I might do a narrative rather than a map based one for this as I’m still mucking around with the screen shot uploads I think most TOAW grognards can visualise things by this stage - we'll see.. Anyway the narrative so far:Europe Aflame Solo Run
12 July 1935: Anglo-German Naval Pact allows Germany to build Aircraft Carriers of limited capacity. Italy follows suit.
3 September 1938: Winston Churchill becomes 1st Lord of the Admiralty
9 November 1938: The Führer grants the SS the right to have its own Airforce & Paras.
15 March 1939: Germany occupies Bohemia & Moravia & declares Slovakia a Protectorate
1 April 1939: Abwher break British Admiralty codes & discover plans by the Royal Navy to seize Narvik by coup de main in the event of War
10 May 1939: Winston Churchill becomes Prime Minister - he instructs his staff to prepare for War with Germany within six months!
5 June 1939: On it’s National Day Denmark declares that only Danes are welcome in Denmark as full time residents & that the National borders should be those of 1849. In effect laying claim to all of Schleswig-Holstein incl. that within the borders of the Reich.
6 June 1939: Adolf Hitler condemns Denmark's actions as 'a Hostile Act’ and breaks off diplomatic relations. German residents in Denmark are asked to leave and their is property seized - some violence ensues. Norway offers diplomatic support to Denmark but no military assistance.
22 June 1939: The German Foreign Minister Von Ribbentrop flies to Moscow to discuss the growing International Crises. He signs a Pact with Molotov & Stalin - ‘the Nazi - Soviet Pact’ - that recognises Germany’s right of self defense in regards to Denmark & Norway. In return the Soviet Union is given a Free Hand to deal with Finland. Both countries undertake to respect the Neutrality of Sweden and the Baltic States.
22 July 1939: Hitler orders the commencement of ‘Operation Weserübung’ to seize Denmark & Norway citing threats to National Security that are impossible to ignore
- German ground forces cross the border into Denmark, Luftwaffe bomb Danish airfields. Danish Government appeals to the League of Nations.
24 July 1939: In Moscow the Soviet Foreign Minister Molotov announces that given the failure of the Finnish Government to engage in meaningful negotiations on the future alignment of their mutual border in Karelia that the Soviet Union has decided to advance and secure more reasonable defensive positions.
Stalin personally appeals by hot line to Helsinki not to offer any meaningful resistance.
The Finns call up their Reserves and the Soviets attack in strength on the central Front of the Mannerheim Line. Finns suffer heavy casualties but the Russians fail to break through. Soviet warships are spotted off Petsamo in the far north.
29 July: Britain & France break off diplomatic relations with the Third Reich & warn Berlin that any further aggression in Scandinavia could lead to War.
Copenhagen is captured by German Panzer units & the Luftwaffe start to re deploy on Danish airbases.
Soviets smash through Mannerheim Line and take Viipuri cutting of Finnish units. Helsinki suffers its 1st air attacks. Petsamo is cut off from the rest of Finland.
6 August: German glider borne troops land on Norwegian soil & throw a loose cordon about Kristiansand. German amphibious landings are daily expected. German Paras are dropped at Lillehammer and secure it thus cutting off Oslo from reinforcements from the North. German fleet moves into the Skagerrak & bombards Kristiansand.
Russian advance in Karelia slows but Finnish II Corps is now fully cut off - Petsamo is attacked by Air & Sea.
Britain ready to Declare War but the French Cabinet is divided as to the best course of action to take and advise London to show restraint.
RAF bombers are moved to bases in northern Scotland.
Norwegian Navy sorties from Oslo but is almost annihilated in a naval engagement with the Kriegsmarine in the Skagerrak
12 August: Germans bombard Kristiansand by land and sea. Finnish II corps fails to breakout of encirclement.
Finnish Reserves are mobilised to meet attack.
19 August: Germans attack Kristiansand by Land, sea and air & capture it. German land forces are put ashore and advance on Oslo.
The Royal Navy is put on a war footing and the Grand Fleet at Scapa Flow is put on 24hours notice to sail for Northern waters.
26 August: Germans attack outside Oslo by Land, sea and air but after heavy fighting the city is held by the Norwegians
Russians advance further into Karelia
Churchill decides to take unilateral action & orders the 51st Highland Division to occupy Narvik.
Hope that is easy enough to follow and I can add more visuals as I go along..
