1. #1
    What are the promotions you can get?
    I recently got promoted to Liuetenant Sr. after 5 highly successful patrols.
    I also got Iron Cross 1st & 2nd class and German Cross (I think) with diamonds and swords (or similar).
    I also like how you can give promotions and medals to your officers and they show on their characters - well done developers!

    Also, does anyone else have difficulty awarding combat patrol medals (2nd bottom one, above injury medal). Several times I have had around four to award and each time I can only award one then the others (although highlighted) can't seem to be awarded!

    Finally, from the game I found out that the small red piece of ribbon on Germans during ht ewar was the 2nd class Iron Cross. The first class - is that meant to appear on a uniform? Also, in films I saw (I know, not 100% realistic in Hollywood) what Iron Cross is it that the soldiers hang around their neck - I thought there was only one Iron Cross and was awarded in the smae scale as the Medal of Honour and the Victoria Cross - extreme herosim above and beyond the call of duty, but I seem to be mistaken. Do the Germans have an equivalent the the MoH or VC?
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  2. #2
    Concerning the Iron Crosses, there were several grades. Second class, worn the day it was awarded 'as is' thereafter worn as a ribbon through the button-hole.

    Next up was first class, worn on the left breast pocket (similar in size / shape to the WWI version),and lastly the highly coveted Knights Cross, (considerable bravery..etc.) worn about the neck, with several grades of its own: Oakleaves, Swords, & Diamonds.



    (There was one version of the Knight's Cross in gold awarded to a single stuka pilot towards the end of the war, and a special "Grand Cross" given solely to Herman Goering.)

    The large star-shaped award is the "German Cross", usually described as a stepping stone to bridge the gap between the Iron Cross 1st Class and the Knights Cross, but there's some debate over that.



    There's a bug in this game with the U-boat badge, you have to grab it towards the bottom right to drag and drop it, and the wound badges don't seem to work at all, they cannot be awarded - at least not in my experience, and I've had several wounded..
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  3. #3
    There was one version of the Knight's Cross in gold awarded to a single stuka pilot towards the end of the war, and a special "Grand Cross" given solely to Herman Goering.
    IIRC about 12 people including Eric Hartmann got somekind of special knight's cross, and the stuka pilot you're referring to is Hans Ulrich Rudel, he was awarded with the Knight's Cross with Golden Oakleaves, Swords & Diamonds which was unique, he was the only person to ever get it. And IMO he deserved it, here's something I googled up, Rudel's personal victories:
    518+ Tanks
    700 Trucks
    150+ Flak and Artillery positions
    9 Fighter/Ground Attack Aircraft
    Hundreds of bridges, railway lines, bunkers, etc.
    Battleship October Revolution, Cruiser Marat, and 70 landing craft
    IIRC he was also involved in destroying at least 2 more cruisers and 1 battleship.
    Dunno about the Göring thing but AFAIK Göring could have gotten anything...
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  4. #4
    The Golden version was intended to be given to a maximum of "12 of the country's bravest", but was actually given only to Rudel, you're correct. I'm not sure about Hartmann, may have been a diamonds winner, don't know off hand how many of those were awarded. I'm kinda weak on the Luftwaffe history / personalities.

    Reading about Rudel, his exploits are honestly almost too much to believe. He deserved every award Germany had to offer and then some... If I remember right, he was wounded (severely) several times and shot down about 20 times..lol I had no idea he destroyed battleships...

    And yeah, I've read that Goering was nuts about decorations, he wanted everything, even the Knight's Cross of the War Merits Cross, but Hitler refused to let him have it... I also read he changed uniforms several times a day...not that it helped his appearance...
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  5. #5
    Goering was nuts
    That's more like it
    Im quite sure Hartmann got diamonds but back to Rudel, here's something from the same website I got his victories:
    Shot down 32 times.
    Innumerable aircraft brought back to base that were later written off, due to heavy combat damage.
    Wounded on many occasions, including the partial amputation of his right leg in the Spring of 45, after which he continued to fly with a prosthetic limb.
    I remember reading something about him a year ago, it said something about a russian battleship, could have easily been a cruiser. IIRC he scored a direct hit on the ammunition storage and blew up the front of the ship, 3000 men died, dunno how true that is but it went something like that. It also mentioned that he was a nazi and being hunted after the war, atleast he was on "the list" again, dunno about that. "Disaster struck when Rudel landed behind Soviet lines to retrieve a downed German aircrew. Snow and mud bogged down the airplane, making it impossible to take off." Doesn't sound like a nazi now does it? Here's the rest of the story: "Approaching Soviet troops forced everyone to flee on foot, but barring their escape was the 900 foot wide river Dnjestr. The Germans stripped to their longjohns, and swam across the ice-clogged river. Rudel's close friend and crewman, Erwin Henstchel, drowned a few feet from the far shore. They had flown 1490 missions together at the time of Hentschel's death. His body was never recovered.

