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Author Topic: Enioch's naval shenanigans - RTW as Germany - [Image Heavy!]  (Read 136491 times)

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Offline The E

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

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"[...]This old Britain was defeated in its conflict with the progressive ideas of socialism, for it had given the people nothing that could serve as a successful alternative to socialism. She had failed to keep her people safe; she had failed to keep her spirit alive; she had failed in the context of the household, the town, the city, the nation. She had failed in the battlefield, too, which was not a cause of her misfortune, but a symptom. That is no surprise, nor is the British populace fully at fault. A people that has experienced all that the British have been through, naturally offers fertile soil for socialist extremists.

Having been led by the ochlocratic ramblings of a despicable few to threaten not only the lives of German citizens and others, but also the very foundations of the international edifice that had been painstakingly built over the past few decades, it may seem sensible at first that retribution should be sought. And yet, voices were heard from the United States of America which made it clear that the New World wanted a peaceful and united Old World as a basis for mutual cooperation. And, while it is undoubtedly easier for the victor than for the vanquished to advocate peace, and this peace could only be achieved through victory in the battlefield, we do not seek to see Britain resigning herself to the position left to her. Dues must be paid - but it is for the benefit of all, victors and vanquished both, that the spirit of international cooperation supercedes that of retribution beyond personal accountability."


-Gustav Stresemann, Victory Speech, 12 October 1929.



With a massive chunk of the British Grand Fleet eliminated, the Moltke is safe to be relocated back to her permanent moorings. The old Valkyrie has served as a messenger of voctory one last time. Now, she gets to enjoy her rest once more.





And the good news do not stop there. The Oberste Heeresleitung reports a major success! Operation Blücher is a success. While the American forces are still laying siege to Hong Kong, the German army has finally broken through the defenses of Singapore. On the 16th of September, the commander of the British garrison formally surrenders the province to German occupation.

However, Germany fails to squash all resistance and to cleanly disengage her troops. With war still raging in the overall region, British guerilla detachments still harry the German divisions and continually sabotage the Singapore infrastructure. Germany must maintain a significant military presence in the area. Thankfully, the two old Schlachtkreuzer on-station are still more than a match than anything the Brits have, and any attempts to reinforce or resupply the guerillas by sea are doomed to fail.



...

Are you mad?!.

The proposal from Military Intelligence catches Stresemann completely off-guard, and the reaction of both himself and the Kaiser is thunderous. You wish to introduce a socialist revolutionary into the chaotic mess that is Bunsi Britain? You do realise that we'll be picking up the pieces of that society five decades from now?

We have them by the balls and by their stomachs. It is only a matter of time before they are starved into submission. Let's not set fire to their house on top of that, eh?

The project dies, stillborn.







It's a good choice. By the 5th of October, submarine reports are one again streaming in. Two British patrol vessels have been smashed to scrap by U-Boot 4-inchers; in addition, twenty-three freighters have been sunk with minimal losses. Far from the glorious early months of the war...



...but just enough...



...for the Brits to crack; completely and utterly.



The ensuing riots rage for days, with the Army first failing to suppress the violence and then joining in with wild abandon. Nearly thirty percent of London burns to the ground. Mosley escapes lynching by putting a bullet in his head; most of his cabinet and inner circle either follow him in suicide or are detained by the Army. Von Papen nearly manages to make his escape to neutral Spain; he is, however, identified by the local British militia as he tries to reach the ship waiting for him, and shot dead on the spot.

It takes two weeks for any semblence of order to be re-established; and that only thanks to the opening of the submarine blockade. Meanwhile, Stresemann is already discussing victory terms with his Allies. Said terms are presented to the interim British government on the 20th of October 1929, following the unconditional surrender of most British armed forces. Stresemann wants to complete Mecklenburg's work and nothing is going to stop him.





First, this time there is nothing the British can do to prevent the Germans from claiming a war-prize. The HMS Cressy, the pride of the Royal Navy and the current flagship of the fleet is ceded to Germany and renamed SMS Hela.

She is a good ship - not specialised enough to operate as German Schlachtkreuzer or Grosskreuzer doctrine dictates, and her guns are clearly inferior to current German 16-inchers, but she has the speed and displacement to be a terror wherever she's deployed.