16 September German naval expedition incl. Graf Spree sails from Copenhagen for Bergen, the RAF strafes some of the transports but no real damage done. War looks imminent.
Germans launch an assault on Bergen & capture it.
Finland agrees to an Armistice with Russia. All Finnish forces are to withdraw minimum of 25km from the old border, Lake Ladoga to be fully in Soviet hands. Peace Treaty to follow.
23 September Churchill dispatches the 50th Division to Trondheim to help the remaining Norwegian Forces to hold it - Home Fleet takes station off Narvik to frustrate a German naval landing.
The Finns start to withdraw to the Armistice line demanded by Stalin.
< Message edited by Sarsfield_slith -- 2/7/2021 12:07:17 PM >
1 October: Hitler in a coup de main seizes the port of Danzig & demands right of Free Passage to the Reich across Polish territory.
At a special Party Rally that evening in Berlin he states that he had to act to restore order in the City and protect German citizens lives and property
- ‘as a soldier of the Weltkrieg I do not want a War with the Nations of Europe’.
1 October: British 50th Division leaves Trondheim and moves north heading for Narvik to reinforce the Garrison there, blowing all the bridges behind them.
1 October: British 50th Division leaves Trondheim and moves north heading for Narvik to reinforce the Garrison there, blowing all the bridges behind them.
I had the impression sea supply roads don't work in TOAW IV- was I mistaken? If not, where are the British divisions in Norway getting their supply trace from?
_____________________________
"What did you read at university?" "War Studies" "War? Huh. What is it good for?" "Absolutely nothing."
Yes the sea supply works fine with the 51st Div in Narvik now at a healthy 105%
The war goes on ....
21 October: German armoured reconnaissance units approach Trondheim, Brandenburg elite units are dropped to secure beachheads to the north east of the city. German infantry are making their way north overland to reinforce them.
50th British Div. fortifies Narvik airbase as RAF Fleet Air Arm planes start to arrive - they are ordered to attack on sight any German convoys heading north of Bergen.
FAA launch an attack on a German convoy north of Bergen and a number of ships are badly damaged. Convoy returns to Bergen.
In Berlin Hitler realises that a full scale War with Britain is now unavoidable but feels that he must not be seen as the aggressor.
He orders the Navy to escort & support the landings at Trondheim and for the assault troops to take the city.
Peace Conference agreed to take place in the New Year in Stockholm under Swedish auspices
Diplomatic sources indicate that Stalin will demand a sizeable reduction in the size of the Finnish armed forces and a huge War Indemnity from Helsinki for causing the War in the 1st place.
In Berlin Hitler realises that a full scale War with Britain is now unavoidable but feels that he must not be seen as the aggressor.
I don't think Hitler had too much of a problem with this. Having (in your history here) more or less arbitrarily invaded Denmark and Norway (not to mention Danzig) it's a bit late anyway to win hearts and minds, and in any case I would expect Britain to make a declaration of war before setting about sinking German warships in the Norwegian Sea.
_____________________________
"What did you read at university?" "War Studies" "War? Huh. What is it good for?" "Absolutely nothing."
Well in history he did arbitrarily decide to invade Poland so it's certainly not outlandish to suggest he could have done the same to Denmark & Norway - which is exactly what he did do some months later anyway...
Well in history he did arbitrarily decide to invade Poland so it's certainly not outlandish to suggest he could have done the same to Denmark & Norway - which is exactly what he did do some months later anyway...
Absolutely- so why's he shy over war with Britain, when they're already fighting in the Norwegian Sea?
quote:
Undeclared wars are nothing new in history BTW
Certainly: however I think Britain in this period would not be shy about declaring war. It's not like they can write off the sinkings by the Fleet Air Arm as "air pirates".
_____________________________
"What did you read at university?" "War Studies" "War? Huh. What is it good for?" "Absolutely nothing."
28 October: German build-up at Trondheim continues - a full scale assault on Narvik by Land, Sea & Air is planned - Operation Thor.
London & Paris agree to a joint meeting of the British and French Prime Ministers Winston Churchill and Édouard Daladier in the French Capital on 4 November to discuss matters of strategic interest.
4 November : Churchill & Daladier meet in Paris with their respective military staffs and agree to issue an immediate and public Ultimatum to Germany that she must forthwith announce a ceasefire in Norway and an open commitment to begin the immediate withdrawal of German troops from Danish & Norwegian territory. The international status of Danzig must also be restored. Failing that War will be declared within seven days.
