Sea Lion

[Milan]

Ok I managed to beat the Bolsheviks after a bloody campaign where some of my best troops were lost. I started the Sea Lion with almost no prestige, not even enough to replace all my units. Lucky me, the Kriegsmarine is here to assist me so I feel almost confident. Then I get attacked by the RAF... And I was like WTF !? They completely destroyed by fleet and my aircraft units in a few turns. So my questions are :

How are we supposed to beat that?
Should I remove all my ground units and only build aircraft?
What is the minimum prestige required at the start to stand a chance?
Did anybody actualy succeed in this one?
Am I ready to start the whole campaign again and play smarter to get more prestige or better army compo ?

This game is way harder that PC1... No comparaison possible.

[Concerned West Virginia Resident]

Focus your fleet and air on the left side of the map and you don't need to kill the whole british fleet to manage it- all you need to do is get ashore because the british there are really weak.

[Xenos]

Without prestige, you can't. I'm afraid you've to restart the campaign. By the time I went to England I had basically infinite prestige (ended with over 10.000 in USA). But I went the African route, which I suspect is easier. Absolutely, hoard prestige in earlier scenarios. It's crucial. If you see prestige going down from a mission to the next, that's a sign you're doing something wrong and you're destined to lose in the end. Liberator trait is gold at higher difficulty levels. Also losing multiple core units is a big no-no. No real substitute for experience (and elite replacements, which you need prestige for. See where I'm going?)

[Green Knight]

Originally posted by Milan:

Ok I managed to beat the Bolsheviks after a bloody campaign where some of my best troops were lost. I started the Sea Lion with almost no prestige, not even enough to replace all my units. Lucky me, the Kriegsmarine is here to assist me so I feel almost confident. Then I get attacked by the RAF... And I was like WTF !? They completely destroyed by fleet and my aircraft units in a few turns. So my questions are :

How are we supposed to beat that?
Should I remove all my ground units and only build aircraft?
What is the minimum prestige required at the start to stand a chance?
Did anybody actualy succeed in this one?
Am I ready to start the whole campaign again and play smarter to get more prestige or better army compo ?

This game is way harder that PC1... No comparaison possible.

You're doing it wrong.

0. Buy the good nav bombers with hi air defense. Buy extra Fw190 (don't bother with Bfs they suck). You need maybe 3-4 nav bombers (max OS on at least 1) and 4-5 ftr. Now put much of your ground force in reserve - you need only a very small ground force. Quality over quantity.

1. Deploy your ground force at Calais, nowhere else. Deploy Flak 88 to protect this area.

2. IMMEDIATELY pull your fleet back and to the right. Protect then with ftr, and when close enough, 88s on the shore.

3. Clean out the few Allied ships near Calais. Then quickly cross over. Use Gustav + 21m guns to clear out inf in Dover area. AI does not reinforce.

4. Once across, quickly control at least little of the map border on top, so u don't get out of supply. There are no supply hexes in England...

5. Meanwhile you bomb ships, escort heavily, and draw Allied bombers close to your shore (88s). After a while, the RAF is done for.

6. Clean up incoming Royal Navy ships as your ground force proceeds from Dover.

7. Losses should be minimal.

8. Victory!

[Wout]

I also had to restart the map.
I moved my fleet to the right, and in circles, in the middle of the circle placed an auxilery fighter. That way they can't be bomed and the AI doesn't switch airfiels, so the air on the leftside of the map is workless.

Then I moved the fleet toghter withe the landforce from right to left.

[Milan]

Thank you for the tips.

Anyway I think I'll have to restart the campaign, even if I manage to succeed this one with low prestige, I'll never be able to upgrade my units later on for future missions where I guess you need more than old .40 infantry and Panzer IV to win. Also I can't afford any AA units. Maybe I'll try the African way this time if it's easier.

[Path]

FWIW Sealion is easily the hardest scenario of the final alternative history campaign if you try to force your way through the center of the strait and clash with the full might of the RAF -- especially the invasion of the US is rather poor, with an uncontested landing and a US force that is so small that it has no hope of repelling your forces. After a quick look at the historical '43 Kursk scenario it seems more care was given to the design of these. I'm hopeful scenario design will improve down the line, though, as the initial Wehrmacht campaign in PzC1 shows its age compared with the Afrika Korps or Grand Campaign.