Rule The Waves 3 - A Graphical Experiment - Complete

How should we conduct submarine operations? With the Americans out, we must press what little advantage we have - order the captains to sink ships indiscriminately.
Where do we allocate our spending? Submarines, more submarines.

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The New War
Our submarine captains are given new orders when they come in for resupply - prize rules are out, merchants will be sunk without warning and from ambush. We also begin laying down more new submarines, expanding our force to include some mine-laying boats as well. Eighteen boats are laid down in a single massive order, including six regular boats and six shorter-range coastal boats.

A small engagement in the Irish Sea threatens to go badly for the French forces as several air raids punish the older Super Cruisers, until a pursuing British protected cruiser strikes a mine and is forced to disengage. HMS Pelorus, a new and advanced anti-air ship, sinks not long after in the rough Irish seas while the French ships return home under the cover of darkness.

Things are not so good at home. A mutiny tears through the ports of Toulon and Nice, with several ships refusing to put to sea when ordered. While the mutiny is eventually put down and order is restored, morale across the entire Marine Nationale suffers and the people of France are emboldened in their protests. At the same time, we receive reports that the Reichs Marine is short of fuel due to significant merchant sinkings. Additional cruisers are ordered onto raider duties. If we put enough merchants below the ocean, we will still be able to win this horrible war.

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A Chance of Peace?
The enemy - Britain and Germany - tired of this back and forth blockade, tired of losing merchant ships, tired of the restrictions on imports, approach us with a white peace. The President of the Assemblee approaches us and asks our opinion. We explain that we can fight on if we must, but an end to this war would be valuable. A shame it cannot come with a chunk of British colonies, but with the betrayal from across the Atlantic, there is only so much we can do.

The war ends without compensation, reparation or annexation. The British troops fighting to take French positions in Djibouti leave in an orderly fashion, boarding troop ships and leaving coastlines strewn with wasted equipment and the ruined hulks of tanks. Several protected cruisers are returned from internment overseas, retaking their place in the battered but still functional Marine National. As if to add to the strange normality of this experience, we are asked to select a new medium bomber just three days after the armistice is signed.
In the wake of the war, several alliances do survive. We still find ourselves bound to the communists in Russia and frankly we are thankful for such an erstwhile ally. Negotiations begin to share tank and weapon development studies in order to better fight any future war. Japan also remains at the centre of the Alliance with both Germany and Britain and they will surely be hungering for the total war they didn't get. We must be careful of what will happen in Asia in the coming years.

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Peacetime Work
A large portion of the fleet and the airbases are placed on the reserve lists, including the new carrier Bois Bellau. Money must be saved somehow, and we are maintaining an active presence nonetheless. We are also presented by a report from the Navy Statistical Department on the aircraft losses in the last war. Of the fifty-nine British and German aircraft shot down, 56% were downed by various anti-aircraft weapons and non-fighter aircraft, with the most effective AA weapon being the dual-purpose 100mm and 125mm guns scattered across the fleet. However, all these numbers are dwarfed by our fighters which shot down 44% or twenty-six of the downed enemy planes.

Our last remaining armoured cruisers, now thirty years old and aging fast, are sold off piecemeal as other warships arrive in their areas of responsibility to take over their duties. These ships, several of them treaty cruisers that were vital to us in the post-treaty period, have done sterling work as raiders and convoy escorts, but they are old and slow and creaking. Not all of them are sold, however. The Chanzy is expended for gunnery practice and damage assessment of our modern guns, towed out into the Bay of Biscay and then fired on repeatedly. Gueydon, Vercingetorix and Jeanne d'Arc are not so lucky, and end their careers ignominiously in a scrappers yard.

With the arrival of the Toulon, the fleet is made up of the following:
- Eight modern Super Cruisers capable of ~31 knots and carrying eight 350mm rifles. These are organised into three divisions in order to allow for the best strategic flexibility and to deploy concentrated striking power around the globe.

- Nine older capital ships, unable to reach 30 knots and mostly armed with the older 305mm rifle. While they are still organised into three divisions, individual ships are often split off for overseas duties. These are best utilised as escorts for our carrier force and for merchants in high pressure environments.

- Twelve carriers of three types; Modern large carriers with a complement of 70-75 aircraft, Modern small carriers with a complement of 32 aircraft and older carriers retained for training air crew. The modern operational ships are organised into three divisions each containing at least one large carrier and two small carriers to maximise fighter coverage while retaining a large strike capability.

