans...not so much. Von Mecklenburg had anticipated something along those lines, but the success of Badoglio worried him immensely; and the less said about the Kaiser's reaction, the better.



As for the Italians, they finally broke. A communiqué was sent to Berlin, asking for peace negotiations to commence.

Von Mecklenburg, for the first time, was hesitant. On the one hand, the military lobbied for a hard position: "They are broken," Tirpitz argued. "Let them collapse and we'll pick up the pieces. On the other hand, the Kaiser was adamant that peace should be agreed upon without delay, for the situation in Italy had to be contained before it spiraled out of control. "This is your making," he told von Mecklenburg in an uncharacteristic display of foresight, "yours and the French's. Fix this, or every crown in Europe will fall by the end of the decade."



And so, peace was agreed upon; and, in an ironic twist of fate so common to the political stage, the Germans and French were called in to crack down on the riots their own agent had started.



On the 20th of November, peace was formalised. France would get no territorial gains, but would claim the lion's share of the war reparations; a sum that would bring the Italian economy to its knees for the next five years and wouldn'd be paid off fully until the 1920s. Germany, on the other hand, would stand to gain both more and less.

For Von Mecklenburg, in a shocking twist, adopted a stance that was the exact opposite of the 1901 Russian Peace. He asked for no sums of money or any sort of war reparations from the Italians; instead, he asked for territory.

The entirety of Sardinia, to be exact.



And so, we come to the end of the Long War; a war that raged for 30 months and left its bloody stain in Europe for years to come; a war that was conceived as a diversion and a challenge; a war that was birthed in perfidy, in the finest tradition of old Albion; and a war that granted Germany her greatest prize since the days of Bismarck.

A naval base in the Mediterranean.

Tremble world. Germany is here to stay.


OOC: No autoplay because I am a kind and considerate storyteller. Ahem. I am pointedly looking at some people here. You know who you are.

« Last Edit: November 03, 2018, 09:14:36 am by Enioch »
'Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent'  -Salvor Hardin, "Foundation"

So don't take a hammer to your computer. ;-)

 

Offline StarSlayer

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Re: Enioch's naval shenanigans - RTW as Germany - [Image Heavy!]
Out of curiosity does the use of anarchists and revolutionaries as agents actually backfire in some cases?  Specifically if your intended target falls into glorious proletariat revolution is there a chance for it to spread and destabilize yourself or other nations?
“Think lightly of yourself and deeply of the world”

 

Offline Enioch

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Re: Enioch's naval shenanigans - RTW as Germany - [Image Heavy!]
Very yes.

There's a high chance you'll get the "socialist propaganda is infecting our troops " event (instant +3 unrest)  and allowing revolutionaries to run around increases the chance that socialist parties might gain ground in domestic elections. Which ****s up discipline something fierce and forces you to either suppress propaganda in the navy (hello, unrest) or negotiate with the reds (goodbye prestige).
'Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent'  -Salvor Hardin, "Foundation"

So don't take a hammer to your computer. ;-)

  

Offline Torchwood

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Re: Enioch's naval shenanigans - RTW as Germany - [Image Heavy!]
Fun fact: There is historical precedent for that revolutionary event. In real life, Germany did send a revolutionary back to his homeland during WW1 to get their government to collapse. They succeeded and forced a very demanding peace treaty on that nation.

That revolutionary was a man named Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, better known to the world as Lenin.

 

Offline Spoon

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Re: Enioch's naval shenanigans - RTW as Germany - [Image Heavy!]
The war of declined battles and sewer pipes taking up permanent residence on the sea bed.
Urutorahappī!!

[02:42] <@Axem> spoon somethings wrong
[02:42] <@Axem> critically wrong
[02:42] <@Axem> im happy with these missions now
[02:44] <@Axem> well
[02:44] <@Axem> with 2 of them

 

Offline Enioch

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Re: Enioch's naval shenanigans - RTW as Germany - [Image Heavy!]
Fun fact: There is historical precedent for that revolutionary event. In real life, Germany did send a revolutionary back to his homeland during WW1 to get their government to collapse. They succeeded and forced a very demanding peace treaty on that nation.

