Red Flood

[Franconicus]

Well, there is a break in the championship and Kraxis is back - so why not starting a new interactive today?

The rules are simple. You are a German officer. The story starts in 1940. You will first get an introduction into the situation, then a mission. The mission will change during the campaign, but only slightly due to the different boundaries.

You are not a mighty leader. Therefore it is not enough to have brilliant ideas, you must convince your leaders.

What is new is that you do not only have to choose between several options, you can make your own proposals and you will have to gather informations along the way. You will need them later!

The scenario may look easy. In fact I think there is only a very small window to success. Do not miss it!

So enjoy the game!



Chapter 1 - Triumph

Fort Eben-Emael; June 14th, 1940

The warm spring sun sends its beams to Fort Eben-Emael. It illuminates a surprisingly peaceful scene. A young lieutenant leads a group of generals through the main entrance of the fortress. He is going to show them the turrets and tell them that this was the world’s biggest and strongest fortress; He has been giving explanations about the different parts and their functions for almost two weeks now and the run on the fortress does not decrease.

Aside stands an officer with the insignia of an Oberstleutnant of the Wehrmacht. His name is Hermann-Bernhard Ramcke. He is 50 years old. He climbs on Cupola 120 and enjoys the warmth of the sun and the beauty of the spring day as he is looking at the arrangement of the fortress.

He does not need a guide. He knows the fortress inside out.

Ramcke has had a long and changeful career. In 1905 he entered the Imperial Navy as a ship boy. He was on duty on several ships before the Navy sent him to the Marines. He fought at the fields of Flanders, where he repelled six British assaults at a single day. At the end of the war he was highly decorated and joined the Free Corps ‘von Brandis’. In 1919 he finally joined the new Reichswehr, now as captain of the army infantry.

Two years ago he first met Kurt Student. From their first meeting he was fascinated of this man and his ideas. Since then Ramcke has tried to become a member of the Fallschirmjäger. Well, during the last weeks he has passed most of the training courses of the Fallschirmjäger and now he hopes to get the transfer order to the Luftwaffe soon.

Small elite formations do special airborne operations. This idea is the consequence of the assault tactic of WW1, and yet, it is more, it is revolutionary. Since the first encounter Ramcke and Student have met regularly and discussed technical and tactical issues of the new arm. And Eben-Emael. In his mind Ramcke has been inside the fortress many times before and he has simulated the German attack over and over. Recon planes had seen the garrison playing football on the roof. The Germans concluded that there were no mines there. At the first light of day 10 gliders touched down at the roof of the fortress. They came out of nowhere and the garrison did not even know they were there. They carried 85 soldiers of the 1. Fallschirmjägerdivision, 85 men equipped with novel hollow charge bombs. 20 Minutes later they had razed the turrets and the armored observation stands with loopholes. The fortress was blinded. The commander of the fortress had no idea what was going on. He could not explain how the Germans were able to destroy his turrets so easily. However, he knew that he was lost if he could not get rid of these Germans on the roof. While the Germans started to bomb their way into the fortress the garrison sallied. Before they reached the plateau the fire of German planes and infantry stopped them. The garrison had to accept its fate. They surrendered. The Germans occupied the fortress with only six casualties, 1200 Belgian soldiers surrendered.

Ramcke looks at the hole at Cupola 120. It is one thing to make a plan and to devise a new, revolutionary scheme. But it is a different thing to stand on this turret and see how the scheme became true.

The operation showed that small elite groups with innovative technology and tactics could beat enemies with superior numbers and material. Next time, he hopes, he will take part of the operation.

Ramcke reflects the events that happened since then. The German troops invaded the Netherlands and Belgium. They broke through the Ardennes and cut off the French and English troops. The English had to leave the mainland. The Germans continued the invasion of France. Everywhere the Germans were successful. The advance was fast and unstoppable. German planes controlled the skies and German tank advanced in the rear of the enemy. What a difference to Ramcke’s own experience of World War 1? How hard had they tried to break through, to reach their goal: Paris. How often did they stop the English assaults at Flanders? All in vane.