- Seventeen modern protected cruisers split between smaller anti-air cruisers and larger fleet cruisers, and fourteen older protected cruisers of various types several of which are already slated for the yards. These are organised into divisions according to the needs of the fleet.
- 113 destroyers of all kinds, ranging from the 1,000 ton Hallebarde (1922) to the 2,000 ton Tornade (1941). Thirty corvettes intended for minesweeping, trade protection and colonial duties, many of which would benefit from modern replacements. Thirty-nine submarines with another thirty-two to be completed within the next six months.

- We operate 687 single-engine aircraft, primarily fighters as they protect both our carriers and our air bases from raids. We have 368 multi-engine aircraft, mostly medium bombers but with a significant proportion of naval patrol aircraft as well. We have 11 floatplanes able to be catapult launched from ships, though this number will likely grow in the next decade.


It is March 1943
We have thus far maintained a small floatplane squadron at each airbase to maintain scouting capabilities, but with the increased range of warfare they are becoming less useful. Should we remove them to save money?
[ ] Yes, they are no longer useful
[ ] No, they are a vital part of our coastal deterrent.
Our current building plan calls for more carriers and fleet destroyers of large size. Should we retain this?
[ ] Yes, this suits us well.
[ ] No, we need more Capital Ships (replacing carriers)
[ ] No, we need more colonial corvettes (replacing fleet destroyers)
[ ] No, we need something entirely new - Write in

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We sure got away with that, huh?! I'm as surprised as any of you. I hope this fleet overview helps too!

Should we remove them to save money? Yes, they are no longer useful
Our current building plan calls for more carriers and fleet destroyers of large size. Should we retain this? Yes, this suits us well.

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Saving Money
With the war behind us, the dead counted and a bright future ahead of us, we turn to our old enemy; the budget. We disband the vast majority of our floatplane squadrons, saving only the one at Dunkerque for training scout pilots who will operate from ship-mounted catapults. With the money saved we begin work on a new aircraft carrier, an expansion on the previous Bois Bellau-class. The Republique Francaise is our largest carrier to date with 28,000 tons displaced and 82 aircraft aboard. She will be the first ship to carry a new type of torpedo protection, the first ship to carry aircraft catapults and she will be the best defended ship in the fleet against air attack with sixteen 125mm dual purpose guns.

We also receive worrying reports about the future of naval combat in the form of the Austrian plans for a new battleship. The Radetzky incorporates nothing revolutionary but her guns are an absurd 425mm or 17" at the breech and will presumably have inordinate range. Our own theoretical designs for a 425mm gun would be able to fire accurately at 34 kilometres compares to the 24.5km of our own 350mm guns. It raises the question of whether we need our own large warship to combat this monster, or whether we can rely on the Jeune Ecole and air power to provide defence against such ships.

A delegation from the dock yards at Brest, Cherbourg and Nice inform the Navy that without new orders they risk having to shutter facilities and reduce capacity. Fortunately it will only take about 90,000 tons of orders to maintain the yards, and between the Republique Francaise and new Fleet Destroyers we should be able to meet this with ease in the coming months. The Cyclone will be a simple upgrade to the Tornade-class that adds two more torpedo tubes to the ship to reach a comfortable ten.

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Crash Construction
Our yards have needs, and so does the fleet. New destroyers, new colonial corvettes with modern designs, even new carriers. We place a more significant portion of the fleet in ordinary than we had planned, and four aging protected cruisers go to the scrap yards without hesitation. By July we have laid down eight corvettes, nine new destroyers and a pair of carriers, the Republique Francaise and the Jean-Jacques Rousseau. We also begin work on a new class of small, comfortable minesweepers that can operate globally while displacing just 900 tons. The Modern Marine Nationale will be one powered by oil, supported by aircraft and excellent at sinking submarines.

News from overseas! Japan has completed the largest Super Cruiser in the world, the massive 61,000 ton Ryoun. Not only does she carry a gruesome array of guns, but she is capable of an incredible thirty-three knots. Many fleets around the world are leaning heavily into massive capital ships, and it makes our most recent class, the aging Dunkerque's pale in comparison. It is followed not long after by the giant 66,000 ton USS Wyoming which carries nine 450mm guns, displacing the Ryoun as the largest ship sailing.

An update to the Chateaurenault-class cruiser will utilise the weight savings made by modern materials in order to fit autoloaders for their 150mm guns, enabling an unheard rate of fire from these capable guns that we have significant experience with. The Bouvet-class will be the next step of our new fleet program! We manage to lay down a single ship of the class before the government decides to reduce spending and cut back on the Navy's budget.

