Gruppe Nord 2012 Standard The Kriegsmarine in World War II by Paul French with Tim Charlesworth, Michael W. Harris, Jay Wissmann Edited by Larry Bond and Chris Carlson Maps by Tim Schleif published by The Admiralty Trilogy Group Copyright ©2008, 2012, 2015, 2019 by the Admiralty Trilogy Group, LLC. All rights reserved. Printed in the USA. Made in the USA. No part of this game may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means without permission in writing from the pub- lisher. Command at Sea is a registered Trademark by Larry Bond, Christopher Carlson, and Edward Kettler, for their WW II tacti- cal naval wargame. The Admiralty Trilogy is a registered Trademark by Larry Bond, Christopher Carlson, Edward Kettler, and Michael Harris for their Twentieth-Century tactical naval gaming system. The designers of Command at Sea and Gruppe Nord are prepared to answer questions about the game system. They can Samplebe reached in care of [email protected]. Visit their website at http://www.admiraltytrilogy.com. file This version of Gruppe Nord has been updated to include all corrections from errata through February 2019. Cover: German destroyer Z 24, by Mal Wright, with layout by Tim Schleif 2 Gruppe Nord Table of Contents Page Table of Contents 2 Acknowledgments 3 Annex Notes 3 Graf Spee’s Greatest Battle 13 Dec 39 Graf Spee vs. cruisers 5 Wounded Raider 17 Dec 39 Graf Spee tries to escape 7 The Norwegian Campaign Norway as a Target of Strategies 8 Action off Skomvoer, First Capital Ship Action 9 May 40 German vs. British battlecruisers 8 We've Come to Protect You - The Occupation of Narvik 9 May 40 Destroyers vs. coast defenses 10 First Battle of Narvik, Part 1: So Far, So Good 10 May 40 German vs. British destroyers 13 First Battle of Narvik, Part 2: The Withdrawal 10 May 40 German vs. British destroyers 15 Fight in the Fjord: The Noose 10 May 40 German destroyers break out 16 Needless Loss: The Sinking of HMS Glorious 8 Jun 40 The Germans find a carrier 18 Gallant Defense: The Attack on Convoy HX-84 5 Nov 40 German BC attacks a convoy 20 Excessive Caution 8 Feb 41 Two German battlecruisers vs. a heavily defended convoy 22 Lost Opportunity? 7 Mar 41 Two German battlecruisers vs. a heavily defended convoy 24 Thor’s Hammer Thor vs. Alcantara 28 Jul 40 Raider vs. merchant cruiser 27 Thor vs. Carnarvon Castle 5 Dec 40 Raider vs. merchant cruiser 27 Thor vs. Voltaire 4 Apr 41 Raider vs. merchant cruiser 28 Operation Sportpalast 7 Mar 42 German heavy units attack a defended convoy 29 Definitely No Survivors 14 Oct 42 Allied forces vs. an escorted raider 31 Operation Stonewall 28 Dec 43 Night action with light forces vs. two cruisers 32 Bismarck An introduction to the Bismarck scenarios 36 First Blood 24 May 41 The most famous capital ship duel in history 36 Wake-Walker’s Plan 24 May 41 Surface attack on Bismarck 39 Airstrike from Victorious 24 May 41 Air torpedo attack 41 Sting of the Swordfish: Airstrike from Ark Royal 26 May 41 Air torpedo attack 43 Picadores: Vian’s Night Destroyer Attack 26 May 41 Night destroyer attack on Bismarck 43 Finale - The Death of Bismarck 27 May 41 Battleship engagement 44 Valiant Futility: The British Destroyer Assault During Operation Cerebus 12 Feb 42 Destroyers vs. escorted battlecruisers 45 The Loss of Edinburgh 2 May 42 Destroyers vs. escorted cruiser 47 Operation Regenbogen: The Battle of the Barents Sea 31 Dec 42 Escorted battlecruisers attack an escorted convoy 48 The Death of Scharnhorst: The battle of North Cape 51 The First Cruiser Action 26 Dec 43 Cruisers intercept a battlecruiser 52 The Second Cruiser Action 26 Dec 43 Cruisers and destroyers pursue a battlecruiser 53 Bear at Bay 26 Dec 43 Battleship and escorts pursue a battlecruiser 54 Sidebars The Kriegsmarine 4 Norway as a Target of Strategies 8 German Merchant Raiders 26 The Bismarck Mystique 34 SampleExtracts from Prinz Eugen’s Diary file38 Gruppe Nord 3 Annexes Index of Ship Classes A-1 A Ships A-3 B Aircraft B-1 C Guns C1 & C2 Naval Surface and Coast Defense Guns C-1 C4 Naval AA Guns C-4 E ASW Weapons E1 Depth Charges E-1 E1a Surface Ship DC Attack Patterns E-1 E1c German Airborne ASW Bomb Attack Table E-1 F Torpedoes F-1 G Mines G-1 H Air Ordnance H1 Unguided Air Ordnance H-1 H2 Guided Air Ordnance H-2 H3 Aircraft Guns H-3 J Radars J1 Naval Radars J-1 J2 Land Radars J-2 J3 Aircraft Radars J-3 K Sonar K1 Search Sonars K-1 K1a Sonar Range Bands K-2 W Environment W-1 Y Ship Classifications (GNST) Y-1 Z Conversion Factors & Scales Z-1 Acknowledgements: Thanks to Tim Charlesworth, John Gresham, John Hall, Mike Harris, Pat Hreachmack, Christoph Kluxen, Peter Grining, Jim Sperling, Steve Thorne, and Jay Wissmann. Their work made this book