@linkon

That wasn’t the question, but cool.

@kaleu

Makes sense.

Which Sherman tank version is better, Jumbo or Firefly? Firefly has a better gun and the Jumbo better armour.

@abworsham4

I think from the sides and back it’s possible. It just isn’t possible to armour those parts well enough against modern technology without it being too slow. So they just gave up in hope that with less armour a tank has superior mobility and can destroy the enemy before such a situation happens.

I heard that good tankers never expose the sides or back, and if that happens you deserve to lose.

@witt If I was wanting to win a race in distance I’m picking the Sherman. The tank is mechanical sound.

If I was fighting a tank on tank engagement off-road I’m picking the T-34/85.

My father works in the heavy machine industry building roads. In the 1970s a coworker of his commanded a Sherman and had three shot out underneath him.

@superbattleshipyamato

Second special mention:

January 30 2023: 90th anniversary of Hitler becoming chancellor. An obscure moment, but an important one.

@king_of_tanks

Good point.

@king_of_tanks

Definitely. I hate those people.

But yeah, that last sentence works for any country like France, Yugoslavia, Greece, and China.

Who will win in this epic battle for the Black Sea?

Turkish battlecruiser Yavuz, former World War 1 German battlecruiser Yavuz.

Against Soviet battleship Parizhskaya Kommuna, an old World War 1 Tsarist era Gangut class battleship.

Make sure to look up the specifications before making an assumption. Yavuz’s armour is quite thick for that generation’s battlecruiser.

@kaleu

Yes, but crsluggo pointed that out, so I had to acknowledge that. I agree with your assessment. Few battleships can fight four on one battles (unless it’s dreadnoughts vs pre dreadnoughts).

Happy New Year everyone!

@witt

Definitely.

@superbattleshipyamato

Turns out I already posted this some time ago:

https://www.axisandallies.org/forums/topic/37704/biggest-gun-battle-ever

@general-6-stars

Oh! I understand what you mean now.

If so, how?

1939:

Germany invades Poland, overrunning it within weeks, followed by a declaration of war by France and Britain.

Despite the pleas of Donitz, however, instead of building U-boats, Hitler orders Raeder to continue on his massive surface fleet. Hitler decides the O-class battlecruisers will be continued.

All other surface ships (besides extra Panzerschiffle) of Plan Z will continue to be built:

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

How will the Western Allies adapt to a different Kreigsmarine? Will the Lion class battleships continue to be built? How will naval warfare in the Pacific fare, particularly with less development of anti submarine warfare? How many ships of Plan Z could have been built? Will the war have ended sooner? Could the Western Allies landed earlier, therefore allowing them to take over more of Europe?

What do you think?

I still can’t believe it. She always seemed so resilient, the trademark of longevity. She led through so much, so many presidents, popes, and prime ministers, through years of greatness and pain. She was an auxiliary in World War 2.

But yet she passes to join her 500 year old name predecessor.

She leaves the first King Charles in 300 years.

83rd anniversary of the Invasion of Poland. The true start of Axis and Allies. Without a European war, Japan may never have attacked the Western powers. Without such an attack, Larry’s father never fought.

Without the war and his father’s inspiration, the game and forum would never have been created.

@andrewaagamer

The fact that there weren’t many divisions in Germany at the time. Obviously Germany would have brought several armies if they landed in Berlin, but maybe they could have assassinated some top Nazis beforehand.

@kaleu

Yeah, I read about that, the flagship of the English fleet captured last minute in the war. We’ll have to settle with HMS Victory instead.

@imperious-leader

I didn’t mean the pre dreadnoughts, I meant the “heavy cruisers”.

And the Allies never had it during the war? Would the Axis have won. I hear it’s very important.

We all know that actually trying to complete Plan Z would have been national suicide for Germany on many levels, militarily, economically, and psychologically.

But what about the battleships called “Stalin’s republics”?

There were plans to build 15 of them, each almost as large as as a Yamato or Montana class battleship, although with less firepower. Only four were laid down (and only one was more than 20% complete) when Germany invaded the Soviet Union. After the war, all were scrapped. A similar fate met the Kronshtadt battlecruisers before the war.

Another naval project were the Stalingrad class battlecruisers. Originally designed before the war, the project was revived as aircraft carrier escorts after it. The project only advanced with Stalin’s backing, and his death led to all the ships being cancelled.

Given that the Soviets only barely completed their Kirov class light cruisers and the struggle on the industry to build even a small part of Stalin’s republics, would it have been harder for the Soviets to build this fleet or for Germany to build Plan Z? And if the Soviets succeeded, what would the impact on the war have been?

This probably assumes Germany doesn’t invade the Soviet Union until later.

@imperious-leader

I think Japan still would have invaded the Soviet Union though, if the Second Sino-Japanese War continued (the oil embargo only really happened once they invaded Indochina).