In meantime there are three more groups of visitors. Ramcke decides to leave and to drop over the town commander’s office. There he hears the news: the 87. Infantriedivision occupied Paris. Incredible! Paris, the target of so many operations in the Great War! Paris, the capitol of France! That stands for the defeat of the French army. That stands for the end of the war! Soldiers are jubilating. War is over. France is defeated.

Spontaneously Ramcke decides to take a trip to Paris. He has some free time and he has to see Paris with his own eyes. He sends a telegram to Student and then orders his chauffeur to drive to Paris.

The road to Paris is filled with German troops. At some places it is damaged but in general the traffic flows slowly but steady. They pass long columns of German infantry. The soldiers look tired and weary, but everyone is cheering. Sometimes they pass the wrecks of bombed convoys.

They advance slowly and Ramcke has enough time to think about the situation. The news excited him. A German division marches in Paris! Incredible! All the nightmares of the past months fall apart. He is looking back on the situation last September, when France and England had declared war against Germany. It was like a deja vue, a nightmare, being trapped between superior armies. How could Germany dare to challenge France, the nation with the strongest army and Britain, the biggest sea power on earth? The military was sure that they would loose the war. They all blamed Hitler for his foolish gambling that led the nation into this awful situation. Well, Ramcke is not a follower of Hitler. However, now he has to admit that the military was wrong and Hitler was right. France might have had the strongest army; however they did not have the spirit to fight. And the English? All its sea power did not prevent the disaster. Now they will have to accept Germany’s new position.

How could this happen? It is true; the French army was strong and so is the British sea power. However, what the general staff did not see was the fact that the French nation was not ready to fight. They could have defeated the Germans in 1939, but they did not. They hesitated. Their military doctrine was defensive, immobile. Hitler knew that. He did the right assessment of the French and British. While the generals saw the superior numbers Hitler had more information and he came to the right conclusions: Germany could defeat the allies if it attacks them as soon as possible.

The English will have to accept a ceasefire. If not, … In this case the Germans will land on the islands. The Fallschirmjäger will play an important role and this time Ramcke will take part. The invasion of the British islands will be challenging and they will have to get heavy arms to the Fallschirmjäger as soon as possible. Ramcke has discussed this issue with Student before. Maybe it is time now to think about these issues again.

Task for today: Get all information about the German airborne units in 1940; their strength, their training, their equipment, their tactics, their planes, their strengths and weaknesses.

[Peasant Phill]

great that it starts in Eben-Emael.

I find the use of the 'hollow charge' in Eben-Emael very interesting if we're planning on attacking other fortified sites.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaped_charge

[King Kurt]

Well a quick glance around the web about the German Airbourne suggests the following - in 1940 it was still a small force - being built up for its moment of fame and Phyric victory in Crete. I think the real weakness was in the JU52 fleet and the gliders. The Ju52s were very prone to being shot down and the losses they suffered in the Crete campaign were horrendious causing a transport plane shortage in the subsequent russian campaign. There was a similar story for the Gliders. About 500 JU52s were used for Crete and 271 were casualties. So the airbourne is preety much a one shot weapon if they are to be used on any scale - and if there is even a hint of not having air superiority then there will be massive casualties and a good chance the operation will fail.
For info see:
http://www.eagle19.freeserve.co.uk/index.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_...A4ger_Division
So, if we are to use them, we must exercise caution and use them in a true coup de main way. We also need to find a way of reienforcing any operation quickly - which could well mean some form of naval support forces.

