Slitherine

quote:

ORIGINAL: Flaviusx

Benelux countries should all activate at once, historicity be damned. Otherwise the German will knock out the Dutch by turn 3, and then take out Belgium in a single clear turn sometime during the winter, and odds are good he will get one. This greatly accelerates the German advance in France. Yes, I get that the Dutch wouldn't have done this, but you are going to see the Germans cheese the low countries every single time until and unless you tie them all together as a unit for diplomatic purposes.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Flaviusx
I think Sea Lion is probably too easy to pull off right now

quote:

ORIGINAL: Jim D Burns

quote:

ORIGINAL: Flaviusx
I think Sea Lion is probably too easy to pull off right now

My biggest issue in game regarding Sea Lion isn't production (Though I agree with your statements above), but rather how naval invasions work in game. There is no reason to use naval support in game to protect a landing, you simply sail to the coast and unload the troop and poof you're ashore.

Units should be required to spend one turn offshore so naval assets of the defender can be used to oppose a landing. Trying to keep a defending naval force at sea to oppose such a move doesn't work because navies do not react, so the invader simply goes where your navy isn't. The game needs a way to make invasions risky in the face of defending naval forces, right now they are far too easy to do.

And even worse they are guaranteed to stay in supply, so once ashore they stay ashore. So there needs to be a way to close off supplies that is tied to merchant shipping somehow. That way getting supplies to a port risks your limited merchant marine. Right now your entire merchant marine can sink but supplies magically teleport to ports all over the map. This needs to change, especially if you want to do the pacific right, supply lines must be vulnerable to attack to the point of total destruction.

Jim

quote:

ORIGINAL: Alvaro Sousa
Put a backup fleet on either side of the island within 5 hexes of each potential beach with a 2-3 group intercept force.

quote:

As Britain this is what you should be doing in 1939-1940.

Build escorts, land units, and 2-3 air craft. The land units can be divisions or small corps to garrison coast lines. Build 1 armor. you don't have to reinforce the units in your country just yet that are low.

Guard your upper coast with fleets to intercept invasions. Put a good unit in the port. 1 fleet of old BGs should do the trick. Put 1 bomber.

In the south line the coast. Sit your planes at max range to the coast so airfield bombings can only hit you without escorts. Put a backup fleet on either side of the island within 5 hexes of each potential beach with a 2-3 group intercept force. Keep it out of air sup range but have your air sup in range.

Make one beach a kill zone. Give them a place to land where they can go no where.

Now you have a northern defense, a southern defense, and a counter attack plan.

Africa is easy to defend. It is very hard for the Axis to push past El Alamein as it should be. Garrison Syria and Palestine on the ports and coast. Place a fleet to interdict the Italians and a bomber.

The most important part of all this is the following.
FIGHT FOR FRANCE AS HARD AS YOU CAN!!!!! The longer France holds out the better chance the UK has. Of course don't empty out the UK to defend France.

If you just give them France and not fight for it you deserve to be invaded. You should be able to hold off the Axis until the end of the summer.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Cohen_slith

Though didn't you disband the French Airforce? I think that may be key - as it grinds down the Luftwaffe (and planes are costy to replace).

Each Luftwaffe replacement comes with 50 Experience which means they'll lose their starting quality whereas if unopposed at all in France they'll actually simply gain more and more experience.
Allies do not even have oil problem - I've a game ongoing vs the Axis where a RAF fighter has 80 experience in '41 (Due to no Luftwaffe in France, it just bomb anything at random there, each single turn).
Air Experience matters a lot in engagements too by what I saw.

quote:

ORIGINAL: tyronec

quote:

As Britain this is what you should be doing in 1939-1940.

Build escorts, land units, and 2-3 air craft. The land units can be divisions or small corps to garrison coast lines. Build 1 armor. you don't have to reinforce the units in your country just yet that are low.

Guard your upper coast with fleets to intercept invasions. Put a good unit in the port. 1 fleet of old BGs should do the trick. Put 1 bomber.