That revolutionary was a man named Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, better known to the world as Lenin.

It's also interesting to note that, IRL, the Kaiser was very much against this.

Also, it was hilarious to see the 'big disturbance' event trigger in October. Glorious Italian Red October per tutti.

Also, ****ing Wilhelm did it again. I was looking for a decent peace for almost three years, with my diplomats failing all the way; then, I get the Italians on the brink of collapse and ask for the war to continue for MAYBE two or three more months, so that I can lolgrab their entire colonial empire. Guess when Kaiser ****ing William's "Cautious" trait triggers... :banghead:
'Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent'  -Salvor Hardin, "Foundation"

So don't take a hammer to your computer. ;-)

 

Offline Torchwood

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Re: Enioch's naval shenanigans - RTW as Germany - [Image Heavy!]
Leave it to Willy to be an irreconcilable hawk all day except the one time it would actually have been beneficial. I'm curious to see how you'll explain he got to making that rather questionable decision.

 

Offline StarSlayer

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Re: Enioch's naval shenanigans - RTW as Germany - [Image Heavy!]
During negotiations how does the acquisition of enemy territory work by the way?  Does the game make it more difficult to nab the crown jewels ie Panama, Suez, Gibraltar than say some piddly atoll in the Pacific?
“Think lightly of yourself and deeply of the world”

 

Offline Torchwood

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Re: Enioch's naval shenanigans - RTW as Germany - [Image Heavy!]
You can ask for X value of territory during a victory-peace, the X you get depends on how favorable the peace is to you. Territories have values relative to their worth, colonies usually vary from 1-3. Peace-by-enemy-revolution gives you a very high prize value of around 10, which lets you take massive chunks of land like say, Finland from Russia. You can never take 'core' territories like Austria-Hungary's only holding.

 

Offline Enioch

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Re: Enioch's naval shenanigans - RTW as Germany - [Image Heavy!]
Torchwood covered the basics. A few more points of some significance:

The value of the territories that you can annex at the end of a victorious war is computed based on VP difference, length of war and unrest levels of the two opponents. 4 is the default, corresponding to a couple of low-value colonies; 5-6 you can get with a clear victory, which includes heavy war weariness for the enemy and 10 is reserved for victory by anarchy. The latter also gives you the option to claim an enemy ship as a war prize.

Any points that you do not use to claim colonies do not go to waste. They are translated to 'war reparations' and directly add to your  core territory value. Now, this is important. Colonial holdings lose some of their value gradually, while the value of your core holdings is never reduced. In fact, through the "productivity soars!" messages, your core holdings' value increases by a set percentage several times throughout the game. This means that annexing new territory might not be the best option. If your priority after the war is to improve economically, it is ALWAYS better to ask for reparations instead of holdings. That said, colonies can give you strategic basing options (such as Sardinia, in this case, which gives me access to the Med if I spend the money to really upgrade her), oil, access routes (Suez, Panama) or you might just ask for a colony simply to deny it to the enemy (e.g. kick another Power completely out of a sector or steal their main base).
'Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent'  -Salvor Hardin, "Foundation"

So don't take a hammer to your computer. ;-)

 

Offline Torchwood

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Re: Enioch's naval shenanigans - RTW as Germany - [Image Heavy!]
That much reflects the real life situation of Germany. Not sure how accurately RtW models this, but relatively speaking, Germany's IRL colonies were garbage. Not much to offer in the way of resources, hot and unpleasant to be in, tablescrap pieces of land England and France that were not England's or France's first picks or even second picks, in short, a venture that pissed off a lot of major powers for little gain.

 

Offline StarSlayer

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Re: Enioch's naval shenanigans - RTW as Germany - [Image Heavy!]
Do holding key strategic locations yield the corresponding benefits? For example occupying Panama or the Suez effecting transit times while something like The Rock would bottleneck the Med.   