In Berlin the German Chancellor announces that the terms are unacceptable and declares Denmark a Reich Protectorate. In relation to the Norwegian problem he proposes a Peace Conference at the Hague to settle the issue. Danzig is to be incorporated back into the Reich.
11 November: German troops and fighting vehicles move north east along the coast road leading to Narvik as Engineering teams repair the blown bridges. Target date for Operation Thor to begin is set for 11 December.
11 November: Paris & London: Joint Declaration of War on Nazi Germany issued. Churchill goes on BBC Radio to announce:
I am speaking to you from the cabinet room at 10 Downing Street. This morning the British ambassador in Berlin handed the German government a final note stating that unless we heard from them by 11 o'clock that they were prepared at once to withdraw their troops from Denmark & Norway, a state of war would exist between us. I have to tell you now that no such undertaking has been received, and that consequently this country is at war with Germany.
That afternoon the French Premier Daladier tells the French People that they too are at War with Germany.
But I like sea roads - there should be more of then IMO!
Sea supply roads serve a few purposes: 1) allowed a location to have a small level of supply well below normal force supply 2) allow multiple locations to be served by a single supply point when the maximum number of supply points has been met 3) allow enemy naval units to block supply by sitting directly on the road (naval units don't have ZOC so adjacent isn't good enough) 4) can include "underwater river" hexes which can be linked up with the use of a naval unit with ferry equipment (i.e. you have to risk some of your shipping to supply the port)
1 and 2 are no longer an issue since you can now have any number of variable supply points, and I don't think EA ever used 4 in the first place. This leaves 3, but I'm not sure how widely used this was in actual play. Certainly in the situation you've got in this game the German player could gain a lot by dropping a naval unit onto that sea supply road somewhere in range of his Sea Interdiction units
_____________________________
"What did you read at university?" "War Studies" "War? Huh. What is it good for?" "Absolutely nothing."
25 November: ULTRA intercepts indicate German offensive on Narvik is now imminent, possibly utilising Para drops to back up the land assault.
RAF raids German air bases in Norway to stymie air support for the expected - naval landings expected possibly by 11 December?
BEF starts to arrive in France. Royal Marine Brigade moved to Scapa Flow as back up for Norwegian operations.
French Atlantique Nord Fleets departs Brest to link up with the British Home Fleet operating in Norwegian waters. It is bombed by the Luftwaffe but avoids serious damage.
Fleet Air Arm aircraft from HMS Ark Royal are launched to seek out the German Aircraft carrier the Graf Spee and sink her.
Disaster ensues as all 48 Swordfish planes are shot down [12] or damaged [36].
The French Army launches serious attack on the German positions defending Saarbrucken. Both sides suffer heavy casualties but stalemate ensues.
2 December: Naval aircraft from the Graf Spee search for the Ark Royal, backed by land based Stukas. The attacks are beaten off but the Ark Royal is damaged.
Narvik airbase is bombed prior to the main assault but the Luftwaffe suffer heavy losses.
German arm. cars cross the last river obstacle before the Narvik and attack the weakened Norwegian regiment defending it who are pushed back into the city. The Germans reach the outskirts of Narvik.
German Brandenburg regiment and some glider troops are dropped NE of the port but the SS Paras are forced to turn back after being attacked by the RAF.
The city of Strasbourg is again heavily bombarded causing heavy structural damage to the historical city - which is being rapidly emptied of it inhabitants.
New York Times calls it 'barbarism on a massive scale'.
BEF HQ is established at the city of Arras in northern France. More divisions start to arrive and take up positions to defend the city.
Churchill over the heads of the Chiefs of Staff orders the Royal Marine Brigade to Narvik to reinforce the garrison there.
The Home Fleet takes station off the port of Narvik to protect against naval attack.
French Army takes up Winter Positions, calls a halt to all further offensive activity until Springtime.
The Chiefs of Staff of the Polish Armed Forces inform the Government that a military offensive on Germany could not possibly take place until 1 May at the earliest.
Printable Version
All Forums >> [New Releases from Matrix Games] >> The Operational Art of War IV >> After Action Reports >> Europe Aflame Solo Run 
Europe Aflame Solo Run - 
New Messages
No New Messages
Hot Topic w/ New Messages
Hot Topic w/o New Messages
Locked w/ New Messages
Locked w/o New Messages
Post New Thread