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Sealion vs human opponent


gorski

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I did a Sealion against Crocky (FOW on), and actually took London, but it was a purely last-ditch maneuver. He had stopped me on the French border and I was getting nowhere (re-creating WWI) through the end of 1940. I had no money since it all went for reinforcments. I had some good subs and I had knocked back his navy a little. To help out the naval battle I had moved one fighter group into Denmark, and around February 1941 it spotted a line of British ships cutting off my access to the northern Norway coast. Combined with a Frech cruiser that started bombarding my unit in that city on the coast, I inferred that Crocky was going to invade Norway. And given a month or two more in the scenario, probably would have taken it. But, I was thinking along the same lines (well, more of a futile last gesture theme) to pull a quick Sealion to distract from the French front. Seeing his invasion fleet, I quickly mobilized my own, leaving from both Hamburg and Antwerp, thinning the lines in France. Sure enough the Channel was undefended as he had a large fleet in Norway, and I was able to land one armor and three infantry units (1 big, 2 small) on the east coast of England. My cruisers and subs sortied with the invasion and held off his mass of ships long enough for the troops to land. The next and last turn, I took London and the capital switched to Manchester. Silly Churchill doesn't know when to quit!

So Sealion was relatively successful and could have been a major thorn in his side I think. Allied player has a choice between cleaning up England or holding the line in France. However the German navy was nearly wiped out and the entire Baltic was practically undefended. Oh yeah, and the USSR invaded. Little things like that...

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I would think that if the Italians can get out of the Med, and be part of a screening force, the Sealion can work. (you only need a turn)

One could also use gamey tactics, sush as embarking cheap forces to add to the naval screen.

I hope the Gold version will allow for greater success of capital ships against transports (and their escorts), as the screening technique feels too easy.

Aloid

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It can be done, although it's not easy. To make it work, you have to convince your opponent that you aren't going to do it. One way I've done it is to invade a neutral and not overwhelm them immediately. Pretend to have some problems. A lot of people will see this and decide to try to reinforce the apparent failure. Once you see English troops start landing, hit them in their own yard. I generally build up air power above everything else. By the time I launch Sea Lion, it's not unusual for me to have upwards of 8 air fleets. A lot of people will try to line the majority of the coast with Corps to try and head off the landings. 4 air strikes will usually kill a corps, another 4 will open a 2 wide breach, then if I have more air power, I use it on one or the other flank and land some troops to finish the job. Also, always get a HQ ashore early. If you've got the RN in trouble through your air power, a two pronged attack works wonders.I try to do this either hitting the east coast to completely cut off London or up north to "liberate: the Scots. :D In a one year scenario, it's a pain to get it all in under the limit, but it is possible...especially if you can get the Brits helping a lost cause somewhere else.

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I also think that the best chance to pull it off against a human opponent is feigning a "major attack" somewhere while secretly fostering and preparing forces for the real thing. IF the diversion is fooling him, it may very well work.

Straha

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I would think that if the Italians can get out of the Med, and be part of a screening force, the Sealion can work. (you only need a turn)
Hint: If you reduce the UK port of Gibraltar to strength = 0 then you can pass Italian ships through. It's an option where you don't always have to invade Spain in order to get Axis ships out of the Med. ;)
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Originally posted by Hubert Cater:

Hint: If you reduce the UK port of Gibraltar to strength = 0 then you can pass Italian ships through. ;)

Shhhh! Don't tell 'em! I really wanna surprise someone when the game goes live! :D
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Originally posted by Hubert Cater:

Oops sorry! I guess maybe I shouldn't tell them about that other secret rule until official release ;)

What a cruel man you are! :(

Just turn that knife, while it's in our backs...

;)

Aloid

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