Stresemann has just the place for her.



The Mediterranean.

Malta and Cyprus had been left to Britain by Mecklenburg, who had prioritised the more strategic bases of Gibraltar and Alexandria / Suez. Stresemann will no longer tolerate a British presence in the German mare nostrum. Both islands are ceded to the Reich. They are closely followed by the Falklands, the first German base in the Americas. Out of the way, for now, and of apparently limited strategic use, they will still serve as a valuable asset in the future. They also serve as a slap in the face for the British, who are ousted from yet another quarter of the globe.



Italy claims her own pound of flesh. Where Germany claims control of the Mediterranean, Italy plants her flags along the coasts of the Red Sea - and further south, in Africa.



And the USA are finally granted control of Hong Kong. You're welcome, 'Murica. Not like we carried your fat arses through a war, or anything.

Stresemann, however, will not enjoy the fruits of his victory. In what seems to be a chilling repeat of Mecklenburg's death, he suffers a stroke on the afternoon of 16 November 1929. He dies two days later, only 51 years old.



His funeral is a grand affair, and the nation, once again, mourns a capable Chancellor. The Kaiser, now entering his eighth decade of life is, once again, devastated. Stresemann had been a protege of Mecklenburg, and one of the few people Wilhelm could trust implicitly to act in the best interest of the Reich and the Crown.

"I curse the fates that seem to envy Germany," he bitterly remarks. "for they, like the Pharaohs of old, seek to deprive us of our greatest minds once their work is complete - so that it may never be repeated. Shall we pave the way to our final victory with the bodies of my Kanzlers?"





The Chancellorship goes to Julius Curtius, the Minister of Finances under Stresemann. The two men had become close friends during their collaboration, even though they were nothing alike. Whereas Stresemann was a friendly, diplomatic person, Curtius was much more reserved, a stickler for precision and rules, and a cold negotiator, with a penchant for legalese.

As a Minister of Finances, these traits had proven to be priceless. As a Chancellor...Curtius' career would prove to be distinctly average, punctuated by flashes of brilliance, but also several fiascos. After the brilliant stars of Mecklenburg and Stresemann and the black abyss that had been Von Papen's Chancellorship, most of the Reich welcomed a return to a more restrained normality; but Curtius would never succeed in capturing the German hearts like his predecessors had, or draw a bold line for Germany to follow.

He didn't make friends in the fleet, for sure.



It is worth noting, of course, that, with Britain at the brink of total economic collapse, even after the utter butchering of the Admiralität's budget, Germany spends the same as the Brits on her fleet.



It's still not enough to be spending it unwisely.



Especially when the Bismarcks are at the verge of obsolescence. With the end of the war, they are immediately placed in drydock, for a full refurbishment of their engines and a modernisation of their fire-control systems. Sadly, there are no resources to spare for the replacement of their 14-inchers with better models.



Nor can the Zähringens be upgunned to better 12-inchers. But they can be refurbished once again, and they receive the same fire directors as their Schlachtschiffe brethren.



And the same systems are integrated into the new Schlachtschiffe under construction. Now the German ships can fire more accurately than ever before.





LolBritsUmad?



Meanwhile, the Italians are building pocket battlecruisers with 14-inch guns and simple directors. Sure, Italy, whatever.



Goddammit, Russians. Lay off the bloody vodka.



R & D delivers once again!



Wait, what?



WAIT, WHAT!?

'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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Re: Enioch's naval shenanigans - RTW as Germany - [Image Heavy!]
STILL ATEN'T DEAD.

TIME TO SPANK NICKY, I GUESS.

Also, hello Pennsy, looking good there. But I have lewd pics of you. You can see everything but the propshafts...
« Last Edit: April 30, 2018, 06:38:33 am by Enioch »
'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!]
Russia occupying Ireland while the brits are busy tearing themselves apart. This is the best timeline  :lol:

Hotel chocolat though, what does it mean? What kind of encrypted messages is the german secret service passing to you?
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!]
Tasty tidbits.
'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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"It is hereby communicated to the government of His Imperial Majesty, the Czar of Russia, that the government of His Imperial Majesty, the Kaiser of the German Reich will implement all measures to ensure and safeguard the independence of the sovereign nation of Ireland."

