Many naval units that participated in the Norwegian campaign did not survive it. Others were lost in the eighteen months between the end of the campaign in June 1940 and when the convoys to Russia faced their first serious opposition. The Norway 1940 expansion thus includes a plethora of warship counters to supplement those appearing in PQ-17, as well as transports and other auxiliaries not needed in the Russian convoy game. In order to keep the counter mix to a manageable size, some of the auxiliaries appear in the Campaign OOB more than once. In these cases, the second time is actually a different ship with the same ratings, arriving after the named ship has been withdrawn.

Note the illustrations in this article are only my mediocre playtest graphics.  For ease in sorting, the N40 counters will be readily distinguishable from PQ-17 counters when the GMT artists work their magic.

British Ships

With no active threat from the Italians or Japanese yet, the bulk of the Royal Navy was concentrated in the Home Fleet in April 1940. Even excluding a handful of vessels that played little part although they were present, 42 counters represent these ships in the expansion. A quarter of them are additional destroyers needed to account for the large number involved. Two are cruisers with reduced anti-aircraft ratings appropriate to this period, and two more are cruisers that have been re-rated. The remaining 28 are vessels new to the system, as are the 12 RFA (Royal Fleet Auxiliary) counters:

Either Mobile Naval Base ship Mashobra or Repair Ship Vindictive is needed to establish an advanced naval base in the Lofotens. The APL unit is a group of LSIs (Landing Ship Infantry) which carry their own landing craft, making it easier for them to offload Troop Points in any Bastions.

Other Allied Ships

For the first time, French, Polish, and Norwegian forces make an appearance in the Decision at Sea series. Battleship Richelieu could have appeared in one scenario of PQ-17, but since the British had plenty of battleships by then, I used that slot in the counter mix for something else.

The French Navy’s contribution to the campaign was quite extensive before the Germans invaded France, and most of the surviving Polish Navy in exile took part:

SSAs are large ocean-going submarines whose size and lack of maneuverability make them more vulnerable to ASW, especially inshore in restricted waters. Allied AMCs (Armed Merchant Cruisers) fight as if they were Cruiser Minelayers (CM) and may screen in surface combat. 

The Norwegian Norge-class coast defense ships were a late addition to the expansion when room was found in the counter mix. They were the only ships in the Royal Norwegian Navy that were large enough and present in sufficient numbers (albeit briefly and unhappily) to merit inclusion in the game.

German Ships 

Most of the Kreigsmarine participated in this campaign, requiring 30 more counters in the expansion. Two are additional light ships needed to account for the large number present, three are ships with different ratings appropriate to 1940, and two are cruisers that have been re-rated. The remaining 23 are vessels new to the system, plus four merchant tankers pressed into service for the invasion:

SSCs are small coastal submarines of limited endurance. German AMCs are actually their Handels-Stör-Kreuzern (Trade Disruption Cruisers), the disguised merchant raiders with better weaponry than their Allied counterparts. In N40, they can score victory points by breaking out into the North Atlantic, as three of them did during the campaign. And motor torpedo boats (MTBs) premier in the DaS series in the form of the two small Schnellboot Flotillas that deployed to Norway along with their tenders (AGPs). Future volumes will see them and their Italian, British, and American counterparts play a more prominent role.

Air Units 

Although air power played a dominant role in the campaign, only two dozen new counters are needed. In part, this is because some of the German bombers and all of the transports are abstracted into the rules for the invasion and the land campaign.

Allied 

Most of the Allied counters in the expansion are the air groups of the three British carriers that took part in the campaign, plus the two RAF fighter squadrons they transported to Norway to try and protect their footholds there. The other aircraft are the first squadron of reconnaissance Marylands and a squadron of Bomber Command Whitleys.

Included in the mix are replacement counters for the Skua fighter-dive bombers included in PQ-17. I had shown their range correctly for land-based strikes, but had to reduce their range to better portray carrier operations. The Norway rules account for the greater range of carrier aircraft when based ashore, so Allied players will still be able to launch the historical attacks on Bergen that sank the cruiser Königsberg.

One historical aside: Contrary to popular belief, the protagonist was not the first to utter his immortal words in the third “Peanuts” television special, It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. Rather, an unknown Fleet Air Arm pilot 27 years earlier was heard to mutter in dismay and disgust when contemplating his new operational posting: “I got a Roc.”

German

The Axis counters in the expansion are primarily to field sufficient numbers of medium bombers to match the heavy German commitment to the invasion, the abstraction mentioned above notwithstanding.

The Bf110 unit is the special Staffel of Zerstörern modified with extended range to reach Narvik from Trondheim. The Ju88C is the Zerstörerstaffel of KG30 outfitted with the first Ju88 fighters.

I hope you join me in looking forward to the final GMT art for these seldom-seen ships and aircraft.

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