In the south line the coast. Sit your planes at max range to the coast so airfield bombings can only hit you without escorts. Put a backup fleet on either side of the island within 5 hexes of each potential beach with a 2-3 group intercept force. Keep it out of air sup range but have your air sup in range.

Make one beach a kill zone. Give them a place to land where they can go no where.

Now you have a northern defense, a southern defense, and a counter attack plan.

Africa is easy to defend. It is very hard for the Axis to push past El Alamein as it should be. Garrison Syria and Palestine on the ports and coast. Place a fleet to interdict the Italians and a bomber.

The most important part of all this is the following.
FIGHT FOR FRANCE AS HARD AS YOU CAN!!!!! The longer France holds out the better chance the UK has. Of course don't empty out the UK to defend France.

If you just give them France and not fight for it you deserve to be invaded. You should be able to hold off the Axis until the end of the summer.

I don't think this actually works.

If Axis put all their effort in to it my expectation is that Axis they could bring off a successful UK invasion. And I don't think the Allies could stop them no matter what they tried.

What actually does mitigate against it is that:
1. Allies get increased US production to compensate.
2. It seriously detracts from using German production towards Barbarossa.

quote:

ORIGINAL: MVokt

Sea Lion shouldn't be that easy. Historically, Germans did struggle with Norwegian navy when invading Norway, let alone the UK.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Alvaro Sousa

As Britain this is what you should be doing in 1939-1940.

Build escorts, land units, and 2-3 air craft. The land units can be divisions or small corps to garrison coast lines. Build 1 armor. you don't have to reinforce the units in your country just yet that are low.

Guard your upper coast with fleets to intercept invasions. Put a good unit in the port. 1 fleet of old BGs should do the trick. Put 1 bomber.

In the south line the coast. Sit your planes at max range to the coast so airfield bombings can only hit you without escorts. Put a backup fleet on either side of the island within 5 hexes of each potential beach with a 2-3 group intercept force. Keep it out of air sup range but have your air sup in range.

Make one beach a kill zone. Give them a place to land where they can go no where.

Now you have a northern defense, a southern defense, and a counter attack plan.

Africa is easy to defend. It is very hard for the Axis to push past El Alamein as it should be. Garrison Syria and Palestine on the ports and coast. Place a fleet to interdict the Italians and a bomber.

The most important part of all this is the following.
FIGHT FOR FRANCE AS HARD AS YOU CAN!!!!! The longer France holds out the better chance the UK has. Of course don't empty out the UK to defend France.

If you just give them France and not fight for it you deserve to be invaded. You should be able to hold off the Axis until the end of the summer.

quote:

ORIGINAL: gwgardner

quote:

ORIGINAL: MVokt

Sea Lion shouldn't be that easy. Historically, Germans did struggle with Norwegian navy when invading Norway, let alone the UK.

It doesn't have to be easy. In my current game for the UK I have:

1) avoided stripping the UK to send troops and air to Egypt, and no BEF to France;
2) built 2 interceptor and 1 tac bomber squadrons by mid-to-late 1940;
3) invested in raising the tech level of interceptors and tac bombers;
4) given supply/upgrade priority to the fighters to get them upgraded;
5) have all air on full support, to intercept any amphibious assault - if the Germans taunt my fighters into intercepting their fighter patrols, so be it;
6) have small naval patrols offshore - I have to be willing to commit the navy to protect the shores;
7) keep up a bombing campaign against German industry, so the Germans have to commit to building AA and using fighters there;
8) If the Germans want to overwhelm my fighters I hit their airfields.

I take losses, but so do they.

I don't know if that is sufficient, but my opponent has not yet dared to try SeaLion this time around.

For Norway, I use subs and naval patrols off the Norwegian ports, and commit the French navy to protecting Oslo. If the Germans position naval air in Denmark I withdraw the French fleet, but keep a close guard on the Narvik coastal area. If the Germans want to contest that, so be it. British divisions are waiting in port to occupy any port that the Germans aren't able to occupy.

I also found out that if French naval units flee to the UK before the fall of France, and no Vichy has been declared, those French ships are impounded and made part of the RN.

Warplan has so many options to try out before changes should be made. Keep the discussion going! Each problem may have possible solutions already in the game.