Posts made by SuperbattleshipYamato

@the-captain

Awesome! I love it! Are you planning to do a strategy guide for the 1943 edition? Thank you!

@general-5-stars

Well, there is a little problem: Wikipedia says there was one static division, one infantry division, one panzer division and one understrength static division in the area that he game board shows. Unfortunately, based on the amount of units in each division on the reinforcements chart, there are way too many pieces to represent 3.8 divisions at the start of the game.

@cernel

And based on your updated question, I would put Rommel with Patton. Too very aggressive generals greatly liked by troops, and masters of armoured warfare.

@cernel

I read that, but I am unable to draw any conclusion from the message you quoted.

@imperious-leader

Sorry if there was any confusion. How I interpreted the question is which general during World War 2 would have been the best partner to the best German general of World War 2 based on ability? Based on this, this seems to be a hypothetical scenario only.

Also, Rommel never fought on the Eastern Front in World War 2. Guderian and Rommel fought in the Battle Of France in command of panzer divisions, but they seemed to have little interaction.

@imperious-leader

As I said, Rommel would pair most well with Model or Manstein. As you said, Rommel didn’t have any counterpart, so I’m just pairing generals together based on their ability. Both Rommel and Model were excellent masters of defensive warfare.

I just don’t think Guderian was equal to Manstein in capability, which is why I don’t think they were the most deadly combo. Rommel was a much better tank commander than Guderian.

I’m sure many of you have heard of Infantry Attacks, a book by Erwin Rommel in the interwar era. It is about Rommel’s experiences in World War 1 as a mountain infantry commander mainly in Romania and Italy, but he also fought in France for the first year of the war, as part of a regular infantry unit. Throughout the book, especially in Romania and Italy, Rommel assumed higher and higher commands, ending in the command of the Rommel detachment of the Wurttemberg Mountain Battalion. This also doubles as a military textbook, with the English translator and the US army writing an introduction at the start of the book. I finished it and it is a great book.

One of the highlights is the Tolmien offensive in Italy, where the Rommel detachment of the Wurttemberg Mountain Battalion destroyed five Italian regiments and took 9000 prisoners in three days, the most successful of Rommel’s career.

I highly recommend it, but it’s quite a long and complicated book. It really shows you Rommel’s power as a commander. A sequel, Tank Attacks, was planned but never completed, due to Rommel’s suicide in 1944. It was meant to be based on Rommel’s experiences in North Africa. What was written can be found in the Rommel Papers. I just don’t recommend it because it was edited by Liddell Hart, a British general who edited the works to make it seem like Rommel was his “pupil”, and that Liddell Hart taught Rommel what he knew. It was also edited by one of Rommel’s staff in North Africa, and his wife and son.

If you have read this book, what are your thoughts on it? Thank you!

@aequitas-et-veritas

As I said, the best German general of World War 2 was Rommel.

@aequitas-et-veritas

How could you choose just two? There were so many good generals during the war. The best general of World War 2 was Rommel. Some people might fuss about Rommel’s logistics views, but that can be argued over (like how Rommel was willing to weaken his own troops to invade Malta), but hardly anyone comment about how “logistically minded” Manstein or Guderian were.

The “Professionals Of War”:

Erwin Rommel

Erich Von Manstein

Walther Model

Tamechi Hara

Jisaburo Ozawa

Gunichi Mikawa

Raymond Spurance

William “Bull” Halsey

Georgy Zhukov

Chester W. Nimitz

Ernest King

Now, if I can choose just two? Rommel and Model or Manstein. If given good fortifications and positions, they might be able to achieve a 1:5 or even 1:10 kill ratio against the attacking forces.

@barnee

An incident would not have been needed-Pearl Harbour still would have happened, just without Hitler declaring war on the US. The Battle Of The Atlantic would still have been won by the Allies, it just would have taken longer without the US fully committing to it. US participation would still have increased though, and if Germany did not declare war (which they should not, to make this scenario more likely), the US would have declared war on Germany in 1943. It might have been a different situation with a truce though.

So who would be your top 10 generals and admirals of World War 2? Put them in order if you can (it’s quite tough). If you could also make a top 5, that would be appreciated. This list also includes all naval, army, and air force commanders regardless of rank.

Personally my picks would be (in no particular order, I just can’t decide):

Erwin Rommel

Jisaburo Ozawa

Takeo Kurita

Walther Model

Erich Von Manstein

William “Bull” Halsey

Raymond Spurance

Tamechi Hara

Chester Nimitz

Georgy Zhukov

Writing this out, there is not enough space for all the generals I want to put, such as Bernard Montgomery, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Ernest King, and many Soviet generals.

