Ports in Sealion

[Bostonian]

Simple question: how do you tell what cities on the English coast are ports for supply/reinforcement purposes?  Only if they have a "port guard" and/or objective VPs?  Or is there something else I'm missing?

[agmoss99]

I think they have a little cross and the box says Axis supply source. Since the allied units are fixed on top of those hexes at the outset I can't be certain but the info box tells you.

[Liebchen]

You can also look at your reinforcement schedule and see where they're expected to arrive. This works in any of the seaborne invasion titles.

[Steel God]

Because I've been playing these games for 20 years and only last week had a very new player teach me something    I'll throw this into the conversation - on the Tool Bar if you click the Button for "Specials on Top" all of the Bunkers and Trenches etc pop to the top of the stack.....and that would include the supply sources....they're real easy to find that way. 

To answer your question about ports......all English ports in the Invasion Areas carry some supply value, some just 25 or 30 but others like Dover considerably higher.  If you're playing the September Invasion be mindful that as the game progresses the weather turns bad and your supply levels start to drop.  You can see precisely how much in the Supply Variations dialog.  This combined with an English General that knows his business and has targeted towns for RUBBLE, and used his Engineers to blow bridges, and maneuvers his Irregulars to block major roads on the Midnight turn, will see German forces suffering from all manner of supply issues on the regular.  Believe it or not, if the Germans don't win by 1 October the balance shifts dramatically to the allied player.

[Elxaime]

I have never played Sealion. Just curiously, do the British actually have a chance to throw the Germans into the Channel? Or does victory just mean holding out?

[LordDeadwood]

I have never played Sealion.  Just curiously, do the British actually have a chance to throw the Germans into the Channel?  Or does victory just mean holding out?

I'd say it means just holding out. I just started the September campaign as the Germans. We're on turn 22 and the Brits never mounted any serious counterattack in the early going. I've just broken into the positive territory in victory points in the past turn or two. Germans take pretty heavy losses on the landings.

[agmoss99]

I only defended Colchester against a human opponent. The British performed even worse than I'd expect from the AI.

[Steel God]

Just completed a Campaign as the Brits a few weeks back, we played until about turn 105 or so.  The British definitely do not have a prayer of throwing the Germans back into the Channel, any more than the Germans had a prayer of throwing the Allies back into the Channel on D-Day or for that matter any other landing in WW2 (they all succeeded if they were designed as more than a raid).  The British must play the long game, and from Turn 1 play with an eye towards winning "tomorrow".  I fought a slow withdrawal to the GHQ line, saving everything I could even if unit was down to a single man it's worth saving because the British Replacement Advantage will pay dividends in the end.  If a German unit is in a town or village shell it or bomb it for RUBBLE, blow bridges at bottle necks.  I started building the GHQ Line by planting minefields immediately after taking down the bridges; the Germans got to the Line but never through the line.  If you can keep the Germans from breaking through the GHQ line eventually all of your reserves will release, once that happens you will out gun the Germans by a considerable number.  The German supply situation starts to drop the longer the game goes, and between blown bridges, RUBBLE, and your irregulars you can knock a large chunk of the German forces into Low Fuel and Ammo Status every midnight forcing them to constantly regroup.  If the Germans refuse to attack into the teeth of your defenses you will attrition the to death.  If they attack they will need to be lucky and fast otherwise you'll grind them down with artillery they can't match, and their air strikes will be useless against stacks of 24-36 AA guns everywhere.  I offered my opponent a surrender on Minor Terms instead of playing another 60 turns watching me shave 50-60 VPs a turn off his score from artillery supremacy.  Yes the Brits can win, but you've got to fight the war like Monty would....slow, methodical, conservative, boring and successful.

[Elxaime]

Just completed a Campaign as the Brits a few weeks back, we played until about turn 105 or so.  The British definitely do not have a prayer of throwing the Germans back into the Channel, any more than the Germans had a prayer of throwing the Allies back into the Channel on D-Day or for that matter any other landing in WW2 (they all succeeded if they were designed as more than a raid).  The British must play the long game, and from Turn 1 play with an eye towards winning "tomorrow".  I fought a slow withdrawal to the GHQ line, saving everything I could even if unit was down to a single man it's worth saving because the British Replacement Advantage will pay dividends in the end.  If a German unit is in a town or village shell it or bomb it for RUBBLE, blow bridges at bottle necks.  I started building the GHQ Line by planting minefields immediately after taking down the bridges; the Germans got to the Line but never through the line.  If you can keep the Germans from breaking through the GHQ line eventually all of your reserves will release, once that happens you will out gun the Germans by a considerable number.  The German supply situation starts to drop the longer the game goes, and between blown bridges, RUBBLE, and your irregulars you can knock a large chunk of the German forces into Low Fuel and Ammo Status every midnight forcing them to constantly regroup.  If the Germans refuse to attack into the teeth of your defenses you will attrition the to death.  If they attack they will need to be lucky and fast otherwise you'll grind them down with artillery they can't match, and their air strikes will be useless against stacks of 24-36 AA guns everywhere.  I offered my opponent a surrender on Minor Terms instead of playing another 60 turns watching me shave 50-60 VPs a turn off his score from artillery supremacy.  Yes the Brits can win, but you've got to fight the war like Monty would....slow, methodical, conservative, boring and successful.

Thanks!  It sounds like a well-balanced scenario.  One side has the advantage, but the tide can turn.