Happycat
Posts: 177
Joined: 10/24/2006 Status: offline
|
quote:
ORIGINAL: PDiFolco Happycat, why do you think Germany could not have invaded Canada or USA ? Sure they couldnt without total naval superiority, but it's the same in game... Sorry, I don't come on this forum as much as the Slitherine one, so I missed your question. I think that it would be unrealistic for Germany to invade N America in any wargame that ends in 1945. The German and Italian navies were no match for the combined strength of the Royal Navy, Royal Canadian Navy and US Navy. As you commented, it would not be possible to invade without naval superiority. Let's assume that the USSR is conquered. The Russian Navy of 1941 was pathetic. So even if the Germans captured the entire Red Navy, it would be of no help. If Britain was conquered, there is no chance that the Royal Navy would have been part of the deal. The centuries old traditions of that force would ensure that those ships would be scuttled before ever being surrendered to an enemy. More likely, they'd just sail for North America. So we are left with a small, and not so modern Italian Navy, and a bit larger, and more modern German Navy. The top four navies in the world in 1945 were USN, RN, IJN and RCN. No matter how you crunch the numbers, the Axis would be faced with crossing a hostile Atlantic, landing forces against a determined bunch of defenders, and then having to keep them supplied. In order to achieve anything close to naval parity with the western Allies, Germany would have had to embark on a huge naval building program in order to be ready by 1945. Such a program would be at the expense of other things; say like tanks and airplanes, without which Russia and the UK would never fall. So, a "Catch 22" situation... If the Axis had defeated the UK and USSR, I don't believe that an invasion of North America would have been possible before the early 1950's (in terms of logistics). And by then, it would be a whole new ball game (think nukes). Of course, since making my earlier remark about it being "unrealistic", I had not played the game much. Now, after playing it for many, many hours, I see that the distance of North America from Berlin would trigger distance penalties for supply which would render this whole topic somewhat moot. Now watch what happens next---a dozen or more players are going to post about their experiences conquering Canada and the USA .
_____________________________
Chance favours the prepared mind
|