Thursday, August 25, 2011

II August 1940

Rather a chancy time for the Brits. Despite recovering somewhat from a disastrous first turn, the RAF and Royal Navy are stretched way thin as German forces assemble for a possible invasion. Can Old Blighty hang on?


The mounting number of inoperative UK air units is severely hindering the defense.

Germany continues its assault on the radar stations, but bad luck plagues the Luftwaffe, registering only 2 hits in 8 missions involving over 28 bomber groups and 14 escorts. So little damage was done that the RAF was able not only to repair the damage done this turn, but all damage done to date. The problem is that the stations are far easier to repair than to destroy, which prompted the real-life Luftwaffe to move on to airfields (and at about this time in history), which is something the German player is considering doing at this point.

Although the German losses in the air mounted during the last half of August 1940, so did the English. In total, UK losses were 1 kill and 10 aborts, while German losses were 6 aborts and 3 kills. The increase in German losses was due to a change in British strategy brought on by necessity; the widening disparity in numbers forced the UK to only contest a limited number of missions, and by doing so, achieving local superiority in some quadrants.


Here a number of Parachute regiments in Paris look over the English Channel to Kent.

Really, the only successful air mission over England was the first terror bombing of London, a nighttime mission that overwhelmed the pair of night fighters the UK threw up.

Germany's greatest success so far has come at sea. During these 2 weeks, the Luftwaffe scored major damage on the battleship HMS Nelson, and sunk both the battleship HMS Barham and the heavy cruiser USS Sussex. If it weren't for uncannily magnificent AA defense, the HMS Renown might have been lost as well.


11 Infantry Divisions stare over the North Sea at a possible invasion site.

The Royal Navy, which to this point has interposed itself between the Netherlands and East Anglia to oppose a possible invasion, will likely have to move to a different sea zone, or take to port as the German Navy has done. They've already vacated the Channel due to unrelenting attacks from Ju88A and Ju87R bombers, and the RAF is hard-pressed to escort the flotillas in addition to patrolling the skies over England.


Both the Royal Navy and Kriegsmarine avoid Deadly Sea Zone 13!

On the bright side, the British have committed to bombing the shipping and ports in Netherlands to kill an invasion in its infancy. They were able to destroy 4% of German shipping and a third of Amsterdam's port capacity. While this doesn't sound critical, it will force the Luftwaffe to transfer some of the Me109E's from Calais for protection, and perhaps alleviating some of the pressure on the homeland.


Sunk in the North Sea.

Right now, the Germans have 31 victory points while the UK has only 6, making this a German decisive victory...if the game ended now. Add 11 more for the damage to the HMS Repulse, HMS Nelson, HMS Southampton, and the HMS Renown.

Dark times, indeed.

No comments:

Post a Comment