Eureka! Another weapon of triumph for Germany

[Iwo Jima]

German Navy Doctrine has very high organisation and morale in early 40's.

The question: what kind of ships need org and mor so much???
Of course, CV!


In 1940 German CVs could have double or triple org in comparison with British.
They both have low positioning, but Germans could rise it with high positioning of escorting cruisers.

Yes, CVs cost much in comparison with BC or BB. But they could attack ports and airfield. Also, they do not obtain strength damage and do not need repair.



So, the tactic is the following:

German CTF disorganizes British fleet. After that German SAG or Wolfpack damages it very easy.

 

[Conanteacher]

Great find! Have you tested it? Some Graf Zeppelin screenshots preparing Seelöwe would make an awesome AAR

 

[Zardnaar]

Interesting. The Germans have one big advantage IMHO with BC or BB though. Lvl 4 ones in 36 so X6 serial builds can pump out a reasonably large fleet espicially with gearing bonuses. With carriers you would probably need to rsearch 3 of them + the CVL's unless you have a slightly different plan. 12 or 18 ship CAG and DD's as escorts?

How many CVs do you think you will need and by when? Also you need some capital ships as well. X3 BC laid down in 36 with X6 CVs in 37 would give you 1 CAG and a BC SAG by 1939 or so. You could have X2-3 lvl IV destroyers laid down by Jan1st 37 as well and a massive quantity of lvl III subs swtching production lines to CV's in 37 except for X3 subs.

CV+ marauding heavy cruisers would also be funny. Such a marauding fleet could amphibious invade France in September 39, while fighting in Poland and probably grabbing the low countries as well.

 

[midget_roxx]

It would only work in the short run though. Much better investing that IC into airpower which can be upgraded and used on land as well.

 

[Zardnaar]

You don't really need the airpower at least in France and Poland. You expand the Luftaffe in 1940-41 and lauch Barbarossa. THis way is about 1-2 years quicker than the traditional German land+air blitz.

 

[Zardnaar]

Germany CV.game

A few sacrifices were needed. Goring got no new kites except for Austria's and a good chunk of the Heer and Luftwaffe are "obsolete". 172 divisions, 68 on the border, 11 special mission ones, the rest vs Poland. A rather large percentage are also Militia, with 13 odd cavalry ones. Defensive ones vs France are 1 inf (36)+2 militia all equipped with 38 lvl artillery, and a few infanty corp vs Poland and the Netherlands are 2 inf 1 militia corps. Denmark gets X3 Cavalry divisions.

 

[Zardnaar]

The masterplan
X= major fleet locations SAG and CAG. Smaller fleets left over heavy cruisers and submarines.
Thick yellow line = major lines of assault. 11 divisions will be landed behind French lines in Nantes. The landings will be X2 armored corp, 1 HQ, and 8 cavalry which will scatter through France.

11 Panzer divsions will punch through Antwerp and sickle cut the Alllies while infantry assaults seek to drive back the Dutch. Individual Panzr units wil then scatter through the Flanders area while the main thrust will try and secure Belgium.

The Poles get the last 2 panzer divions which are in a corp with a single cav division as well. Poland whill be mostly an infantry affair and may take several weeks instead of 5-10 days in a traditonal German blitz.

 

[Zardnaar]

OK tried it (up to a point).

My tactic of amphibious assaulting the French works like a charm except you get quite a bit of dissent in Belgium/Netherlands as fighting still carries on there. You can do this with BB, BC or even CA as well as CV's.
My tactic of navy+fighting the French and Western Europe, and the Poles at the same time bit if a debacle although you can hold the western border. I had to retreat with my tail between my legs out of Belgium.

The carrier tactic kinda does work but I suffered on my research as I had to develop destroyers and carriers which required 5 techs to research. You're not going to have the IC to build a BC/BB SAG + lt cruisers and CV's. Those 5 techs took focus away from some of the other techs so I didn't have both 1940 SLA researched by Sep 1 39 as having them + the relevent air, land and doctrines techs is kinda important.

It might be a better late game tactic after Barbarossa or 1940 campaigns or if you downsize the fleets I built. The carriers suffered compared to the BC idea you had. I would rather have X3 BC SAGs which rip apart Allied fleets in 1939/40.