[IrishArmenian]

In order to get the easily-shot down transport planes to Britain, we must plan a diversion. The Falshrim-what's-it-called cannot fight in the air, meaning we must plan a diversion to avert the Britts attention. Know I suggest using Navy ships for the diversion, but send a few U-Boats to escort them, to put up a good fight, but I digress. I notice that the Paratroopers are incredibly delicate in the air, so I would have to request some serios fighter escort. Is there such a way to disguise a paratrooping plane as a bomber? It would fool the English well. Of course, the farthest the Germans can go with this is England and Wales. They are not trained for the terrain of Scotland (which the locals are) and not as much, but the same thing with Ireland, but also the Irish are not situated mostly in cities, so Your troops will grow weary of marching everywhere and these cultures were built upon Gureilla Warfare, so tough enemies. But I would also like to say your ideas there are a little vague.

[Keba]

Is there such a way to disguise a paratrooping plane as a bomber? It would fool the English well.

Well, tranport models were nearly identical to early bombers. Unfortunately, those models have mostly been put out of commision with the advent of the more advanced German bombers (the older models were phased out during the Spanish Civil War).

My belief is that Paratroopers are best used like they were by the Allies later in the war. To disrupt enemy activity, in preparation for an incursion. Britain is in a bad spot in the beginning stages of the war ... her only safety is the navy, however, once German troops are on the island, it is unlikely they will be able to do much. The main problem would be supply, however, it could be disguised as a part of the Air War ... namely, some bombers drop supplies while others bomb the hell out of the British airbases.

The main problem is convincing German High Command of the plan. Goring might object, prefering a scare bombardment tactic (which he did use, and which failed). Hitler might be more open, if the plan is properly presented as bold and likely to add Britain to the Reich ... we might have a chance. Other commanders are more likely to see the advantages.

[JimBob]

Who says we're putting Paratroopers down in England? Today we are figuring out what we are capable of.

What we have is a division sized group of elite and highly motivated soldiers who have proven themselves. I'm with Kurt, the weakest part of the airborne is the transport. If the opportunity arrises we should push for better transport aricraft,the Ju-52 began service in 1932, it's outdated. Our troops are trained to fight as a group and are among the best in the German Army.

The weapons are standards of the German Army. The only weapon that was unique to the Fallschirmjager was the FJ42 which only saw limited production, it was a light machine gun comparable to the BAR. Not as heavy as an MG34 or MG42, but capable of delivering signifigant fire power. This is also a must. A 9lbs gun is better than a 24lbs gun when moving about behind enemy lines. Something similar to the FJ42 should be lobbied for as early as possible.


http://www.greendevils.com/greendevils/fjwwii.htm
http://www.eagle19.freeserve.co.uk/

[Lord Winter]

An standalone jump into Britten is out of the question. The RAF would destroy most of our force in progress and radar would make it impossible for us to land unprotected. The best we could do is play a supporting role such as the allied paratroopers did at D-Day. We would probably serve the best in a land campaign were we could raid the allied supply lines.

[AggonyDuck]

Well personally I hope we get to make a jump on Malta.

About the transport planes. There really isn't much we can do to improve the situation at the moment, especially when you consider the fact that Ramcke is only a lieutenant colonel. I don't think we have anything to replace them with anyways. There is absolutely nothing wrong with our gliders though, so I'd prolly recommend that we make good use of them.

A bigger problem is the fact that german paratroopers didn't jump with their weapons strapped to them, but had most of their weapons dropped in containers. This means that we'll have problems if there's enemies around at the dropzone.

Overall the German paratroop doctrine seems to build around dropping a force of paratroopers on an airfield and then flying in reinforcements and supply with transport aircraft.

I don't think we have to worry about jumping on the British Isles, because somehow I don't see a Seelöwe having any chances of success.

[Keba]

I don't think we have to worry about jumping on the British Isles, because somehow I don't see a Seelöwe having any chances of success.

This is going to concentrate on the Mediterranean theatre ... which means that Seelöwe is not going to suceed, or be attempted.