Excerpt from the Bonn Telegram; signatures of the German government follow
.

The reaction of Germany was neither swift, but it was uncannily decisive. Germany had no defensive pact in action with Ireland, nor had she guaranteed the latter's independence. And yet, the Russian occupation of the Emerald Isle upset the European balance to an unacceptable degree.

Russian control of Ireland massively destabilised Great Britain, right after her disastrous defeat at the hands of Germany. In the aftermath of the war, the two countries had established a somewhat friendly relationship and their re-unification in a more balanced confederacy could not be ruled out. This, now, went right out the window, and the public support of the British government (the British government that the Germans had signed a treaty with) was nosediving.

Furthermore, Russia now possessed something that had been denied to her for centuries. A naval base in the Atlantic, a base that, unlike Archangel, was not frozen solid six months every year. This could not be tolerated.

And so, the German government, under the uninspiring, but near-autistically organised leadership of Julius Curtius, draws her plans for the future, in a prim and proper manner. The budget is brought to heel and the war preparations begin, like clockwork. Curtius submits to the Kaiser what he calls the Achtzehn-Monate-Plan: it is a four-hundred-page document, detailing the exact actions that must be taken, for Germany to engage in victorious war with Russia eighteen months from the day of its submission. The document remains perhaps the best example of long-term political planning in modern history; it is required reading in any higher-education class of politics and a pure crystallisation of Realpolitik.

It is also the equivalent of cold-blooded, premeditated murder on an international level.



First, Curtius declares his intentions to reduce naval spending; this establishes for the international community that Germany desires peace. Carefully controlled provocatory protests from the Navy League allows him to justify minimizing these budget cuts, while still presenting a convincing smokescreen. What little money is thus economised, is channeled into carefully selected logistics services.



Meanwhile, the Navy puts the finishing touches on their new heavy cruisers. The Blücher receives her state-of-the-art firing control systems and is almost ready to be commissioned.



Almost five months into the Plan, an unforeseen accident almost throws a spanner into the works. Curtius is not as diplomatic as his predecessors, and his handling of the scandal is by no means as skillful as Stresemann's would have been; but he knows how to seize an opportunity:



In November, an uprising in northern China spills over into Russian territories. Curtius has made allowance for such incidents (some even claim that the uprising was instigated by German agents) and he instructs the German forces in Korea to assist the Chinese government. Border skirmishes devolve into scrums between German, Chinese and Russian patrols; tensions skyrocket.





Clarification: tensions skyrocket during the time when Germany is drawing up her 1932 budget. This is all Curtius needs to channel an extra 24 million Reichsmark into the coffers of the Admiralität.



This amount is further complemented by the profits from the sale of armour technology to Japan...



...which, in turn, allows the Admiralität to accellerate the construction of the Gneisenau. She's less than a year away, outstripping the original estimates of the dockworkers by far. Everything else has been frozen, of course, but if Germany can get even one of her Grosskreuzer out in time, she will utterly dominate the Atlantic against anything the Russians have to throw at her.



Further revenues are secured thanks to the exporting of Krupp guns to Chile and Argentina...



...while the threat of impending war allows the government to justify the supporesion of 'anti-patriotic' socialist propaganda in the yards.



This gains Curtius the support of the steel magnates and secures more funding for the navy.

Meanwhile, Curtius sits in his office, regularly ticking off boxes in his four-hundred-page document and smiling the thinnest of smiles.



Eventually, he doesn't have to do a thing. Everything comes together, the dominoes fall in a neat and orderly row, and the German government drafts a telegram to their Russian counterparts. A list of demands, including the liberation of Ireland is presented to the Russians as an ultimatum, neat and orderly, like everything else has been so far.

Unsurprisingly, the Russians do not take it very well.





War is declared on the 15th of September, 1932. Curtius' plan has been accurate within six days of his original prediction.

The minute hostilities are declared, the Admiralität is ready. Ten modern subs are immediately laid down, followed by a small flotilla of coastal patrol ships.

And, of course, the Hochseeflotte is already at sea in force, blockading every Russian port in the Baltic. The Russians can choose to hide in their harbours or come out and fight.



