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.