    Rudel was pursued by hundreds of Soviet troops who were intent on collecting the 100,000 ruble bounty which Stalin had placed on his head, and he was shot in the shoulder while they chased him with dogs and on horseback. Through incredible ingenuity, audacity, and raw determination, Rudel escaped and made his way, alone and unarmed, back home, despite being more than 30 miles behind Soviet lines when he began his 24 hour trek. He was barefoot and almost naked in the sub-freezing winter weather, without food, compass, or medical attention. His escape stands as the single most legendary example of personal bravery and luck during the Second World War, but he never fully recovered emotionally from Hentschel's death, for which he blamed himself throughout the remainder of his life" According to this website: "Hans Ulrich Rudel was not a member of the Nazi party, participated in no war crimes, did not go into hiding after the war, and was never even accused of any such activities by any organization or Nazi-hunter, including the Shin Bet" So I have no idea what to believe it doesn't really matter either. AFAIK he died in the 80's. Still, over 500 tanks it's hard to believe. Bact to topic, maybe it was 12 men who got the diamonds, I have no idea how many of those were handed out but that might be it, IIRC Göring was one of them but then again, Göring...
    I also read he changed uniforms several times a day...not that it helped his appearance...
    I think I heard about this in the Battle Of Britain (the movie) documentary, it said that he wore a bright blue outfit and changed it to other (pink) ones many times a day...
    He was truly a unique person

    And sorry for hijacking this thread and going off topic
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  6. #6
    32 times shot down, that's unreal. I had forgot about the amputation, but I do seem to remember reading something about that now.

    Looks like according to LTC Angolia's book only 27 Oakleaves, Swords & Diamonds winners & indeed Oberleutnant Erich Hartmann of Jagdgeschwader 52 was awarded his diamonds on August 25 1944.

    [Edit: I have a book somewhere with color pix of Goering wearing that baby-blue uniform...hehe. Pink? LOL Never saw that, but I do believe it.]
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  7. #7
    Yes baby-blue was the exact word, thank you. 27 sounds about right, and I'm not sure about the pink but I think I saw a color pic of him in a pink uniform, could be wrong though.
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  8. #8
    I guess we did stray off topic a bit, oh well...

    In any event, here's an authentic U-boat commander's jacket: U-boat badge and Knight's Cross with Oakleaves:



    Jacket belonging to U-boat commander & Oak Leaves recipient Heinrich Bleichrodt - tailored by J. Robrecht of Kiel, 1937.
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  9. #9
    Now I want one of those
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  10. #10
    I think the fact that Rudel was shot up (and down) so many times more or less confirms his increadible tank kills. He even devised a simple attack on the rear of a tank formation (and since the Russians were normally attacking it meant he was heading home) where he would use the rudder to swipe the formation for several kills each run. Even though the Stuka G only had 6 shots in each cannon (meaning 6 shots in total) it was enough to grant him several kills.

    Btw, it was the battleship Marat that he scored the impressive ammo hit on. Lucky shot really, but not lucky that he hit it as it was moored in the harbour. But 3000 lives is perhaps a bit too much. Such old battleships had a crew of about 1500, and the Marat was not even totally destroyed. Its aft guns remained in action for the duration of the siege of Leningrad. Laterthe ship was raised again.

    The 11 airkills Rudel had was from when he flew in his Fw 190A early in the war. I don't think he got any airkills while in his Stuka, but perhaps Henstchel got a few.
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