Brave fools.
« Last Edit: June 14, 2018, 06:31:22 pm by Enioch »
'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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Re: Enioch's naval shenanigans - RTW as Germany - [Image Heavy!]

Warning: this topic has not been posted in for at least 30 days.
Unless you're sure you want to reply, please consider starting a new topic.



**** you, I do what I want.

Obviously ATEN'T DEAD, just really, really busy with work. I got an extension for my grant for next year, and am trying to figure out what I'm going to be doing the year after that while also trying to juggle having to declare taxes in both Belgium and Greece (*bitter laughter*)

But you're not here to listen to my *****ing, so here're some news:



RTW 2 Pre-release Discussion Thread
'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!]
Best thread revived again.
Silly russia, have you learned nothing from past conflicts?

Stoked for rtw2
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!]
Not dead, simply eternally lying.

Also RTW2 now has planes.

http://nws-online.proboards.com/thread/1445/rule-waves-2-developers-journal

Scroll down to the last post for more info.

Also: both friendly and enemy allied ships may now appear in battles. Spicy.
'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!]
I'm glad you're not dead.

I read nothing but excellent changes in that blog.
The changes to invasions is very welcome in my book too, because the random chance of it maybe randomly happening in RTW was kind of awful. Especially when the A.I. had like three ships just passing by a undefended colony, instantly triggering an invasion which then resolved succesfully for them in like 1-2 turns. Meanwhile that fleet of yours that is uncontestedly hanging around 5 of their colonies results in ~nothing~.

Alliances actually meaning something more than extra naval base and occasional VP increase is also nice.

And so are the carriers.

And all the other things.

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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The date: just past noon, on 12 September 1932. The German Hochseeflotte has sortied in force, to engage and destroy the Russian fleet. The goal is to secure total control of the Baltic (barring Russian minefields), in preparation of strategic landings along the Baltic state coast.

The German fleet is an imposing sight.



Leading the fleet, with a minimal Zerstörer escort are the Zähringen triplets. Admiral Görtz flies his pennant on the Graf, a small black flag with the stylized head of a shieldmaiden dancing on the breeze right next to it.



The ultra-modern Blücher, and the obsolete Hindenburg lead two small destroyer flotillas, playing the role of relays between the scouting force and the main battlefleet.



This is commanded by Michaelis and counts a total of eight capital ships, all of them 'Unsinkables'. Michaelis flies his flag on the Hannover, which leads a four-ship division of itself and the three Bismarck sisters. The other two modern 'Unsinkables' (the Wörth and Hessen are sailing in a parallel column, followed by the veterans Schwaben and Elsass.



Military Intelligence has complied a list of the Russian forces based in the Baltic. The vodka-drinkers can field a maximum of three dreadnoughts (of about 35-40 tons each) and eight battlecruisers of about 35 tons each. They have no heavy cruisers to match the Blücher; by herself, the German hunter-killer is more than enough to engage and destroy the four or five light cruisers that the enemy can bring to bear. Her firepower and speed advantage is simply overwhelming. And all of this, of course, before we take into account the nineteen destroyers that the Germans have brought along, each of them a diminutive light cruiser in their own right.



13:35: Görtz reports enemy contact! Two light combatants enter the Graf's weapons range, approaching from the east.



Both seem to be light cruisers, the northernmost one tentatively identified as a Veliki Knyaz Konstantin-class. The Graf turns south, to link with the main battleline (if enemy scouting forces are here, their own dreads should not be too far behind) and opens fire at near-maximum range.



Over the course of the following twenty minutes, the 54 German 12-inchers blanket the sea around the Russian ships with fire. Some hits are scored, despite the extended range, and against the enemy light-skinned ships, the effects are gruesome; the Russians turn away in short order and seek to escape the Schlachtkreuzer.



But Görtz will not allow them to do so. With Blücher closing in to reinforce, he turns north again, keeping them both under continuous fire. As the German directors acquire better target solutions, the German batteries become more and more effective. Over the course of five minutes, the triplets score a total of nineteen hits, without suffering any damage in return.



At 14:28, one of the two Russian cruiser dies,her bow dipping beneath the waves, the sea extinguishing her burning superstructure.



