Battles of Narvik in GWX

[GJO]

I really love joining in on this period of real history and always hope, when starting a new career, that at the beginning of April 1940, my orders will send me to Norwegian waters.

Guided by the benefit of hindsight, my tactics are to penetrate deep into Ofotfjord and then lurk in a small side fjord and wait for the arrival of the Royal Navy's 2nd Destroyer Flotilla during the very early hours of 10 April. Attacking the destroyers on the way in is suicidal because apart from the fact that it is almost impossible to hit anything travelling that fast within the confines of such a narrow sea lane - immediately I raise my periscope they will all be on me like a pack of dogs. So I conceal my Type VII by submerging to periscope depth (with just a few metres of water beneath the keel) and listen as the destroyers steam past at more than 25 Knots. When the destroyers return from Narvik, they have other matters to deal with - the battle is still raging and, by raising the 'scope, it is possible to watch their guns firing astern as they race back towards the open sea. Some may even suffer hits from an unseen friendly warship and others may accidentally founder in shallow water - the damaged and stranded destroyers make excellent targets and I set my torpedoes to 'impact' with a running depth of just two metres (so as to avoid hitting the bottom before they hit their intended target) - despite the shallow setting, the explosion is sufficient to cripple or sink the lightly armoured greyhounds.

The next stage of the battle comes on 12/13 April when the Royal navy returns with a battleship - it should be HMS Warspite but, in the games that I have played, it is usually HMS Rodney - an excellent target but again difficult to hit because of its speed and the narrow confines of the Fjord - also hit or miss it may not completely sink in the shallow water provided by the game!

In my most recent career, the battleship observed my fan of four torpedoes and accelerated quickly so that they all passed astern of her but I did get one of the destroyers and bagged another with my last torpedo as the fleet retreated.


May I take this opportunity to praise the authors of this excellent piece of historical gameplay. It makes me feel like some sort of Time Lord who is able to visit and observe history in the making.

[Mariner1]

By chance I've progressed from the Naval Academy to this Single Mission historical scenario. Thanks for writing up your tips - - I've been depth-charged and annihilated on my first two attempts because of firing torps on the destroyers as they first approach. The stealth element is obviously what I sacrificed, so if I can bear to wait for destroyers heading out from Narvik I'll gladly set weapons for 2m depth and impact pistols. My notes on real actions of the time show a great number of Aal misses due to magnetic pistols misfiring. The confines of the fjord are a real contrast to open seas, so having this as a detailed single mission is excellent!