We also welcome a new aircraft into our complement, another design from Levasseur. The PL.205 is the most advanced fighter aircraft in service to date, a remarkable, fast, manoeuvrable aircraft powered by a 18 cylinder engine driving a pair of contra-rotating propellers. It mounts a battery of 20mm cannons and has a maximum speed of 319 knots during trials. It will also be the first aircraft equipped with a rocket-powered ejection seat which should increase pilot survivability significantly.

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Submarine Subterfuge
The Ulysses, testing her engines after three months in the docks for a basic refit, is slammed hard to starboard on orders from her captain as lookouts spot the tracks of a pair of torpedoes. Destroyers rush to hunt for the submerged predator, but it slips away without detection. There is only one nation that would try such a thing in the wake of their failed war - we issue an ultimatum to Germany to retreat from our waters and understand that any further provocative acts will be met with steel.

They refuse to admit their actions and we have little choice but to declare war in the wake of their perfidy.

We are at war with the Germans for the second time in a decade! How should we conduct this war?
[ ] We have the advantage, crush them at Sea
[ ] We must not grow too bold, rely on our superior submarines and raiders.
[ ] Caution is the order of the day - be cautious in all things and never give them an inch.
[ ] Other, write in.

We are at war with the Germans for the second time in a decade! How should we conduct this war? We have the advantage, crush them at Sea

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Another Brutal War
Our first contact with the Germans is a victory, despite the torpedoing (but not sinking) of two of our ships. A large protected cruiser is sunk, along with a destroyer, and the price paid is just a single destroyer of our own. We offer the Soviets the time they need to enter the war with Germany, noting that once the Reichsmarine is at full strength we will not be able to maintain a blockade alone. An hours night-time brawl in June, right off the coast of Brest, ends when a flight of Neiuport ND.178 medium bombers arrives at dawn and drops a veritable flood of torpedoes on the enemy ships. They only catch destroyers, but those destroyers are sunk with great vengeance.

Then, tragedy. Victorieuse and Europe, two of our Vengeur-class Super Cruisers, are ambushed at night by a superior German force. Victorieuse, commanded by Captain Barthes, is hit by four torpedoes in quick succession, with Europe receiving another. Requests for support from air bases at Cherbourg and Dunkerque are heard, and aircraft are put in the air. Victorieuse sinks before help can arrive, leaving Europe to attempt an escape without her sister. Fortunately, just an hour later, help does come in the form of twenty-six bombers escorted by fighters. In a matter of minutes they report six torpedo hits, but it is too late for Europe as well. She sinks not long before reaching the safety of port and her surviving crew are taken off by escorting destroyers.

Post-action reports and newspapers from Germany allow us to put together that the Super Cruiser Von der Tann was sunk by air dropped torpedoes and the Moltke was heavily damaged. At least the losses we suffered were not entirely one sided.

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Wartime Development
We accept a new torpedo bomber into service after another stiff competition. Our most modern design in service, the Potez 171 B is a fine plane that has served us well, tough enough to fly through a flak barrage and with enough range to conduct effective strikes. However, the new design will have a cruiser speed of over 150 knots compared to the 171's 120, a maximum speed in level flight of 260 knots compared to 190 and a maximum payload of 2,000lbs or two torpedoes compared to the Potez's 1500lbs or one torp. The Farman F.210 will be a remarkable piece of kit once its ready for distribution to squadrons.

Frustratingly, despite orders to the contrary, the captain of the submarine Gymnote has sunk a passenger liner without warning and without proper consideration of the prize rules. There is a horrendous loss of life, the man is cashiered and we make reparations to the nations involved. Too late for our reputation, however, and too late to keep the Japanese out of this war.

The Japanese join, we are placed into blockade, and then the captain of the Souffleur sinks another liner. I am too tired to be furious, and am sorely tempted to shoot him myself. Instead he is put before a board and stripped of his rank. Soothed by the news that the Armee de Terre has made several advances into German territory, we order construction restarted on our new carriers which have been in limbo since the beginning of the war.

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Convoy Engagement
A simple convoy escort mission turns into a disaster as a submarine draws escorts away just before a German cruiser squadron pounces. Several merchants are sunk in brutal night fighting, gun flashes the only light available even as ships engage each other inside a kilometre. Nine merchants and a destroyer are lost, and the Germans are made to pay a protected cruiser and two destroyers of their own for the privilege. These convoys must get through if we are going to survive the next year of war - or the Soviets can finally join us.