The other, however, has reached temporary safety. German lookouts spot smoke approaching from the north-east: the Russian battlecruisers have come to join the dance.





As their silhouettes become more clearly defined, the lookouts identify two Fokshani-class ships, one Navarin-class pocket battlecruiser and a Rymnik class...barge, for lack of a better term.





Görtz actually laughs out loud. The force disparity is staggering. There are more enemy ships out there, true, but the Russian battlecruiser force that is currently spotted can field a total of 28 13-inch rifles and 8 12-inchers. Just the triplets alone (and never mind the 12 9-inchers of the Blücher or the 10 12-inchers of the Hindenburg) bring 54 12-inch rifles to the game.



The German scouting force is more than enough to deal with the Russians, but Görtz takes no chances. The triplets make their top speed of 25 knots and pull away, drawing the Russians back towards the waiting arms of the German battle-line. Meanwhile, Michaelis, being in constant contact thanks to his relaying divisions, splits his forces. Division 1 moves to the east, while Division 2 continues her northward approach, ready to join up with the Schlachtkreuzer. Blücher, making good use of her staggering, destroyer-like speed of 34 knots, pushes west, ready to drop a hail of 9-inch fire onto to exposed broadsides of the Russian battlecruisers and, if necessary, to cut off their retreat with her escorting Zerstörer and her own torpedoes.





The pincer maneuver works perfectly. By 15:30, both flanks of the German fleet are in position and firing on the approaching Russian ships. The effect is immediate. The Russian battlecruiser line dissolves into a gaggle of individual ships, trying to pull out under fire. Enemy fire grows erratic and inaccurate; the German ships redouble their efforts, trying to score as many hits as possible during this moment of confusion.



Very soon, Russian turrets start popping like fire-crackers. Most of the Russian ships present are old, built around antiquated armor schemes and are unable to withstand German 14-inch and 15-inch fire; the old Tsesarevich-class battlecruiser Sinop, in particular, loses three turrets in as many minutes.



Fire from the western German flank, in particular, is very effective. The rapid-firing 12-inchers of the Zähringens are more than enough to defeat the armor of the lighter enemy ships, and their shots fall like hail. The slower 15- and 14-inch guns of the Schlachtschiffe fire at a more stately pace, but they, in turn, have no trouble penetrating turrets and belts of the more modern Russian capitals.

On the other hand, Michaelis on the eastern flank has run into the enemy battleship force. His lookouts have spotted a Gangut-class ship, which the Hannover proceeds to engage and pound mercilessly.



The old russian giant is about the size of the german Wittelsbachs and only slightly more heavily armed; against the combined fire of four 'Unsinkables', she has no chance. She loses her first turret at around 15:42; the rest will follow shortly.

Her escorts, the Aleksandr II and the Nikolai I fare no better under the tender ministrations of the German gunners.





16:00, and the German Schlachtkreuzer have utterly dominated in the western flank. The Sinop is sinking; one of the Fokshanis has lost two of her turrets and is desperately trying to run away. Unfortunately, Blücher has her flank and has no intention of allowing her to leave. Her guns are firing non-stop, a constant roar of dakka-dakka-dakka-dakka-dakka, pumping armor-piercing shells into the Russian superstructure and waterline.



The Fokshani attempts to disengage and fires back to discourage the cruiser; but her turn gives her full broadside to the Zähringens, at around five thousand yards. It's the last mistake she'll ever make. As the Zähringens have proven, time and time again, nobody can expect to survive one of their broadsides fired at short-range.



Scratch one Fokshani and search for new targets.



Oh look, there's a Gangut-class battleship at under 10k yards, towards the north-east. She'll do.





The lookouts on the Hannover spot a fan of torpedo trails closing in on the ship. A desperate maneuver dodges two of them; the third buries itself into the belt of the ship and utterly fails to explode. It will be removed by an ordnance disposal team in Emden, twelve hours later.

Show 'em how it's done, girls.



That'll do, pigs, that'll do.

16:17. The second Fokshani eats a torp on her aft belt and loses one of her rudders and one of her four props. Meanwhile, the Schlachtkreuzer have locked onto the Gangut and are pounding her to scrap.



Gangut at 16:18.