possible. The 2012 Damage Point Standard: This version of Gruppe Nord has been updated to use the “2012 Standard” to calculate a ship’s damage points. This method, described in the April 2012 issue of the Naval SITREP (hence the name) matches historical results more closely than the older “2006 Standard” used in earlier versions of this supplement. All of the ship damage points in this supplement have been changed. Other corrections and updates have been made through- out the booklet as well, including adding a new scenario. The updated .pdf of Gruppe Nord is available as a free download to earlier purchasers. If you have purchased the print-on-demand edition, you will have to either purchase a new copy, or make pen and ink changes using the Damage Point Summary, available as a free download from The Wargame Vault and our website. It lists the damage points for all the ships in the Admiralty Trilogy system, as well as background on how we calculate damage points, and the new formula. If you are using ship data from more than one Admiralty Trilogy publication, make sure that the damage points have all been calculated using the 2012 Standard. Annex Notes: The information on the platforms, weapons, and sensors in this annex has been standardized so that it is compatible and consistent with all Admiralty Trilogy games. Equipment that was used in more than one era will have the same statis- tics in all games. The Annex designations are standardized for all three Admiralty Trilogy games: Fear God & Dread Nought, Command at Sea, and Harpoon. Gaps in the sequence are caused by annexes that are not applicable to the era or the product. If there is information in another Trilogy publication that conflicts with the data printed in this publication, use the infor- mation in the product with the newest copyright date, since new information and corrections can change statistics. If you have a question about the conflict, or about any other data listed, please contact us. Except for Annex A, systems are listed in their Annexes alphabetically, first by country, then by name. The ships in An- Samplenex A are listed in traditional order, with capital ships first, followed by minor combatants, submarines,file mine warfare craft, auxiliaries, then civilian vessels. An alphabetical list of ships by class name is provided on the next page. Systems listed in italics never entered service. They existed only in prototype or developmental form. The designers can be reached in care of [email protected]. 4 Gruppe Nord The Kriegsmarine At the start of the war, the German Navy was very modern, With German expansion in Europe and a realization that although rather small in comparison to the raw numbers of ultimately, Germany’s goals “could only be solved by means of Germany’s primary enemies of France and Great Britain. Until force,” the leadership made plans for strong surface navy. In 1938, Germany’s primary anticipated foe was France. 1938, the blueprint for German naval construction (Plan Z) The German Navy in 1939 had four missions; to defend was completed. It provided for a significant naval force to be the coasts of Germany, defend German and attack enemy sea completed by 1947. Designed to fight Britain not by a massed communications, support land and air operations along the fleet engagement, but by threatening her widespread shipping coast, and serve as a political or strategic instrument of war. This lanes – the plan was to build a fleet that could fight through an later mission was mainly aimed at ensuring the neutrality and anticipated British blockade and then cripple her commerce. compliance of the Scandinavian nations. The fleet would include 8 battleships, 5 battlecruisers, 4 The German strategy at sea was to avoid a traditional, aircraft carriers, 8 heavy cruisers, 13 light cruisers, 22 scout Mahanian naval battle, but to attack the British or Allied cruisers, 68 destroyers, 90 torpedo boats, 249 U-boats, and merchant shipping with surface raiders and U-boats in virtually scores of support craft. However, with outbreak of the war in every theater of operations. This would spread limited Royal Navy 1939 and early successes on land, Plan Z was tabled and its assets to the far corners of the globe. Destroying Allied shipping resources used elsewhere. would also weaken the Allied struggle on land against the German At the start of the war, the German Navy comprised 5 Army. battleships/battlecruisers, 2 heavy cruisers, 6 light cruisers, 22 To implement this strategy, a number of surface warships destroyers, 10 torpedo boats, 57 submarines and a few score and disguised raiders were deployed to prearranged locations and mine warfare and support craft.