Although I must add, the take the airport tactic worked like a charm. It is true that the paratroopers suffered heavy losses at Crete, but the Allies did not see it. What they saw is a complete breakdown of their forces and unrestrained chaos. There are accounts of British troops defending an airfield from attacks for six hours, an airfield which was already in German hands.

This is the situations that paratroopers are meant for. Had the attack on Crete been combined with a naval invasion ... allied losses would be catastrophic, and German losses light.

The transports are a problem, but there is nothing that we can do about it. Perhaps we should consider night jumps? It would scatter the troops more, but would lessen the chances of AA dropping half of our force before we know it.

[AggonyDuck]

Maybe doing night drops with Gliders would be a decent idea? It would definately reduce the risks of being discovered before the actual drop.

[Kagemusha]

Malta would be a very tempting place,but as Liutenanant Colonel i dont think we have any say on Operational planning. If we can effect the equipment of Paras i would like to see a light mortar in each squad.Paras were always deployed without sufficient supporting weapons.Thank you Franc Im looking forward for this adventure!

[DemonArchangel]

I think a fighter/light bomber escort to attack and neutralize any airfields close to the landing zone before a landing would be a good idea. If we could get some priority air support, it would be excellent. Also, what would the carrying capacity of the gliders be? Maybe they could carry some motorcycles or light prime movers (like a Jeep) + towed artillery so that the Fallschirmjaegers get that extra punch and an easier way to move around.

[Lord Winter]

Malta would be a very tempting place,but as Liutenanant Colonel i dont think we have any say on Operational planning. If we can effect the equipment of Paras i would like to see a light mortar in each squad.Paras were always deployed without sufficient supporting weapons.Thank you Franc Im looking forward for this adventure!

That shouldn't be beyond our reach as there are already in some use. We also need to improve our Anti tank capabilities or else be able to lobby for the army to support us with panzers or artillery.

[DemonArchangel]

That shouldn't be beyond our reach as there are already in some use. We also need to improve our Anti tank capabilities or else be able to lobby for the army to support us with panzers or artillery.

I think a fighter/light bomber escort to attack and neutralize any airfields close to the landing zone before a landing would be a good idea. If we could get some priority air support, it would be excellent. Also, what would the carrying capacity of the gliders be? Maybe they could carry some motorcycles or light prime movers (like a Jeep) + towed artillery so that the Fallschirmjaegers get that extra punch and an easier way to move around.

Ok, towed 50mm guns a good idea for stopping tanks? I know that the Flak 88is too heavy. Maybe a Kubelwagen with a larger engine can tow a 50mm gun or a 120mm mortar around? Any idea Kage or Franc?

[Rodion Romanovich]

Interesting new take on interactives!

I think Kagemusha's idea of mortars sounds great. As for anti-tank abilities I supposed the light mortars it probably takes very well-trained crews and quite decent spotting to stop tanks with it, but I suppose it's slightly better than the alternative way of dealing with tanks - high-calibre rifles to blind them by hitting crew windows followed by sneaking up on the tank and planting explosives - which was the normal way for infantry to deal with tanks at the time...

Task for today: Get all information about the German airborne units in 1940; their strength, their training, their equipment, their tactics, their planes, their strengths and weaknesses.

