Kensai wrote:Guys, coal could have been replenished en route by escorting coal barges/cranes or whatever if they were desperate enough not to stop. They could have taken off guns and unnecessary combat equipment to fill the smallest ships with coal if the goal was to travel. The abstraction's most serious issue is the 15-day turn which disallows for rapid reactions in such cases. The game cannot simulate everything. Not even HOI3 does that for WW2 (for example submarines moving into the Mediterranean through Gibraltar were forever locked in there due to undersea currents and it was almost impossible to go back to the Atlantic in front of the Rock in the surface).
In 1905 a much older fleet went from the Baltic all the way to Port Arthur, only to be defeated by the Japanese in Tsushima. Watch the first leg of this journey. It's a decade before WW1, in an era we had huge improvements in naval tech, and in just a fortnight it's almost the distance the Austrian-Hungarian fleet has to do to reach Wilhelmshaven. The next leg in Western Africa (2 turns in game) is even bigger. You can argue all you want it was "only battleships", but I think it can be done.
No, it realistically couldn't be done. If they brought colliers with them, it would have lowered the fleet's speed, and would have put the Austro-Hungarians in an impossible tactical position - if attacked and outnumbered, they cannot retreat since that would mean having to abandon their colliers. Plus, coaling is a very lengthy & labour-intensive process - one can take a look at Spee's progress across the Pacific to get a sense of how much time this can take. To coal the Austro-Hungarian fleet would require it to be stationary for at least 24 hours, and would require a port, cove, or other coastal location - coaling cannot be done on the open sea (again see Spee's voyage). Where would the Austro-Hungarians find such a place? Everything past Cattaro is either Entente-controlled or neutral, and no neutral is going to allow the Austro-Hungarians to stay for any period of time to coal - legally, after 24 hours a belligerent can intern any warship in territorial waters. Plus, the neutrals would know that allowing the Austro-Hungarians sanctuary would mean a British naval blockade and the end of all overseas commerce - no neutral is going to take that risk. If the Austro-Hungarians do anchor somewhere to coal, I'd bet even money a sizeable French or British fleet is offshore within 24 hours, ready to annihilate it the moment it goes back to sea. Even if they miraculously solve the coaling issue, the end of the voyage would come in the English Channel, where they would find the Grand Fleet crossing their 'T' & inflicting a Tsushima-like defeat - unlike 1942, there is no risk of German airpower sinking the Grand Fleet if they operate at the western exit of the Channel. Plus, again unlike 1942 the British would have plenty of warning of the Austro-Hungarian approach - even if they make it out of the Mediterranean (doubtful), one can't sneak a fleet past Gibraltar, even at night (due to their complete unfamiliarity with Gibraltar, the Austro-Hungarians would need running lights on to make sure they didn't run into the Rock itself).
The reason the Russian fleet was able to make the voyage during the Russo-Japanese War was that they knew beforehand they had locations where they could coal (such as Cam Ranh Bay) and that combat would occur only at the end of the voyage. Any admiral seriously advising sailing the Austro-Hungarian fleet to Germany would have been courtmartialed for incompetence, and for all intents and purposes it should be impossible in the game. The simplest solution IMHO would be to simply prevent Central Power warships (other than submarines) from transiting into or out of the Mediterranean unless they control Gibraltar (thus giving them the coaling station they would need to undertake such a surface voyage).
This, IMHO, is separate from the issue of interception, whereby fleets in port should be able to have a chance to intercept enemy fleets that are sighted within range, as opposed to just in adjacent coastal zones. Realistically speaking, if the High Seas Fleet sortied against the blockade line, this would have meant sailing as far as a line from the Shetlands eastwards, in which case the British would have had more than enough warning to not only sortie but cut off the line of retreat of the Germans. In game, a German sortie into the blockade box should be intercepted on the same turn the Germans arrive in the box - i.e. the British player should not have to wait until the next turn to go after the Germans in such a case. There were very good reasons why the High Seas Fleet never went after the blockading warships - they knew they'd be intercepted long before they could ever get there & home again.