Scrambling Rule Question - Sealion

@Xlome_00 said in Scrambling Rule Question - Sealion:

I have a question regarding the rules on scrambling if Germany is attempting Sealion. Say Germany wants to conduct Sealion with its small navy and 8-10 transports…if UK does NOT have surface ships present in the seazone that the German player moves his navy into, does the UK player still have the option to scramble against those German ships?

Yes, from the rulebook Europe 1940.2, page 16:
“They may defend against the enemy ships conducting the amphibious assault even if friendly ships
are not present.”

And to take this scenario further, if the UK player DID have a surface ship there and the German player had 2 fighters on an aircraft carrier within that navy he just moved in there, would those fighters HAVE TO be part of the naval battle, or can the German player choose to use them in the Sealion land invasion?

If the player had chosen the fighters to be part of the land battle, he would have moved them to the respective land territory during Combat Move phase. The fighters move independently from the carrier, so in case they are in that seazone, they will be part of the sea batle.

@Xlome_00 said in Scrambling Rule Question - Sealion:

@Panther Thanks for the quick rule clarification. It seems that the most effective block against Sealion for the UK would be to build 1 or 2 surface ships in the likely invasion Seazone and scramble against Germany. Germany would be forced to build a bigger Navy, or risk more of its air units in order to secure the landing which makes the landing even more difficult without air superiority…

If Germany still has its battleship and cruiser, you really only need 1-2 air units to defend against the scramble, which is limited to 3 fighters. It’s more effective in the cases where the Bismarck was sunk round 1. Sometimes Germany will have bought a DD or CV G1 which makes it even easier.

Only way they could force an unwinnable naval battle is if there is no DD and UK buys a lot of subs.

Have Italy bomb the airbase just before Germany attempts invasion.

@ampdrive said in Scrambling Rule Question - Sealion:

Have Italy bomb the airbase just before Germany attempts invasion.

Harder in Balanced mod because interceptors roll at a 2 and there are likely no escorts.

@simon33 Balanced Mod or not,if Italys 1st turn their fighters land in WGer or France with AB they can escort to London.

Sea-lion will be won by germany anyway its just a mather of how much losses they will have and how hard they can recover on the east front.

And the position of the US, bombing the AB should not make a huge difference, in a sea-lion italy is better used to take over gibraltar so the US also has to take that which might slow them down a round.

That or using their forces to push ahead in the middle-east before the UK can recover.

Bombing the Airbase even with 2 escorts if the UK has its airforces home you are going against 4-6 fighters and the Airbase AA gun.

Keeping the german surface fleet alive and having the extra carrier makes a much bigger difference, UK can only scramble 3 fighters so even against a BB-cruiser-carrier they might even lose, 1 or 2 german air units make the scramble not worth it.

@shadowhawk Why are you assuming that you have an aircraft carrier?

Taking 1-2 air units out of the land battle can make it more hazardous.

@simon33 said in Scrambling Rule Question - Sealion:

@shadowhawk Why are you assuming that you have an aircraft carrier?

Taking 1-2 air units out of the land battle can make it more hazardous.

Most Sea-lion builds have an AC to protect the transports. It depends a little on what you do round 1 but you need some sea protection to avoid the scramble or a counter attack against your fleet.

If you have decent dice round 1 and you do it by the book sea-lion is pretty safe for germany.

You will have 20land units and a lot of air units, the Uk can only buy 2 times and starts off with limited forces at home. And the UK has to also account for other plans round1, buying only infantry basically sets the UK back more then a round in many other areas of the map.

If you strat bomb them and attack the airbase the UK has to repair some of the damage, so they can build even less, if they dont repair the airbase then well no scramble.

It makes no sense to buy an aircraft carrier round 2. Better to spend the money on transports. You may buy an AC round 3 for your surviving planes to defend your transports. Also, committing to sea lion round 1 also makes no sense. Should only be done if UK leaves itself weak.

@simon33 said in Scrambling Rule Question - Sealion:

It makes no sense to buy an aircraft carrier round 2. Better to spend the money on transports. You may buy an AC round 3 for your surviving planes to defend your transports. Also, committing to sea lion round 1 also makes no sense. Should only be done if UK leaves itself weak.

Makes sence to buy the AC round1 with either 2 transports or a destroyer + sub.
Fake out the sea-lion,
Enable more planes to attack the UK fleet,
Have a backbone for the baltic fleet.
Have the option to move into the med round 2 and help there.

The UK has to consider a sea-lion but that fleet can be used in so many ways, if they dont build/have enough airforce you can convoy them round 2 and possible round 3.
That fleet can be quite annoying untill the allies build up enough airforces to deal with it, but thats with every fleet in the game airforces will destroy them eventually.

I wouldn’t endorse that viewpoint, mate. It’s an option and probably not a preferred one. Although there are good odds there aren’t many planes on London if there was a scramble to 110 G1.

@simon33 I think we all could agree that all sealion plans are not alike.I prefer to not be “all in” with sealion when I make my G1 buy.I’ll buy all air (or maybe 1dd+2 air) and access how G1 goes and what US and UK do before commiting to sealion or not.When Italys 1st turn is underway I know if it’s a go time for sealion.

@ampdrive said in Scrambling Rule Question - Sealion:

@simon33 I think we all could agree that all sealion plans are not alike.I prefer to not be “all in” with sealion when I make my G1 buy.I’ll buy all air (or maybe 1dd+2 air) and access how G1 goes and what US and UK do before commiting to sealion or not.When Italys 1st turn is underway I know if it’s a go time for sealion.

True i guess i assumed a lot use the same thing for sea-lion and turn1.

Wondering how you attack the UK fleet with your buy, guess you also make some changes to my moves. I tend to use the BB to soak 1 damage and make sure its safe so it can be repaired.