Gangut and Nikolai less than ten minutes later.



By this time, the Russian fleet has disintegrated completely. All of their battleships are either sinking or crippled; battlecruiser-wise they only have a single crippled Fokshani and the old Navarin still operational, and the former has lost all of her aft guns, as the flooding from the torp hit was allowed to reach the magazines.



Correction: they are bringing more ships to the slaughter. The pride of the Russian navy, their new modern Chesma-class battlecruisers, armed with 10 14-inch rifles each and with a 12-inch belt, have arrived!

Let's see what they can do against the two-decades-old Zähringens, shall we?



A general view of the battlefield. Note how the Russian force has been completely flanked by the German divisions.

Also note that what seems to be a Russian battle-line running north-to-south is, in fact, only a line of sinking ships, each of them falling behind as the rest of the Russians are running towards the north. The only effective ships they have left are the four northernmost 'dots', which represent the two Chesmas and their destroyer escort.



Why, hello there, Ms. Chesma #1. Let us just dial in our rangefinders...



Dakka. Both fore turrets jammed.



Dakka. Aft turret penetrated and destroyed.



And then, night falls, at 18:46; and the Chesma fades into the gloom. Michaelis curses and orders a retreat - he refuses to risk his battlefleet in a night action against the surviving Russian destroyers. The 'Unsinkables' are tough as nails, but there are limits to everything and he will not spoil this perfect victory with a ship loss. The Chesma has escaped and that's that.

...or is it?



The retreating Hindenburg spots a dark shape to her port side, flashes recognition signals and gets no response. Her old 12-inchers traverse and fire, point-blank, at a range of under a thousand yards.



The carnage is indescribable. The entirety of the enemy ship erupts in flame and thunder, as the German Schlachtkreuzer scores more than twenty hits in less than four minutes.



Finally, the Hindy snaps her searchlights on and illuminates the wreck. It's the Chesma-class, taken completely by surprise and already sinking, her oil bunkers flooding the sea around her with burning fuel.

The Hindenburg, a Wittelsbach-class battlecruiser built in 1910 and the oldest capital ship in service with the German Hochseeflotte, has just scored a kill on the Arhipelag, the most modern warship of the Russian navy, a ship more than two decades her junior. It's a record that remains forever unbroken in the annals of German naval history.





The butcher's bill. The numbers, I believe, speak for themselves. Before the Battle of Finland, the Russians had a total of three dreadnoughts and eight battlecruisers. They are left with two mauled battlecruisers; they also lose three light cruisers and four destroyers.

German casualties are negligible. Their Schlachtschiffe are barely scratched and only the Graf Spee (that damned bloodthirsty Valkyrie) has taken any significant damage.



To add insult to injury, the Hochseeflotte has only lost the S49: the little ship rammed and killed the Russian submarine Minoga that tried to torpedo the retreating German ships.



And then Russia had no fleet.

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

I can has Finland?
'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!]
Hey Arhipelag




My sisters and I were forging a Tradition of Victory when your naval architects were still learning their way around a slide rule.
“Think lightly of yourself and deeply of the world”

 

Offline StarSlayer

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Re: Enioch's naval shenanigans - RTW as Germany - [Image Heavy!]
Warning: this topic has not been posted in for at least 30 days.

"Damn the Necro! Four bells. Captain Drayton, go ahead! Jouett, full speed!"

I recently stumbled across this nifty Naval History Channel on youtube.  The majority of the content is 5~ minutes long, and provide tasty Naval History catnip.  The specific video I found relevant is the following:


I have the honour to be, your obedient servant.

-JB

P.S.  Enioch, will we every learn how Imperial Germany acquired the Panama Canal?





“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!]
Drachinifel is a genius and his commentary is on-point and concise. It has been a pleasure following the rise of his channel.  :yes:

I've been reviewing the screenshots and the upcoming wars are a bit boring, with the exception of the Big OneTM around 1951.  Frankly, after the last war, there is very little that can challenge Germany except the USA.I might revisit this, if there's interest, but I think I will change the format a bit and focus on single battles and exciting moments, kind of like those stupid documentaries that you got in the late 90s/early 00s, with deep-voiced (and exciting!) narrators being all triumphant and saying historically inaccurate (but exciting!) things while historical footage plays on the background, interspersed with (exciting!) dramatic recreations of various events with bad acting and usually racist accents.