I'll post a list of our most numerously deployed small arms:
- Submachine guns: MP38, soon also MP40
- Bolt-action rifles: Karabiner 98k, with bayonets and possibly also gewehr granate (rifle grenades). I suppose the paras used the 98k shorter pipe carbine version rather than the 98 rifle.
- Semi-automatic rifles: N.A. at this time
- Assault rifles: N.A. at this time
- Sniper rifles: probably a few Karabiner 98k equipped with scope are available. The FG42 fallshimjaegergewehr, probably one of the most flexible German small arms when it came (scope, plus auto and semi-auto fire modes), came in 1942.
- Machineguns: MG34
- Grenades: stielgranate. Most seem to be shock grenades rather than fragmentation grenades (no fragmented metal but rather a strong concussive explosive power), ideally suited for offensive tactics (and probably very deadly indoors in bunkers) but poor for defense
- Anti-tank arms: not much at all, possibly a few high-calibre rifles to take out electronic equipment and the window panes through which the tank crew looks, combined with explosive charges or "Tellerminen" to attach to the tank while it's been blinded. The serious AT weapons such as Panzerfaust and Panzershreck came much later
- Artillery: 5cm mortar, 14.5 kg, 0.9 kg bombs, 520 metres range. Later largely replaced by the larger 8cm mortar of weight 56 kg (possible to dismantle for transportation), range 2400 metres, bomb 3.5 kg (both smoke, explosive and flare). There was also in 1942 a Kurzer 42 version of the 8cm mortar which was lighter but still nearly as effective, probably a weapon well-suited to paratroopers but there's little information on how it was deployed.
- Handguns: doesn't matter much I guess so I won't bother listing them

From what I can see the paras would rely on rifles, smgs, grenades and different forms of explosives mainly at this time. The paras had more machineguns than the normal infantry - one extra per platoon I think. Mortars seem to have been issued in the same numbers as for the normal infantry. But I wonder how much of mortar and machinegun fire power that could actually be brought to battle during airborne insertions.

I think Kagemusha's idea with mortar support is quite good. It wouldn't be as effective as the later anti-tank methods, but specially trained mortar crews might be able to stop tanks more effectively than the high-calibre rifle+explosives method, at least in some scenarios. Suppose a tank force in the open is pinning a paratrooper formation in cover. The mortar is excellent for such situations, where the rifle+explosives method isn't as effective. But I don't know how good accuracy mortars had at this time. Plus each mortar bomb would weigh quite a lot so a mobile mortar team with airborne insertion and without vehicles could hardly carry more than a few dozen mortar shells even for the smallest German mortars AFAIK. For example it says that the lightest German 5cm mortar had bombs each weighing 0.9 kg, the actual mortar weighing about 14.5 kg.

a good page with information about ww2 weaponry: http://www.bayonetstrength.150m.com/index.htm The info provided there about paratroopers in 1940 is limited I'm afraid...

[DemonArchangel]

Legio: Again, didn't you see my proposal for the dropping things like Kubelwagens for transport? It's definitely possible, as some of those gliders held a lot of stuff.

[Rodion Romanovich]

Legio: Again, didn't you see my proposal for the dropping things like Kubelwagens for transport? It's definitely possible, as some of those gliders held a lot of stuff.

that's a good idea. If a decent transport can be dropped the paras can not only get better logistical abilities but also get a more effective artillery support

[DemonArchangel]

Thanks... anyway, i'm researching glider capacities. A single glider should be able to carry a few Kubelwagens, and if they can't, then they're easily paradroppable like Jeeps were in WWII.

[DemonArchangel]

Also, this might be interest to you all: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recoilless_rifle

From The Article:

The first recoilless rifle to enter service in Germany was the 7,5 cm leichte Geschutz 40 ("light gun" '40), a 75 mm gun developed to give German airborne troops some useful anti-tank support before the Panzerfaust became widespread. The 75 was found to be so useful during the invasion of Crete that a larger 105 mm version was developed on the same basic pattern. Interestingly both of these weapons were loosely copied by the US Army, reversing the flow of technology that had occurred when the Germans copied the Bazooka. The US did have a development program and it is not clear to what extent the design was copied, as there were in fact differences. The Japanese had also developed a portable recoilless anti-tank rifle which they had reserved for the defense of anticipated invasion of the mainland. As it was, however, PAWs remained fairly rare during the war though the US versions of the 75 started becoming increasingly common in 1945.

~*~*~*~*

Hmm... this might add a great deal to Fallschirmjaeger AT without increasing weight by a great deal.

