Operation Sea Lion 1940 MOD - Teaser

[MajorRH]

Operation Sea Lion – The Invasion of England – August 13, 1940 – Beta Coming Soon

I have posted this to see how much interest there is in this MOD. If there is, there may be an opportunity for some collaboration to make this a great MOD.

Operation Sea Lion is one of the great “what ifs” of the Second World War. Could Germany have successfully launched an Invasion of England and could it have been ultimately successful? This intriguing question led to some significant amount of reading on the subject and more recently, the development of this SC2 MOD.

The MOD starts on August 13, 1940 – Eagle Day. It plays out until August 31, 1941 (I am still assessing the final end date). This is a Brigade / Division level MOD with terrain tiles representing about 15 km (10 miles). Each turn represents 5 days. To win, the Germans must control and hold several key cities and ports. The MOD is almost ready for outside play testing. I am working on the MPP allocations now. Certain scripting (such as US involvement and AI scripts) will come later.

I have tried to present a reasonably accurate Order of Battle with respective unit start positions and relative unit strengths. I plan to make one more final review and tweak the current dispositions. Artistic license or a best guess was taken in regards to Artillery, Anti-air and Home Guard Units. These do not fit as neatly into the OOB compared to (for example) how Divisions and Brigades do.

The first German Sea Lion plan called for some 41 divisions (including OKH Reserves of 8 divisions). This force would attack in 4 waves on a broad front from Ramsgate to the east and Lyme Bay to the west and would require 4 weeks to completely land.

The plan was subsequently scaled back due to lack of sufficient naval transport. The final plan called for 25 divisions (including 2 airborne divisions) to land in 3 waves. The 4th wave, representing OKH Reserves, was never established. The first wave of 11 infantry divisions (which included 260 amphibious tanks), 1 Panzer Division the 7th Parachute Division and the 22nd Air Landing Infantry Division would land over the first 14 days. The balance of invasion force would land during the following 4 weeks. Thereafter, a 4th wave would be drawn from the 60 other remaining divisions in the west following the fall of France.

Defending against this invasion force would be 2 Armoured Divisions, 4 Armoured Brigades, 22 Infantry Divisions and 9 Infantry Brigades. Units from Canada, Australia, and New Zealand would also be added to the British OOB. Many units were at half strength. While the Germans would be concentrating their attacks, the British would be somewhat spread out - challenged to protect and defend all of the UK.

The key to Allied success would be the strength and effectiveness of the RAF and Royal Navy. This MOD captures their vital role in the success or failure of a German Invasion.

I have included some screen shots. The first shows the War Map and provides a birds-eye view of the campaign set-up. The second shows a successful initial landing. The third shows a British Army counter attack underway.

BRIDGEHEAD:

COUNTER ATTACK:

Please note the following:

1. Current MOD status is for Human vs. Human play. Future AI is possible.

2. It should be played with Fog of War on.

3. The game has been designed using Military 2D Counters. (I would need help editing 3D icons)

4. Engineers have been changed to become Home Guard Units and are used both as local Home Guard and as Garrison Units on key coastal cities/towns.

5. To reflect naval transport limitations, the Germans must follow the following landing restrictions:

a. Turn 1 – Max 5 Divisions/Brigades via amphibious / naval transport. You can transfer any number of units to Amphibious Transports in Ports but cannot exceed the stated limits for crossing and landing. Airborne units can be dropped and 1 HQ unit can be amphibiously transported.

b. Turn 2 - Max 5 Divisions/Brigades via amphibious / naval transport.

c. Turn 3 - Max 3 Divisions/Brigades via amphibious / naval transport.

d. Thereafter, Max 2 Divisions/Brigades via amphibious / naval transport.

e. Exception: The Germans can land 4 further divisions + HQ from Norway / German ports.

f. Artillery and Anti-air can only be Sea Transported through Ports.

Input and thoughts are welcome.

[MajorRH]

I am having trouble posting my sreenshots.

Here I try again:

WAR MAP:

BRIDGEHEAD:

COUNTER ATTACK:

MajorRH

[Honch]

Really cool!

[Retributar]

An 'Ambitious Undertaking!'.

I think that a 'Port' location that can be defended by Axis Controlled French Air-Bases [in France] & also supported by off-shore Naval-Units...may hold the best opportunity to hold/maintain & consolidate a Beach-Head!.

AIRBORNE Forces > Paratrooper Assault & then later...Glider-Units to support/augment the initial Paratrooper staging zone [Airfield probably required?]. They could then be utilized to help screen the 'Port-Area' from British intervention or counter-attack!...while the main-body of the German Invasion Forces make their way ashore!.

***Might need a 'Larger-Scale-Map' to do this?.***

[Hubert Cater]

MajorRH, this looks fantastic, great job

FYI, you might be interested in the PDE expansion as we figured out a neat way to simulate Coastal guns, essentially immovable units with no AP but can still strike at enemy targets. Take a look at this screenshot and you will see what I am refering to as it might enhance this mod even further:

http://www.battlefront-store.com:8080//images/stories//SC2/PDEgallery2/Image17.jpg

[arado234]

Are the Allied and Axis Ind.output set at historical level?

Can the Germans bring in airlanding units if the grab an airfield?

[MajorRH]

Thank you all for your kind comments.

Retributar: Your comments on Airborne Forces are right on. Indeed a larger map would be needed to do this. I built the game with a mix of stategic and tactical play in mind. The beauty of SC2 is that, although brilliantly designed for strategic gaming, the gaming engine can facilitate tactical game play too. It's almost there with a few tweaks. As I developed the MOD, I mused about a larger scale map...but I was already commited at that point. Perhaps I will amend with the PDE expansion. I now have most of the information resources to do it.

Hubert: Thank you for your comment. You and your team have made a great gaming platform. Few limitations here. Cheers!

I look forward to the PDE release.

Arado234: Industrial output is still work in progress. This is my current focus. As far as airlanding units, I was thinking of a rule whereby a tile must be under German control in order to introduce the 22nd Air Landing Division. Airfields were not contemplated at this scale.

Again thanks to all for your comments.

MajorRH