EDIT: Also, I was looking forward to starting a RTW2 game, but the release has been pushed back to March, so there is some time left to wrap things up.
'Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent'  -Salvor Hardin, "Foundation"

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

 

Offline The E

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Re: Enioch's naval shenanigans - RTW as Germany - [Image Heavy!]
I would certainly like to see how this story continues, even if it's just AARs about the interesting moments and not month-by-month updates.
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 too would like to see some closure to this.

Also agreed about Drachinifel, been actively following his vids since he started using his own voice instead of the text to speech. He's very knowledgable and has a wonderful dry sense of humor.
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!]
OK, then.

A Teaser, for now, until I can get my internet working (probably not before 21/12/2018):



A 2008 BBC PRODUCTION

SINKING THE PRINCE: THE BATTLE OF CORNWALL

A slow fade in from black: the rocky shores of Cornwall looming over a darkened sea. The sky is a uniform gray. The cries of seagulls can be heard over the surf.

Quote from: NARRATOR
In the cold days before the Third War, nobody would have expected the British Navy to put up a fight. The old days of Nelson and Trafalgar were gone forever. The Grand Fleet was a shadow of its former self; barely capable of patrolling the waters of the ever-diminishing Empire.

A wave breaks against the rocks, scattering foam in the sea breeze.

Quote from: NARRATOR
The Dreadnoughts of old were thought to be a fool's toy, a wasteful attempt to wrest the seas from Germany's control and her relentless submarines. If another war were to come, it would be fought by light forces, and below the waves.

ARCHIVE FOOTAGE: a small corvette launching from her berth. Then, cut to REAR ADMIRAL SIR ARTHUR MOUNTJOY, in full dress uniform, in an Admiralty office.

Quote from: MOUNTJOY (a serious man, in his sixties, with a hard jawline and a matter-of-fact manner of speaking)
The people had lost faith in their Navy. These were truly dark times - the failure of the Navy's doctrine had been proven beyond doubt. Twice the German U-boat forces had...

Cut to ARCHIVE FOOTAGE: a German U-boot on the surface, her deck gun blazing at a distant target; cut to a burning merchantman.

Quote from: MOUNTJOY (voiceover)
...brought the British Empire to the brink of starvation, in what were two merciless unrestricted submarine warfare campaigns. They had proven the effectiveness of the new combat arm of their Hock-Zee-Flotte beyond any doubt.

Cut to PROFESSOR GEORGE HODDER (a man in his early fifties, with small, gold-rimmed glasses, a square-patterned woolen shirt and a slightly hunched stance; he is seated in front of an old fireplace, with an oil painting of the HMS Ceasar above it).

Quote from: HODDER
People were talking of starvation. They were talking about another war ruining Britain forever. Nobody expected victories. Victory was something that happened to the Germans. Good news meant getting a convoy through the wolfpacks. Nobody could dream of something more. It wasn't just the submarines: the High Seas Fleet had smashed the Dreadnoughts apart again and again and again, there was no doubt that in a surface action the Navy would...lose.

ARCHIVE FOOTAGE of the officers of SMS Gneisenau posing and laughing under her mighty 16'' guns. Then, cut to DR. JEREMY SPALDING (a man in his late forties, bald and with a double chin, standing in front of his library).

Quote from: SPALDING
They could not imagine that a German capital ship could be sunk. That was impossible.

SPALDING moves over to a table, where the blueprints of the SMS Prinz Eitel Firedrich are laid out and picks up a photograph of the ship on her maiden voyage. The camera focuses on his hand and the image of the ship, her graceful bow pushing the water aside in a high, white wave.

Quote from: SPALDING (voiceover)
But, of course, it wasn't.

Cut to a 3d rendering of the Prinz sinking fast, bow first, her broken turrets slipping out of her bearings. ARCHIVE FOOTAGE of naval rifles firing.

Quote from: SPALDING (voiceover)
Everything went wrong for the Germans.

