Operation Sea Lion 2016

[Bob Typhoon]

So we talked about this in the shop today after the D-Day game and I think it is a very good idea it just need planning and actually playing. So if you are interested in running this with not just Flames of War but Bag the Hun as well. Lets plan it out and get it played.

[leopard]

Fully up for this, go Early war with an attempt at a realistic theme, British forces to be based on the Territorial stuff, with only older obsolete armour in FoW - the VBCW guys will have everything for 28mm.

Other infantry in the conscript or at best trained category (use Soviets without wave attack for poorly trained rushed recruits and home guard?)

Can see a few ways to go for this, starting before the landings:

- Pulp alley, using the 'follow the clues' idea to try and locate a German spy in a British beach town, while the spy attempts to track the clues down to stop themselves being discovered - scope for rivalry between the various British departments

- Raid on a Radar station, Pulp Alley or perhaps bolt action as a small 'crack(ed)' commando team lands in the dead of night

Several FoW scenarios present themselves

- Actual landings, let the Germans use the D-Day landing rules, the British can have nothing larger than a pill box, and limited razor wire/minefields as this is hardly 'fortress Britannia', goal for the British is simply a delaying action

- Airborne landings at a British airfield to secure it for reinforcements

- Post invasion fighting inland, the forces for which are up against the clock, can they capture London and force the surrender before they run out of supplies

- Bag the Hun, air strikes against airfields during the Battle of Britain, with the result determining the level of air support for the FoW games, maybe a few raids trying to bomb radar towers to gain advantage in later games?

Easily becomes a mini campaign with the focus really being on the pre-landing period and what happens after as the Germans race against time with only reinforcements by air as the channel is cut but the Royal Navy.

[Bob Typhoon]

Looks good to me cant wait for this will have to do it when you are up though we need you for support. But great idea with the mini games influencing the main flames of war games. We can have mini scenarios e.g. airfield landings etc. then a large landing when the Germans hit the UK. Big point lists big tables joined together.

[leopard]

Part of the idea is its easy to do some of the smaller pre games, and other side games whenever really, and use them to influence the FoW games, and indeed use that to drive a few more missions.. CiC killed? perhaps he was actually captured and needs rescuing, or silencing, before he talks...

"tournament season" is nearly over and hope to get back to being up at least once a month, now Donna works Sundays its easy to get up there on a Saturday for a game

[Bob Typhoon]

Yea that's good then if you are up more often and Ill be down to the club more often now. All we would need to do is figure out and note down how the smaller games would influence the larger games.

[leopard]

Yea that's good then if you are up more often and Ill be down to the club more often now. All we would need to do is figure out and note down how the smaller games would influence the larger games.

Probably only fairly minor changes, otherwise it quickly snowballs, stuff like enemy air action means units go into reserve, to the other side gets to pick who goes first regardless of the mission rules, reserves become delayed reserves, of "mobile" reserves (so vehicles come on last).

The best way to use a campaign is almost to have it as a stand alone game (the first edition of mighty empires was amazing for this), then play out interesting looking battles on the table, and leave ones with an obvious result to the campaign system to play out. Did a ski-fi one years back where each player got to pick one battle a round to fight, the rest were just done on a table, typically a player ended up fighting two/three battles a round, the one they picked and ones picked against them, with a few dozen done on a chart with a dice roll quickly.

That also makes it a lot easier to track companies on a map, so say the Germans only have a few tiger companies, they can be split to add to other forces as support or used as companies, but they can't be everywhere - just track special stuff like that, maybe 'elite' companies - don't bother with what the actual force lists are, that way lies insanity, just "this flag is British Infantry", "this one is German armour" - the FoW battle is only one part of a larger action anyway.

The campaign then becomes a scenario generator, you know who is attacking on the table, because you know who is attacking, also not too hard to see two similar forces fighting and decide it will be determined by a small skirmish (bolt action or a smaller FoW game) as the critical action.

Such campaigns can be great fun, but need a bit of dedication to run.