Also, a Kubelwagen weighs 725kg. A glider has a cargo capacity of around 1300 kg. So we can drop one armed Kubelwagen per glider, as well as some spare parts, fuel, and 4 men to crew/maintain.

[Lord Winter]

Also, this might be interest to you all: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recoilless_rifle

From The Article:

The first recoilless rifle to enter service in Germany was the 7,5 cm leichte Geschutz 40 ("light gun" '40), a 75 mm gun developed to give German airborne troops some useful anti-tank support before the Panzerfaust became widespread. The 75 was found to be so useful during the invasion of Crete that a larger 105 mm version was developed on the same basic pattern. Interestingly both of these weapons were loosely copied by the US Army, reversing the flow of technology that had occurred when the Germans copied the Bazooka. The US did have a development program and it is not clear to what extent the design was copied, as there were in fact differences. The Japanese had also developed a portable recoilless anti-tank rifle which they had reserved for the defense of anticipated invasion of the mainland. As it was, however, PAWs remained fairly rare during the war though the US versions of the 75 started becoming increasingly common in 1945.

~*~*~*~*

Hmm... this might add a great deal to Fallschirmjaeger AT without increasing weight by a great deal.

Also, a Kubelwagen weighs 725kg. A glider has a cargo capacity of around 1300 kg. So we can drop one armed Kubelwagen per glider, as well as some spare parts, fuel, and 4 men to crew/maintain.

They do give off quite a bit of smoke so we'll have to be wary of them giving away our positions.

[DemonArchangel]

Correct, but we don't really have anything else that's so light, yet offers so much in the way of firepower. If you're really that concerned about smoke, just wet the ground behind them so they won't kick up a large amount of dirt/dust when they fire.

[Kagemusha]

The 75mm Recoilles riflle would be exellent antitank weapon becouse it would penetratte everything that western allies have.You can destroy stationary tanks with 50mm mortar becouse it hits the back or the roof of the tank.But imagine Operation of Cretes where the defender was in the rocky terrain causing lots of casulties becouse all the FallschirmJägers had was direct weapon fire.Now if they had 9, 50mm mortars per Company that would have been very deadly against soft targets.Now if we have 10 man squad.It should be two man antitank team with the 75mm recoilles ,Two man mortar team with ammo.two man medium machinegun team and team leader and three rifle men.Ofcourse weapons teams could act as riflemen if needed.But with that firepower i doubt they would need vehicles that would be only large targets.

[Franconicus]

[Franconicus]

Excellent start! I think we will have a lot of fun!!

Just some advices:
1) Do not look at the future. Crete has not happened, maybe it will never. You can trust on the experience of the operations in Norway or the Netherlands and Eben-Emael, of course. The battle of Crete was full of mistakes and the results may be misleading.

2) In this face focus on getting information more then try to improve the situation. You get your chance later!

You will have to plan an operation, therfore you need every detail. Wouldn't it be a pity if you plan a large scale airborne operation and it fails because you did not realize that the range of the transporters is too short?

You must find out:

1) The strength of the air borne forces and their organisation (what is the difference of the Fallschirmjäger and the Luftlande Division?)
2) the training; what is the skill of the soldiers, the spirit, how many are trained. This will not be just one operation. You have to find out the ability to refill your units.
3) the equipment; I think you have a lot of info; try to gather the facts!
4) the tactics:
The Fallschirnjäger are a new arm and has developed some new tactics. Again, do not look at the paras of the allies or at Crete! One important issue is the way the jump, the altidute!
5) the planes: how many do you have, how fast can you replace casualties, what can a single plane carry, range etc.
6) general strength and weakness




Enjoy your weekend and may Germany win this evening

[DemonArchangel]

To answer Franconicus' Questions (AFAIK), and to ask some of my own.

1.) Weren't the Luftlande divisions not paramobile? And if I recall correctly, the Fallschirmjaeger were army, not air force units.