@barnee

Perhaps, there was a plan for that-but there probably wouldn’t be any massive massacre (in proportion to what was historically done) by the Heer or Einsatzgruppen, as the military commanders would probably say that it won’t be good for discipline to treat at least 5 countries (the Baltic States, Belarus, and Ukraine) and a nice chunk of Russia as a gigantic free fire zone. And seeing the resistance to Germany in the actual war, it wouldn’t have been so hard for a massive rebellion to start, followed by a massive Soviet invasion.

Hitler actually had a plan to deport and enslave the peoples of the Soviet Union, part of Generalplan Ost:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generalplan_Ost

This would have had to be take this part more slowly. This might not have even been done at all until Germany conquered enough of the Soviet Union.

I guess we talked enough about the east-how would the war with the west go? As I said in my scenario, Hitler did not declare war on the US, and the Second Battle Of El Alamein did not happen (the British only won because of Shermans and Grants, which would not have come in this scenario). Rommel would have stayed in Egypt. The Allied victory in the Battle Of The Atlantic would have taken more time. Vichy France and Spain would have joined the Axis, causing chaos for the British in the Mediterranean. Japan would probably have surrendered in 1944. So what happens then? Would the US have entered the war after the truce? Would Britain have sued for peace after the fall of Gibraltar and possibly Malta. And would the Soviet Union have dared to go to war with Germany again if Britain sued for peace? So many possibilities! I hope to hear your perspective on this!

@aadudecphdk1981

I’m an ocean away, but I’m just curious the price you are charging this for. Thank you!

@imperious-leader

It’s actually possible for an armistice to happen in 1942-all the way to mid-1944, as some weird Soviet peace overtures were offered in neutral countries. These weren’t anything serious, but if the condition I outlined had happened, they might have been pursued much more vigourously. Hitler would probably have accepted, at the advise of his generals and Luftwaffe officers (to replace Barbarossa’s and Case Blue’s losses), economists, and “race scientists” (to consolidate the newly conquered lands and peoples in the east). Hitler was far more rational during the war before the failure at Stalingrad. Of course, it would only have been a truce as it would have left Germany far too deep in the Soviet Union. Perhaps it would have also included access to Soviet oil. With the Soviet Union still quite strong and rebuilding with the factories in the Urals, Hitler would have had to do his extermination plan slowly, to prevent a massive revolt in conjunction with a resumption of Soviet attacks. But what happens then? That is the question.

@abworsham4

Thank you for responding!

For a more successful 1942 campaign, to start, Germany should have encircled Stalingrad (like Leningrad, but there is a problem of overextension), or following the original Case Blue plan of cutting the supply line on on the Volga, and then turn all of Army Group South to invade the Caucausus-accomplishing objectives on at a time rather than simieataneously. Other than that I haven’t go any other ideas. Perhaps further development is necessary.

@barnee

I feel the same way too.

Soon after the Battle Of France, Hitler is informed by the Devil that on the day that when Operation Sealion begins, a massive land bridge (stretching from Pas-De Calais to the western edge of Normandy) connecting France to Britain will magically appear. With this information, Hitler immediately orders the suspending of Luftwaffe operations over Britain to conserve aircraft for the invasion (that way, if pilots are shot down, there is more of a chance for them to be recovered). This information is not found out via Ultra, and Hitler informs only his top generals, admirals, and Luftwaffe officers of this information. No civilian cargo ships are converted to transports, the resources used for the conversion used to produce additional army equipment.

With the striking power of the entire German army catching the British by surprise, could Germany have won the war? Thank you!

Re: 1944 Germany's Last Stand

His idea is quite interesting, but I don’t have much interest for it. I do feel bad for his story, though. I wonder is anyone interested in this though? This seems to have gone under the radar of most members on the forum.

@grumpy-pig

How far can you you ship? Thank you!

Let’s say Germany and Japan suddenly hate each other (magical intervention). Then, all pieces of land not directly controlled by Germany before the invasion of the Balkans magically disappear (this includes Axis allies such as Italy, Romania, Hungary, and even the puppet of Slovakia) along with all the people there. The exepecption are all courntries that border the Baltic Sea. The palces that are not directly controlled by Germany (such as Sweden, Finland, and the Soviet Union) will turn into impassable zones (anyone who step foot into those places instantly disappear). All German units in the disappeared places move back to Germany.

After that, the Japan home islands replace where Great Britain used to be. The IJN moves to the Atlantic. The IJA in China is moved to France. All German units in France move to Germany.

Now that Germany and Japan are now near each other and hate each other, who will win in a hypothetical war? There will be supply ships that are magically created, fueled, repaired, and crewed carrying supplies such as steel, oil and all other materials needed to conduct war to both sides. The supply ships for Japan magically appear in the Atlantic and the German supply ships magically appear in the Baltic Sea. Germany’s strength is their strength before the invasion of the Balkans in real life. Japan’s strength is their strength before the Battle Of Midway.

Now this is a very complicated way to pit World War 2 era Germany and Japan against each other, but it can be a cool scenario.

So who wins in the hypothetical war? What are the specifics? Thank you for responding in advance!