Cut to ARCHIVE FOOTAGE of part of the Hochseeflotte sailing in formation, the Gneisenau leading the squadron. Then, quick succession of ARCHIVE COMBAT FOOTAGE with naval rifles firing, interspersed with re-enactment scenes of sailors manning action stations, loading and firing guns, fighting fires etc. The rapid sequence ends with a lingering shot of CAPTAIN MARCUS VON HOLSTEIN (played by then-little-known Austrian actor CHR. WALTZ) on the bridge of the Prinz, with black smoke wafting towards him from outside the frame. He is drenched in sweat, a slight trickle of blood runs down his left temple. He slowly lowers his binoculars, his expression stunned, almost oblivious to the frantic activity of other officers and damage control crews around him.

Quote from: NARRATOR
The Battle of Cornwall was joined on the 18th of September 1936 - a clash in which the British Home Fleet was called to defend the Isles from one of the most modern and terrifying weapons the German Reich had ever put to sea. It was more than the first great battle fought in the Third War; it was an event that rocked the German Admiralitaaaaaaaaht to the core. The German forces were more powerful, and possessed greater firepower; yet the flagship of the German Shlaacht-krau-zayr divisions was sunk by a combination of heavy and light British forces, in the first German capital ship loss for a generation. It led to one of the most famous utterances of Wilhelm II:

Cut to the KAISER WILHELM II, in his Berlin residence, played by CHR. PLUMMER, reading a telegram. His hand is trembling imperceptively as he looks back at the members of his Admiralty there present.

Quote from: WILHELM II (his voice that of an old, old man, but tinged with steel and sarcastic reproach)
"Meine Herren, heute stimmt etwas mit Unseren gottverdammten Offizieren nicht."
[SUBTITLES: "Gentlemen, there is something wrong with our goddamned officers today"]
'Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent'  -Salvor Hardin, "Foundation"

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

 

Offline AdmiralRalwood

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Re: Enioch's naval shenanigans - RTW as Germany - [Image Heavy!]
CAPTAIN MARCUS VON HOLSTEIN (played by then-little-known Austrian actor CHR. WALTZ)
I giggled.

KAISER WILHELM II[...] played by CHR. PLUMMER
I ****in' lost it.
Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Codethulhu GitHub wgah'nagl fhtagn.

schrödinbug (noun) - a bug that manifests itself in running software after a programmer notices that the code should never have worked in the first place.

When you gaze long into BMPMAN, BMPMAN also gazes into you.

"I am one of the best FREDders on Earth" -General Battuta

<Aesaar> literary criticism is vladimir putin

<MageKing17> "There's probably a reason the code is the way it is" is a very dangerous line of thought. :P
<MageKing17> Because the "reason" often turns out to be "nobody noticed it was wrong".
(the very next day)
<MageKing17> this ****ing code did it to me again
<MageKing17> "That doesn't really make sense to me, but I'll assume it was being done for a reason."
<MageKing17> **** ME
<MageKing17> THE REASON IS PEOPLE ARE STUPID
<MageKing17> ESPECIALLY ME

<MageKing17> God damn, I do not understand how this is breaking.
<MageKing17> Everything points to "this should work fine", and yet it's clearly not working.
<MjnMixael> 2 hours later... "God damn, how did this ever work at all?!"
(...)
<MageKing17> so
<MageKing17> more than two hours
<MageKing17> but once again we have reached the inevitable conclusion
<MageKing17> How did this code ever work in the first place!?

<@The_E> Welcome to OpenGL, where standards compliance is optional, and error reporting inconsistent

<MageKing17> It was all working perfectly until I actually tried it on an actual mission.

<IronWorks> I am useful for FSO stuff again. This is a red-letter day!
* z64555 erases "Thursday" and rewrites it in red ink

<MageKing17> TIL the entire homing code is held up by shoestrings and duct tape, basically.

 

Offline The E

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Re: Enioch's naval shenanigans - RTW as Germany - [Image Heavy!]
Drachinifel is a genius and his commentary is on-point and concise. It has been a pleasure following the rise of his channel.  :yes:

this topic hooked me on that sweet sweet content.

Interesting thing I didn't realize: Iowa class BBs are borderline useless in the north Atlantic. Makes all those "Who'd win in a fight, Iowa or Bismarck" discussions a bit more interesting.
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