2.) Well, the units are well trained.... But what IS the capacity for raising more units/refilling old ones anyway? Also, how high are in terms of supply priority? (given that the Germans were basically always short on supplies and most of the good stuff went to the Panzers) I know that high casualties are bad.

3.) Equipment: I'll try to dig up some specs on the 75mm Recoilless Rifle. In the meantime... we need a better rifle than the K98 for the paratroopers. Something that's at the very least shorter and easier to jump out of a plane with.

4.) Tactics: Hmm.... I'll get back to you on that one. I know that capturing airfields/disabling enemy strongpoints is important.

5.) We can't exactly replace planes quickly, nor do we have that many of them, nor do they have long range. And can we get air support and air interdiction? (depends on geography really)

6.) We're really damned to low altitude, low opening jumps, due to the limits of the transport planes mostly. Another issue would be lack of bottled oxygen, preventing the usage of HALO jumping (not that it was around at this period anyway.)

7.) Our general strengths are that we're well trained, highly motivated and we have some combat experience. However, we have very little AT strength as of right now, and we lack tactical mobility once on the ground (hence the Kubelwagens)

[King Kurt]

Our plane - the Ju 52 details care of Wikpedia:
Specifications (Junkers Ju 52/3m g7e)
Data from Jane’s Fighting Aircraft of World War II[1]

General characteristics
Crew: 3 (two pilots, radio operator)
Capacity: 18 troops or 12 litter patients
Length: 18.90 m (62 ft 0 in)
Wingspan: 29.25 m (95 ft 10 in)
Height: 4.5 m (14 ft 10 in)
Wing area: 110.5 m² (1,190 ft²)
Empty weight: 6,510 kg (14,325 lb)
Loaded weight: 9,200 kg (20,270 lb)
Max takeoff weight: 10,990 kg (24,200 lb)
Powerplant: 3× BMW 132T radial engines, 533 kW (715 hp)[1] each
Performance
Maximum speed: 265 km/h (165 mph) at sea level
Cruise speed: 211 km/h (132 mph)
Range: 870 km (540 miles)
Service ceiling: 5,490 m (18,000 ft)
Rate of climb: 17 minutes to 3,050 m (10,000 ft)
Armament
1× 13 mm MG 131 machine gun in a dorsal position
2× 7.92 mm MG 15 machine guns

I have seen a couple of different ranges quoted - up to 650 nautical miles/ 1200 km, but allowing for full loading and combat conditions, we can assume that we can transport paras up to about 250 miles away quite safely - except for the fighters!!!

[Rodion Romanovich]

3.) Equipment: I'll try to dig up some specs on the 75mm Recoilless Rifle. In the meantime... we need a better rifle than the K98 for the paratroopers. Something that's at the very least shorter and easier to jump out of a plane with.

Are there any problems with the K98k, the carbine version of the K98 rifle? The K98k was the one most widely deployed for the army too.

[Rodion Romanovich]

The tanks we're facing:
- Lighter tanks of some 3-15mm armor
- Crusader I 7-49mm
- Infantry Tank Mk. I 10-65mm
- Valentine I 7-65mm
- Matilda II & III 20-80mm armor

Our AT weaponry:
- AT hand grenades possible to throw the last 30 or so metres after sneaking up close to the enemy tanks. These were often magnetic devices. There were two versions, one 3.5 kg (magnetic, time fuse, hollow charge) and one 1.35 kg (impact fuse) version. I think the heavier one was able to take out all of the heavier British tanks of the time, while the lighter one could take out most light armored vehicles and lighter tanks, but it's unclear how well it performed against medium tanks.
- High calibre rifle PzB39 (1200 m/s muzzle velocity, 12.7kg weight, 25mm armor penetration). Armor penetration of 25mm - as you can see it can only hurt most better tanks from above or below or by targetting weak points, electronic equipment, or the window used for the crew to look, to blind the tanks. All light tanks and a few medium tanks could be penetrated by this rifle, with much greater chances of success when shooting at the sides or rear (absolutely required for the medium tanks).
- Mortars - the 5 cm mentioned above is the only one available at this time. There were apparently many complaints about the 5cm mortar and lack of better mortars as long as the 5cm mortar was used; it wasn't overly popular (the later 8cm mortar however was). The British on the other hand at this time had a very flexible collection of mortars of different calibres, apparently their lightest mortar, the 2inch mortar, was also possible to fire at horizontal angles (though this usage was invented by commandos a bit later in the war so I suppose in 1940 it wasn't known it could be used in that way) which was very effective for street fighting (and possibly also vs tanks in street fighting?)