If so do you need to keep your ships within certain dimensions in order to take advantage of said canals?
“Think lightly of yourself and deeply of the world”

 

Offline Enioch

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Re: Enioch's naval shenanigans - RTW as Germany - [Image Heavy!]
That much reflects the real life situation of Germany. Not sure how accurately RtW models this, but relatively speaking, Germany's IRL colonies were garbage. Not much to offer in the way of resources, hot and unpleasant to be in, tablescrap pieces of land England and France that were not England's or France's first picks or even second picks, in short, a venture that pissed off a lot of major powers for little gain.

All of Germany's starting colonies are CRAP, with a value of 1-2 (especially her Pacific holdings). The sole exception are Tsingtao and Kiautchou bay, which, if I remember correctly are 3s (much income, very wow).

That said, if you spend the money to upgrade them (their fleet capacity, that is - there is no way you can upgrade their income potential), they can be excellent refuelling and fleet basing points. Germany has colonies in all important map sectors barring the Med and the Americas; and, most importantly, she can bring her ships from Northern Europe to the Pacific with coating stations along the way (I.e she is not suffering from Voyage of the Damned syndrome).

Do holding key strategic locations yield the corresponding benefits? For example occupying Panama or the Suez effecting transit times while something like The Rock would bottleneck the Med.   

If so do you need to keep your ships within certain dimensions in order to take advantage of said canals?

Yes and no, respectively. The Canals are indeed chokepoints and key passages and the Power that owns them prohibits transit to ships of any Nation with which Tensions have risen to 6 or above (I think it's 6).

Ships don't need to be limited in size because the game hardcaps you to 52000 tons, remember? The Iowas could barely scrape through Panama (which is the main bottleneck) and they were 57k tons at full load, so bigger than anything you can build in RtW.

'Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent'  -Salvor Hardin, "Foundation"

So don't take a hammer to your computer. ;-)

 

Offline Enioch

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- PART 3 -
Securing the East


The Vittorio Emanuele avenue in Cagliari, Sardinia, 1906. It was renamed to Wilhelm I avenue in early 1907

"The situation in Italy was quickly deteriorating and His Majesty was very much against allowing the Royalist Italian Forces to be overrun by the rebels. I shared his concern; the revolutionaries were considerably more successful than what we had originally anticipated and, while I respected the Military's demand to push until the knife reached the bone, my primary concern was long-term stability in Europe, not short-term gains. The collapse of the Italian Government to the anarchists would set up a dangerous precedent and might precipitate a more active British intervention that we felt we were unable to counter at the time.

"That said, the December Peace resulted in the official annexation of Sardinia into the German
Bund and Zollverein, with a status comparable to the Lothringen and Elsass territories. I understand that our Admirals were ecstatic at the chance to now operate from a secure naval base in the Mediterranean."

-From the private writings of Herzog Johann Albrecht von Mecklenburg, Reichskanzler 1902-1920.



It is Christmas of 1906: and for the first time in years the entirety of the German fleet (barring a few unfortunate gunboats and patrol vessels) are recalled to the North Sea and the Baltic. Leaves are granted en masse. And the Admiralität decrees that all live-fire training is to cease for the foreseeable future; resources need to be economised in the aftermath of the war, and set aside for the completion of the Schlachtkreuzer and the dredging up of new Naval bases in Sardinia.



Plans are also laid down for a massive rebuilding of the German coastal patrol vessels. The 'Piepers' have been in constant service since the end of the 19th century and need to be overhauled and refitted. The expenses are minimal and the job can be handled by civilian dockyards, who are more than happy for the work.



At this point in time, the French approached the Admiralität with a desire to study the designs of the German Schlachtkreuzer. The French Admirals and engineers were very much impressed with the German 'wing turret' designs; and a proposal was made to purchase the licence for the French Marine Nationale. Tirpitz and Galster were not averse to the idea (especially after consulting with their engineers) and von Mecklenburg jumped at the opportunity to further smooth over relations with the neighbours. The purchase of the German designs was completed in late January, for a sum of three and a quarter million pounds sterling.