Levasseur offers us a new model of their PL.205 fighter, but it apparently does not fix the reliability problems that many flight officers have been concerned about. Japan invades Annam while we are focused on our home waters, confident in the strength of their naval forces. A desperate last stand is conducted by the cruiser force we maintain in the area, an attempt to hold off the Japanese invasion as best as possible. This, it turns out, is a terrible decision, as the Japanese Super Cruisers sink two ships in short order and then descend on a convoy of merchants. It is a horrible day, made slightly lighter by the sinking of the Japanese small carrier Chuyo.

We are 11 months into this war and we have had a miserable time of it. Is it time to change tactics?
[ ] No! We can beat the Germans at sea if they would only stay still long enough for it to happen!
[ ] If the submarine captains are so intent on slipping the leash, perhaps we should make it intentional.
[ ] Dispatch the raiders. Starve the Germans once more, then we can crush the Japanese.

Is it time to change tactics? Dispatch the raiders. Starve the Germans once more, then we can crush the Japanese.

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Dispatching the Raiders
Four Super Cruisers and four protected cruisers, based in both the Meditteranean and the Channel, are given orders to put to sea to sink enemy merchant shipping. While we risk fuel running short, at least we are not going to be abandoned by a vital ally in our time of need again. Ulysse is almost immediately intercepted by a pair of German armoured cruisers, one a 14,000 ton Breslau and the other a 13,000 ton Scharnhorst. Neither has a gun bigger than a 250mm compared to our cruisers 350mm and it isn't long before one of Ulysse's gigantic shells penetrates deep into the Breslau and detonates her magazines, blowing the ship apart. A second Scharnhorst arrives to assist her sisters shortly before the first is battered apart under the Ulysse's guns, and Captain Lacroix turns his ship to engage the latecomer. At a range of just eight kilometres, Ulysse lands shell after shell and sinks the last of the German squadron. Ulysse is forced to return home, but not because of damage - she only has twenty shells remaining for her main guns and requires replenishment.

We also welcome a new revolution in aircraft design, intended to replace several land based squadrons for now. The Loire 214 is the first aircraft in service powered by a jet engine, and is capable of almost 500 knots thanks to the massive thrust this provides. With four cannons fixed forwards and options for underwing rockets or a 1,400lb bomb, she will be a remarkable strike fighter, escort and daytime CAP plane, though night flying will remain with the props for now.
A large combat group including five older-generation capital ships, four carriers and a large escort of cruisers and destroyers are despatched to South East Asia to hopefully deal with the attempted Japanese invasion of Annam. Ulysse puts back to sea and almost immediately encounters another German cruiser unit. The 8,000 ton Pillau is sunk in short order before the Super Cruiser gives chase of the larger 10,000 ton Frankfurt. Three hours later the larger cruiser is also beneath the waves and Lacroix is once again returning to Brest for ammunition.

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Allied Failures
One would wonder whether we had been cursed or whether the French method of diplomacy was somehow faulty. In the last war, a handful of years ago, the United States abandoned us in the middle of the conflict and left us to fight for our lives. Decades ago, the United States refused to join a war we relied on them to win, leaving us to starve and seek a damaging peace. Now, it is no longer constrained to the United States. The Soviets, apparently 'uncomfortable' with our foreign policy, a foreign policy they have previously approved off, has issued notice that they will no longer be maintaining our security arrangement, a year after they were supposed to come to our aid in war. We will spit on the graves of the Soviet leaders. We do not need them.

Austria-Hungary joins its allies in war against us, creating danger in the Mediterranean where there was none before. We sink several submarines on the anniversary of the war, and Lacroix ranges too far afield and is forced to accept internment in a neutral port rather than risk scuttling the fine Ulysse. Several months of skirmishing is challenged by the massive submarine force that Austria-Hungary has brought to the table. Meanwhile, the United States and Great Britain sign an alliance.

We settle in for the long, grinding war and pray we can find a way to eke a victory out of this horrid conflict.

We now have Jet Fighters. How should our bases be arranged?
[ ] 12F (night CAP, escorts), 12LJF (day CAP), 12MPB (Reconnaissance, ASW), XMB where X is remaining slots
[ ] 20F (night CAP, escorts), 10LJF (day CAP), 10MPB (Reconnaissance, ASW), XMB where X is remaining slots
[ ] 12F (night CAP, escorts), 12LJF (day CAP), 20MPB (Reconnaissance, ASW), XMB where X is remaining slots
[ ] Other, Write in - you may also wish to include dive bombers or torpedo bombers but these are not required as they are carrier aircraft.