[Rodion Romanovich]

Strengths and weaknesses in small arms:
- Rifles - slightly superior accuracy, penetration and range, but lower fire speed due to smaller magazine and slightly more difficult handling.
- Machineguns - British had the ZB26/Bren Gun, a light mg with only 30 rounds magazine, and heavier MGs that required transportation vehicles. The Germans had MG34 (later also MG42) with unmatched fire rate, large magazine, and good range and accuracy too, and not easily overheated. The MG34 could be mounted on bipod or tripod for light and heavy roles. German MGs were extremely superior to British at this time.
- SMGs - The British had good SMGs too but the German SMGs were more widely deployed it seems, especially the MP40 was made in large series. So the Germans have a slight edge in SMGs.
- Grenades - no fragmentation grenades but shock grenades. Good for offensive and bunker fighting, but for defense and outdoors fighting in the open.
- AT-weaponry - slight edge for the Germans over British counterparts due to the effective magnetic hollow charges. Otherwise pretty similar equipment.
- Artillery - the British had a bit more flexible mortars of different types already at this time, while the Germans only had the 5cm mortar.

Strenghts and weaknesses:
++ Fighting over long distances in the open - German MGs providing superior suppressive fire, the accuracy of the K98k slightly better
++ Medium distance fighting in the open - German MGs providing an edge here too
+/- Short distance fighting in the open - German MGs and the more widely spread SMGs providing an edge, though the rifles are slower than the British counterparts.
- Long distance fighting in complex terrain - British more flexible mortar strength giving a slight edge
- Medium distance fighting in complex terrain - British more flexible mortar strength giving a slight edge
- Short distance fighting in complex terrain - British faster rifles, better light mortars and fragmentation grenades (more effective outdoors) probably gave an edge here
++ Street fighting - German SMGs manufactured in greater series at this time, the British would mostly have rifles in response
++ Bunker and trench fighting - German SMGs better, plus the grenades extremely effective in confined spaces

These are weaknesses and strengths in weaponry, but depending on training and tactics the advantages in these situations could be lost and the disadvantages countered in some cases. A full analysis on strengths and weaknesses must also take training and tactics into account.

[JimBob]

1) If memory serves Luftlande were meant to be the second wave, they could be flown into airfields once the Fallschirmjager had captured them.
2) The training is among the best in the German army. They are among the most highly motivated soldiers, and they believe they are the best and the most important.
3) From Green Devils the weapons the Germans would have in 1940
Mauser K98
Caliber: 7.92mm (8mm), Length: 43.6 inches, Weight: 9lbs
Maximum Range: 1200 meters, Feed System: 5 round integral box magazine, Rate of fire: 15rpm
MP40
Caliber: 9mm, Length: 33.5 inches ,Weight: 9lbs
Maximum Range: 300 meters, Feed System: 32 Round Detachable Magazine, Rate of fire: 400-500rpm
MG34
Caliber: 7.92mm, Length: 48 inches, Weight: 26.5lbs
Maximum Range: 800 meters, Feed System: Belt or Drum Fed, Rate of fire: 900rpm
4) Again from memory, I believe that they jumped low in the area of 300 to 500 feet, which was considered low by the Allies (on D-Day the airobrne jumped at 500 feet and thought they it was dangerously low)