The scenario combines two changes: an all-diesel German navy and capital ships built around the Scharnhorst hull. Its main development period is the 1930s, with the Type 1934 destroyers providing an early point of departure. Five years of different construction decisions would produce a different fleet by 1939. Once that fleet changes other countries' decisions, a fixed account of subsequent events becomes difficult to defend. Wargaming can explore those responses and supports exercises in university war studies and military planning.
Chapter · 0:00-2:29
Where the diesel Kriegsmarine counterfactual stops
Combining diesel propulsion with a common Scharnhorst capital-ship hull changes the fleet available in 1939 and limits how far events can be predicted.