There was no official response from Great Britain, but Intelligence reported "considerable concern", particularly among the high echelons of the Royal Navy.



The following months were relatively calm, among the navy - the Army, on the other hand was primarily occupied with cracking down on the revolutionaries in Italy. Hostilities would continue until April, when the Royalist forces finally secured a victory. Around the same time, German engineers introduced large-payload torpedo designs, contributing to the considerable modernisation of the German submarine fleet.





Uh... France. Are you seriously still building predreads?

Well, I suppose she may have been under construction since before the deal came through. But seriously, that's several million franks headed directly towards the 'obsolete' bucket.



In early May, new docks were completed in Wilhelmshaven and Köln. Germany could now build 29k ton capital ships and her ship designers rubbed their hands together in glee.



We are not interested, 'Muricans. German Science will find its own way. Also, you're seriously asking us to pay good money for this crap? It's not even a main tech!



June 1907: and the new torpedoes get new aiming systems to complement them. German subs are getting deadlier every day; but the submarine service still has to wash off the stigma of the 'iron coffins' it developed during the Italian war.





Baguettes you are the best allies ever. Not like the bloody Yanks.











Well. It was nice knowing you, Von der Tann. And Goeben. And Moltke. And Seydlitz. You are now all obsolete before leaving the slipways.



Heh. And the Americans wanted us to pay good money for this not three months ago. Told you German Science would deliver.





In September 1907, the Admiralität rejoices. Firstly, the R & D department sets the date for the testing of the new 12'' rifles on the 20th of the month. These are the first capital-grade guns that Germany develops above her now-standard low-quality 11'' rifles, and they are beauties, considerably better than the British 12'' rifles on the Schwabens. But this is not the only thing worth celebrating.





For on the 22nd of the same month, the Von der Tann is formally commissioned into His Majesty's Hochseeflotte. The first German Schlachtkreuzer sails the seas. Tremble, Britain, and despair!





She is followed, two months later, by her sister ship, the Goeben. The commissioning is a truly grand affair; and the French dispatch their own cruiser, Jean-Bart, to show the flag in the festivities and get a glimpse of what their own Marine Nationale might be like in a few years, now that they too possess wing turret designs. The Kaiser's mood is so buoyant that he showers compliments on the French officers, compliments that they are happy to return. Tensions between the two countries have never been so low.

During the closing stages of the ceremony, the Kaiser approaches Tirpitz. Pleasentries are exchanged; the Kaiser expresses his complete satisfaction with the Admiralität and the new ships. Then he grows silent for a while and looks over the decks of the ship wistfully.

"Tirpitz," he finally exclaims, in the usual 'and-damn-the-torpedoes' voice that his Staff have come to absolutely dread. "We need more."



« Last Edit: May 31, 2018, 10:19:36 am by Enioch »
'Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent'  -Salvor Hardin, "Foundation"

So don't take a hammer to your computer. ;-)

 

Offline StarSlayer

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Re: Enioch's naval shenanigans - RTW as Germany - [Image Heavy!]
So Bayern or Derfflinger to satisfy the Kaiser?



“Think lightly of yourself and deeply of the world”

 

Offline The E

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Re: Enioch's naval shenanigans - RTW as Germany - [Image Heavy!]
What good are four centerline turret designs if you won't build them, after all.....
If I'm just aching this can't go on
I came from chasing dreams to feel alone
There must be changes, miss to feel strong
I really need lifе to touch me
--Evergrey, Where August Mourns

 

Offline Spoon

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Re: Enioch's naval shenanigans - RTW as Germany - [Image Heavy!]
I can't help but have this nagging feeling about all these capitalships becoming obsolete before even leaving the docks.

I can't quite put it into words, but it bothers me.
Urutorahappī!!

[02:42] <@Axem> spoon somethings wrong
[02:42] <@Axem> critically wrong
[02:42] <@Axem> im happy with these missions now
[02:44] <@Axem> well
[02:44] <@Axem> with 2 of them