This is a full-scale historically-based campaign between Britain and Germany in the North and South Atlantic, commencing in September 1940.
As with all SAS WW2 scenarios, you can play for either side against the computer, or another player; and you can swap sides at any time during game play. For the British, you play as Harry Nelson, a descendant of the greatest British Admiral of all; for the Germans, you are Max von Tirpitz, with the blood of the Tirpitz and the von Spee families flowing in your veins.
The campaign starts with the moves for both sides already done, and unless players modify either or both sides before the turn is run, there will be a LOT of action in the first turn!
Note: By default, SAS WW2 campaigns have 'emergency tactical responses' enabled for players. If you are inexperienced in SAS WW2, or just want a quicker game, you will need to disable some or all of the emergency tactical response options. See tactical responses for help on this topic.
The starting naval forces are historically accurate but with one important exception - for added interest, the Germans begin with around 350,000 tonnes of capital ship and cruiser construction already advanced on the slips - elements of Grossadmiral Raeder's famous 'Z' Plan. It will take between a few months and more than 2 years to complete these ships - which include two of the very large 'H' class battleships and some interesting new battlecruisers; they will give added punch to a navy whose main weapon remains the U-Boat. Two carriers - the Graf Zepellin and the Peter Strasser are also on the slips.
The British also have a very large construction programme in the pipeline - which reflects the programme they actually had as at September 1940. But both sides will be able to freely add to the construction schedules already laid down, as soon as resources permit. In just a few short years, there is potential for each side to have a very large navy indeed!
Remember though that there is a difference between absolute and effective numbers. For various reasons, many of your ships will be unfit for duty at any one time - mainly due to being low on fuel or damaged. Play-testing confirms the truth that only a fraction of the available U Boat tonnage at any time is actually able to be employed. (For example, in the last quarter of 1942, the Germans had nearly 400 U Boats, but only around a quarter were operational, and not all of these could be employed in the Atlantic). The German player would do well to keep an eye on his 2-I-C's deployments; there could be room for some optimisations.
The map size is huge - over 33 million square nautical miles, stretching from the US East Coast to Archangelsk in Russia's far north west, and as far south as Montevideo in Uruguay.
The starting odds, especially given the boost in surface forces for the Germans, are rated as 'extremely difficult' for Britain and, conversely, 'almost unloseable' for Germany, which means that the German player has to work much harder for the same performance rating. Britain has the stronger initial position, yet strategically is much more vulnerable to attack. Germany is able to operate from the very well-placed and newly-acquired French and Norwegian ports. Most importantly, it has a very strong industrial base, shielded by large airforces. It will be quite some time before the British can muster sufficient carrier-based airpower to threaten Germany's homeland. (In this campaign, the effects of the massive land-based bombing effort against Germany have been abstracted out, to allow you to concentrate on the war at sea).
The game allows the Germans to more aggressively deploy surface raiders in the North and South Atlantic - despite what happened to the Graf Spee. The campaign settings allow the Germans to build stronger surface forces, and the oppportunities for success, especially against the Russian-bound convoys, are very real. Yet the campaign is mainly about the classic U-Boat vs convoy battles in the North and South Atlantic. These convoys are needed for three purposes:
Failure to maintain convoys to Londonderry and Liverpool will choke off the British war effort. Failure to maintain supplies to Gibraltar or the Russian ports will deduct victory points from the British; and in any case Gibraltar is a strategically placed naval base that needs supplies to continue operating effectively.
Britain starts with the much larger navy in the theatre - over 2.6 million tonnes compared to around 900,000 tonnes for Germany. But the campaign settings allow for a massive German industrial build-up that can see them catch up progressively. Their naval construction strategy favours the U-Boat, as it did historically once Grossadmiral Raeder assumed command of the Kriegsmarine. But the campaign also allows for Germany to build up their surface forces more aggressively than they did, resurrecting parts of the 'Z' plan: it is assumed for this scenario that Hitler has allowed the diversion of serious resources to the navy. But it will be quite some time before the German player will see new large battleships enter the game.
Note that this campaign assumes an increased shipyard infrastructure for the Germans - part of the assumed better resourcing of the Kriegsmarine. The German player will find he can build ships, especially U-Boats, a little more quickly than was the historical rate. In particular, the explosion in U Boat strength is set to take off in earnest around February 1942, as a large amount of new construction now on the slips becomes ready for service.
Both sides start with historical levels of technology. With proper resourcing and focussed priorities, it is likely that both sides will achieve a technological arms race just as they did in WW2. German advances in submarine propulsion and wolf pack tactics can be countered by better ASW and convoy tactics; but it will be up to the player to get the most from the possibilities of technology.
Troops are NOT included in this scenario. The focus is quite deliberately on the war at sea.
Both sides have sizeable air forces; and as British carriers come on-stream, their power will be increasingly felt. But the poor weather that affects northern latitudes including the North Sea will restrict the role of airpower in this game to a degree. The surface ship and submarine enthusiast will find plenty of opportunity to emply the gun and torpedo against the enemy!
| GENERAL SETTINGS | ||
|---|---|---|
| Countries | Britain, Germany | |
| Start Date | September 1940 | |
| Map | North and South Atlantic. 61 * 59 hexes; hex scale = 96nm. | |
| Land-based air? | Yes | |
| Carrier-based air? | Yes | |
| Design your own ships? | Yes | |
| Troops? | No | |
| COUNTRY-SPECIFIC SETTINGS | ||
| UK | GERMANY | |
| Ports | *Scapa Flow (Home Port) *Liverpool Londonderry Gibraltar *New York *Boston Halifax Norfolk Bermuda Pernambuco Montevideo Freetown Capetown Reykjavik Murmansk Archangelsk |
*Kiel (Home Port) *Hamburg *Wilhelmshaven *Danzig *Lubeck Narvik Trondheim Bergen Stavanger Brest St Nazaire La Rochelle Bordeaux |
| (* = has ship construction and repair facilities) | ||
| Starting Naval Forces | : | |
| Battleships | 8 ready 1 repairing 6 building/commissioning/yet to be transferred to the Pacific |
1 ready 10 building 3 repairing (Numbers include 8 ships from the 'Z' Plan on the slips, plus 2 'pocket battleships') |
| Aircraft Carriers | 2 ready 5 building/converting |
2 building |
| Cruisers | 22 ready 24 building 4 repairing |
3 ready 3 building/commissioning 1 repairing (Numbers include 4 'M' class cruisers from the 'Z' Plan) |
| Destroyers/Escorts | 135 ready 145 building/re-fitting 12 repairing (Numbers include 45 Candian ships) |
30 ready 33 building/commissioning 1 repairing |
| Submarines | 16 ready 14 building 1 repairing |
41 ready 106 building (Numbers include 10 Italian boats that were progressively introduced to the Atlantic from September 1940. |
Notes: