06 - Sea Lion (40) - Axis - Turn 14 of 15

September 1, 1940: Germany now sets its sights on England.

AXIS: player
ALLIES: a.i. advanced

This is tough. Main issue is there is no time, only 15 turns, and Birmingham is hard to capture. So, there's no time to waste. You cannot lose a single turn.

PLAN: Land as soon as possible. Destroy british navy. Destroy british planes. When attacking a city, first hit artillery and/or air defense. Then use planes and artillery to capture the objective. Proceed to next objective.

AXIS TURN 01 - In the west, destroyers are in 14.39 and 16.38. Move a BF109 in 15.38, intercept and attack them.
In the east destroyers are in 44.19 and 45.19, out of the range of german level bombers. Attack anyway with three BF109. Land as many units as you can. In Cherbourg a BF109 is upgraded to FW190a.

ALLIES TURN 01 - In the west, a british destroyer heads to Cherbourg but has a surprise contact with a german sub and is sunk. The rest of the fleet retreats out of sight.
Near Hastings a PzIIIE is attacked by a british antitank and loses 6 strength points. To the north, british Spitfires attack a BF109 and cause the loss of 7 strength points.

AXIS TURN 02 - West: german planes and subs chase british fleet. On land, Newhaven is captured. East: Dover is captured, german fighters counterattack and reduce a Spitfire to 3 strength points. In total, two british infantry units are destroyed.

AXIS TURN 02

ALLIES TURN 02 - British units take an heavy toll on germans: three infantry units are lost (two paratroopers) and other units are severely damaged.

ALLIES TURN 02

AXIS TURN 03 - Revenge! Germans destroy two infantry, one artillery, one fighter and one destroyer units. There's little progress, as only Horsham and Hastings are taken, but main thing is to stop allies from getting the upper hand.

AXIS TURN 03

ALLIES TURN 03 - British forces attack again and another german infantry unit is destroyed near Hastings by a Blenheim tactical bomber. Antitank units attack panzers and inflict severe losses.

ALLIES TURN 03

AXIS TURN 04 - This is a turning point, ten british units destroyed: 3 infantry, 3 anti-tank, 1 fighter, 1 tactical bomber, 1 destroyer, 1 capital ship. Germans occupy Canterbury, Tunbridge Wells, airfield in 33.27 and Portsmouth. Army group west will now attack Winchester, while army group east will take London.

AXIS TURN 04

ALLIES TURN 04 - Allies attacks are dwindling, a german S-Boat is sunk but the resistance is becoming feeble. London is reinforced with air defenses and artillery, next turn the attack will begin.

ALLIES TURN 04

Casualties: Axis: infantry 4
Allies: infantry 7 - artillery 1 - anti-tank 3 - fighter 2 - tactical bomber 1 - Destroyer 2 - Capital ship 1

AXIS TURN 05 - Forward! Army group west gets rid of Matilda blocking the way and attacks Winchester, army group east gets in touch with London. Allies lose eight units: tank 1, artillery 1, anti-tank 1, air defense 1, fighter 1, tactical bomber 1, capital ships 2. German units are adjacent to towns to prevent from reinforcing. Six cheap PzJager are purchased to storm the enemy.

AXIS TURN 05

ALLIES TURN 05 - A Spitfire attacks a BF 109 and artilleries cause some loss, but the enemy seems helpless.

ALLIES TURN 05

Casualties: Axis: infantry 4
Allies: infantry 7 - tank 1 - artillery 2 - anti-tank 4 - air defense 1 - fighter 3 - tactical bomber 2 - destroyer 2 - capital ship 3

AXIS TURN 06 - Winchester is attacked but holds, anyway next turn it will fall. London is big and hard to take, planes are kept away by air defenses and artillery is dangerous. It will take some time.

AXIS TURN 06

ALLIES TURN 06 - A BF109 gets too near air defenses in the north and is taken down. Artilleries fire. The infantry defending Winchester is lured to attack a mounted artillery, exits town but is hardly beaten by another one just behind, its force taken down to 1 strength point.

ALLIES TURN 06

Casualties: Axis: infantry 4
Allies: infantry 8 - tank 1 - artillery 2 - anti-tank 4 - air defense 2 - fighter 4 - tactical bomber 2 - destroyer 3 - capital ship 4

AXIS TURN 07
In the west, Winchester is finally taken by paratroopers while the rest of the german unis heads toward Bristol, which is heavily defended. Only a battleship in the south now remains, its escape route blocked by two subs.
In London, a city hex is freed while in the east german units are crossing river Thames to prepare attack on Norwich in the north.

AXIS TURN 07

ALLIES TURN 07
Nothing happens, allies units counterattack and cause some minor losses.
Casualties: Axis: infantry 4 - fighter 1 - destroyer 1 - air transport 1

Allies: infantry 9 - tank 1 - artillery 3 - anti-tank 4 - air defense 4 - fort 1 - fighter 5 - tactical bomber 2 - destroyer 4 - capital ship 5.

AXIS TURN 08
West: attack on Bristol begins, airport is freed but not taken. An anti-tank unit occupies Newbury.
East: two objective hexes in London are occupied, only one remains in enemy's hands. Harwich falls.

AXIS TURN 08

ALLIES TURN 08
Some counterattack.
Casualties: Axis: infantry 4 - fighter 1 - destroyer 1 - air transport 1

Allies: infantry 11 - tank 1 - artillery 5 - anti-tank 5 - air defense 5 - fort 2 - fighter 5 - tactical bomber 2 - destroyer 4 - capital ship 6.

AXIS TURN 09
West: German units cannot get adjacent to Bristol, so the enemy goes on reinforcing the town with new units. Taunton is occupied. The english west group battleship is sunk by U-Boats.
East: the last London objective hexagon is taken. Two english forts and five land units remain.
In the north, Manchester and Cardigan are taken by german paratroopers.

AXIS TURN 09

Casualties: Axis: infantry 4 - fighter 1 - destroyer 1 - air transport 1

Allies: infantry 12 - tank 1 - artillery 6 - anti-tank 5 - air defense 6 - fort 2 - fighter 5 - tactical bomber 2 - destroyer 4 - capital ship 8.

AXIS TURN 10

English casualties are enormous, twelve units.

West: Bristol is occupied and five english defending units are wiped out. Next step: Birmingham.

East: only a fort remains in London. Now on to Norwich.

In the north, Sheffield is taken by paratroopers.

AXIS TURN 10

Casualties: Axis: infantry 5 - fighter 1 - destroyer 1 - air transport 1

Allies: infantry 16 - tank 2 - artillery 8 - anti-tank 7 - air defense 8 - fort 3 - fighter 5 - tactical bomber 2 - destroyer 4 - capital ship 8.

AXIS TURN 11
Oxford stands in Army Group West way, so german units attack.
Cambridge on the other hand stands in Army Group East way, so it is attacked and conquered by Axis.

Allies response is almost absent, except for some feeble counterattack.
Casualties this turn: Axis: no casualty
Allies: infantry 1 - artillery 1 - air defense 2 - fort 1

AXIS TURN 12
Army Group West: Oxford is overrun, defenders destroyed, now german units approach the final objective, Birmingham.
Army Group East: Norwich is easier to take as is under fire from the german fleet. A german recon is destroyed, but two defenders are eliminated, now the town is ready to take.

AXIS TURN 13
Army Group West: Birmingham is in sight, at last, heavily defended by eight units.
Army Group East: Norwich stills holds but is doomed, the town will surely fall next turn.

AXIS TURN 14
Army Group West: with a magnific effort, four out of eight units defending Birmingham are destroyed, and 29th Wehr Infantry proudly enters the town.
Army Group East: Norwich falls as the two remaining units were outnumbered and under fire from the capital ships.
Scenario ends one turn ahead of the final fifteenth.

 Casualties: Axis: infantry 5 - recon 1 - anti tank 1 - fighter 1 - destroyer 1 - air transport 1

Allies: infantry 25 - tank 2 - artillery 12 - anti-tank 9 - air defense 15 - fort 4 - fighter 5 - tactical bomber 2 - destroyer 4 - capital ship 8.

GAME OVER