Operation Sealion - Rocketman vs. AI

[RocketMan]

Seeing a weak point in the British line at Ceoydon, the Germans attack with elements of the 2nd Panzer Division and destroyed the defending British.

[RocketMan]

The Germans then drive into London with the help of a Hast II card from Guderian. The Germans are now adjacent to the last three hexes they need to take to win the game and are taking potshots at Westminster Palace from across the Thames River. There are a lot of British units in the area however and dislodging them will turn into a real meat grinder I'm sure.

[RocketMan]

The situation at the end of turn 7. Note the three newly landed artillery regiments that are heading towards towards London.

[RocketMan]

Turn 8 - Messages.

British intercept levels continue their inevitable increase.

Another clear weather turn, the weather has been very good for the Germans, allowing me to land another 3 artillery regiments this turn.

British losses are finally above German losses for the game.

[RocketMan]

Situation at the start of turn 8.

It's hard to see in the screenshot but a number of German units have a yellow supply status box on them, meaning the British are starting to make a serious dent in the German supply levels. I really need to open up a corridor for supplies to get to the bulk of the German army from Dover.

I will try to pocket to pocket the British units circled and attack an Urban hex in the London area to increase the width on my penetration into the city. Lastly, London itself has been left lightly defended, so I will use the Luftwaffe to bombard the armored unit there and then attack across the river.

[RocketMan]

London area at the end of the turn.

The Germans took London and are now taking up residence in Westminster Palace. You can clearly see the degraded supply status of a lot of German units in this screenshot.

[RocketMan]

Entire front at the end of turn 8.

The Germans managed to get a road open for supplies to flow from Dover. Hopefully this will mitigate the supply situation next turn. Also note the additional three artillery regiments that were landed this turn.

[RocketMan]

Turn 9 - Messages.

British intercept levels continue their inevitable increase.

Another clear weather turn, the weather continues to be very good for the Germans. I will probably land another 4 artillery units this turn and then save the shipping points for another Panzer Corps.

[RocketMan]

Situation at the start of turn 9.

I will try to take Greenwich this turn and the hex south of Kingston. Greenwich and Kingston are the last two hexes the Germans need to take to win the scenario.

Total German supply losses for the turn are 1,274, which is just over 21% of the 6,000 the Germans receive each turn. Some units are still in a yellow supply status, so opening up a land route from Folkstone/Dover didn't completely resolve the supply problems the Germans have. And it will only get worse in the following turns.

[RocketMan]

Situation at the end of turn 11.

The Germans took Greenwich and now only have to take Kingston to win.

[RocketMan]

Turn 10 - Messages.

The weather finally turned against the Germans with rain this turn.

[RocketMan]

The AI leaves Kingston undefended. I will just move a unit into the city and end my turn for the win.

[RocketMan]

And that ends the game.

[RocketMan]

Some thoughts about the game.

Even though the AI left Kingston undefended on the last turn it wouldn't have mattered in the end. With the German Artillery moving up and with the Kent peninsula almost cleared out, the Germans would have had the numbers to drive the British out anyway.

Even though the British were getting a division of reinforcements every other turn, the Germans still managed to destroy enough British units to keep the British manpower below their starting level. Plus, the British moral, which had started at 100, had already dropped to 83 on the last turn of the game.

All in all an enjoyable game. I probably should have given the AI some advantages like "Gas Attacks", "For King and Country" and perhaps "Guerrilla Campaign", to make it more challenging for me since I am pretty familiar with the game system by now. Against a less experienced player, the AI probably would have done a lot better.

[Enigma6584]

So you won.  And history is changed.

[cillmhor]

Thanks for the AAR, I enjoyed playing Sealion against the AI as well. Has anyone played it on PBEM?

[SlickWilhelm]

Outstanding AAR, Rocketman. I think you just convinced me to purchase this game. [&o]

The Sealion scenario looks like a perfect starting point, as there are not too many units to handle. 

Edit: I just pulled the trigger, thanks to you. [:)] Can't wait to play it tonight!

[AZKGungHo]

I played it once as the German and got trounced! The AI was much more active against me than what I saw here. I wonder if that has anything to do with setting the AI to slow? As a slow guy myself maybe I need a slow AI?