I don't know when I first became aware of or interested in 'Operation Sealion'. I suppose it must have started in the mid 1970's with the superb 'World at War' tv series combined with some Airfix magazine articles on British pillboxes disguised as ice cream parlours, summer houses etc. Fast forwarding several decades and various Blog and forum posts on the operation must have rekindled my interest, certainly enough for my to buy Kenneth Macksey's superb 'Invasion' book, a fictional account of the German invasion in 1940. In fact I gamed one of the 'scenarios' before, but as a one off game.
With my planned WWII PBEM campaign stalled for the time being, I began to think of what period I would like to run a solo narrative campaign in. For some reason 'Operation Sealion' sprang to mind. Along side the Macksey book I had some Airfix articles by Terry wise that were informative, along side Wikipedia of course. With plenty of options to choose from, I plumped for an attack on the GHQ Green Line, which was designed to protect Bristol. This would be a diversionary attack and would give me plenty of scope to be creative, plus having the added advantage of fighting on 'local terrain'.
So the past few days I have been making notes and planning a broad outline of the scenarios to be used, the forces involved etc. Whilst details are easy to come by for the main German invasion forces and the British defensive units in the South East, for those further afield there is little concrete information. Not a problem as I will go with plausible options and ones that will fit my narrative and the local area etc.
Rules wise I will be using BKCII, with various house rules and rules from BKCIV. I'm so used to version II that I stick with it because I know it so well. One change I will be making is allowing more command units than normal. I've always found it strange to have one command unit in control of say 6 infantry units and some support weapons. Going forward I will have one command unit controlling 3 infantry units and one or two support units, so in effect giving them command of a Company. I think this will better reflect historical command and control and give a better game.
I have been busy painting up field defences and basing up extras units that have been in the 'painting queue' for far too long. I still need to finish off some supporting armour but won't need these for the first and possibly second games. The background fluff is all worked out and just needs a bit of organising, so in a sense the hard work is already done. Ditto the first scenario. Hopefully I will be able to kick things off in the next day or so and am really looking forward to setting things in motion.
With my planned WWII PBEM campaign stalled for the time being, I began to think of what period I would like to run a solo narrative campaign in. For some reason 'Operation Sealion' sprang to mind. Along side the Macksey book I had some Airfix articles by Terry wise that were informative, along side Wikipedia of course. With plenty of options to choose from, I plumped for an attack on the GHQ Green Line, which was designed to protect Bristol. This would be a diversionary attack and would give me plenty of scope to be creative, plus having the added advantage of fighting on 'local terrain'.
So the past few days I have been making notes and planning a broad outline of the scenarios to be used, the forces involved etc. Whilst details are easy to come by for the main German invasion forces and the British defensive units in the South East, for those further afield there is little concrete information. Not a problem as I will go with plausible options and ones that will fit my narrative and the local area etc.
Rules wise I will be using BKCII, with various house rules and rules from BKCIV. I'm so used to version II that I stick with it because I know it so well. One change I will be making is allowing more command units than normal. I've always found it strange to have one command unit in control of say 6 infantry units and some support weapons. Going forward I will have one command unit controlling 3 infantry units and one or two support units, so in effect giving them command of a Company. I think this will better reflect historical command and control and give a better game.
I have been busy painting up field defences and basing up extras units that have been in the 'painting queue' for far too long. I still need to finish off some supporting armour but won't need these for the first and possibly second games. The background fluff is all worked out and just needs a bit of organising, so in a sense the hard work is already done. Ditto the first scenario. Hopefully I will be able to kick things off in the next day or so and am really looking forward to setting things in motion.
Looking forward to this project and seeing what you have come up with. Will you be returning to the Balkans?
ReplyDeleteI hope it won't disappoint Jonathan. I'm sure I will be returning to the Balkans at some point, as it's an interesting conflict.
DeleteI echo Jonathon's comments Steve - a lot of what you have written resonates with me too - I remember those Seelowe (incorrectly pronounced Sea Lau by my teenage self)articles in the Airfix magazine, and buying plastic bath toy tugs from Woolworths to tow landing barges created from the wooden containers Turkish dates were sold in at Christmas time! A box of Airfix civilians - some of whom were to be Fifth Columnists - and we were off - I think we only ever had one actual game! I look forward to what you present in the coming weeks...
ReplyDeleteYep, we had no idea of how to pronounce the German either! Ah the boxes of dates at Xmas and shopping at Woolworths, I had forgotten about these small but enjoyable things. I can't remember if we actually ever gamed this as it was so long ago but it still sticks in the memory.
DeleteGood idea to go with a company structure. I assume things are very bad if the invading forces have reached Bristol, but interesting to have some ‘Sealion’ action away from the south coast or Walmington-on-Sea :-)
ReplyDeleteWell they haven't reached Bristol just yet Norm. The Germans don't want to count their chickens before they've hatched! From my reading the forces were arrayed in East Anglia and the South East with a central reserve, if one can call it that. So theoretically the West was largely without any meaningful defence. More to follow of course as the campaign unfolds.
DeleteLooking forward to your campaign. I remember reading the book you mention. Not sure how you plan to do the maps, but SPIs Seelowe game map may be of use - http://www.spigames.net/rules_downloads.htm#S
ReplyDeleteThanks for the link Peter. I might do a map but as it's solo a more of a ladder campaign, in a sense I don't need one. However for you chaps to follow the action one might be of use.
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