Operation Seelowe.

[Patine]

Here's an update on progress. The OOB for the British is now complete. There are 26 Divisions, 4 Brigade Groups and 10 independent Brigades. I've decided to go with battalion sized units for the Brits, so that will be 436 ground units, not including Home Army units. Add 70 naval units and 90 RAF squadrons and that's a lot of units. Divisions will be partly deployed in defensive positions and partly in reserve - created by events when the capture of certain cities triggers them. I've created 2 kinds of British infantry, one with a defensive role for the deployed units and an offensive role for the reserves. Aircraft will mostly start on the map, naval units will mostly be triggered by events. Home Army units will garrison cities and are the only units the Brits can build. Other reinforcements will be created by events.

German ground and air units will be a higher level: Wehrmacht regiments and Luftwaffe Gruppes. My experience is the AI should outnumber you 3-1 to make an equal match, and use of the different organizational levels is consistent with that. As the Germans needed to regroup and reorganize before being ready to invade, research of technologies will drive mobilization of German forces. Garrison and barge units will be the only buildable units.

As I mentioned, in order for Sealion to have any prospect of success, we have to assume weaker British air and naval forces than historically. I'm also adding the option of having the Bismarck and the Graf Zeppelin completed in time for the operation. Not historical, but then neither is the scenario.

Are you going to start with the Channel Islands German-occupied, or will they be a brief "stepping stone" of invasion?

 

[techumseh]

Channel Islands were of little strategic importance, the British did not attempt to defend them, and they were captured by a few planes of the Luftwaffe at the end of June, which is before the start of the scenario. So yes, they will be German occupied at the start.

 

[techumseh]

Here are the (almost final) Units:

 

[Fairline]

Couple of comments on the units. The lorry with infantry superimposed is nasty. Why include motorised British infantry when the entire Army had sufficient trucks to transport all troops? For the Germans I would suggest either using the lorried infantry Opel graphic or a normal infantryman with a small stylized side-on graphic above the national flag. The Home Guard looks like he's wearing a tea-cosy pulled down to his eyes. I've already drawn one with a better side-cap. The Nemo isometric cargo ship looks out of place with the rest of the non-isometric ships. Did Britain have P-40s in 1940? Surely as soon as they received them in 1941 I think they were dispatched to North Africa out of harms way of more effective German fighters in France. No Beaufighter? The German paratrooper should not be wearing camo at this time; I've drawn a plain-smock version in a previous compilation. The Australian would be wearing Aussie service dress in 1940 as I included on my last posting of your units, not jungle battledress. Same applies to the Canadian. I posted a correctly coloured battledress Canadian last time to replace the jungle BD unit pic you used. ditto NZ infantry. I think the Free French in the UK were issued British BD fairly quickly but retained their helmets as per the unit I posted last time. The Do-17P pic is a pre-War one. I included a correct Do-17Z last time. I also included a correctly camo-ed Stuka last time. No torpedo on the Fi-167? What was that all about?

Not trying to benegative - I did change most of these on the last posting I made of your units

Looking forward to the scenario

 

[CurtSibling]

I agree with Gareth, that the motor troop icon doesn't work well. A little truck icon across from the flag would look better.
G has made some splendid freight ships from the dreadnought era that would serve instead of that jarring Nemo ship.

 

[BC1871]

The German's actually had a landing order for their MARINE-STOSSTRUPP-ABTEILUNG. Interestingly enough, their naval infantry wasn't much of a marine corps, but more closely related to a RN style naval brigade.

 

[Fairline]

Here's my take on the units with all the changes mentioned above plus correct graphics for the navalised Stuka, British battleships and destroyers.

 

[techumseh]

Sheesh! The artist as critic...I'll try to do better in future. It looks like even my letter 'C' was not up to your standard!

The motorized British infantry graphic is intended only for the motorized battalions in the Armoured Divisions. Other British infantry is divided into those with the attack role which are a bit faster and those with the defense role which have a MF of 2, so they stick in the fortresses scattered around the map. Most of the army's heavy equipment was left on the beaches of Dunkirk, and I'm not sure when all divisions again had a full complement of trucks. According to Churchill's account, in mid-July very few did. Since the scenario begins in mid-August, I assume the situation was somewhat better.

Britain started getting the Kittyhawk Mk. I in November, 1940. Because by then they were confident that there was little risk of an invasion, they shipped them off to North Africa. In the event of an invasion, these would likely have been utilized in the ground attack role at home. The Sea Gladiator is my own conversion. I will add the torpedo to the F-167. (I was hoping for that laser version you referred to.) I left the Beaufighter out, since it was primarily a night-fighter which is awkward to integrate with aircraft operating during the day.

The German naval infantry is more a sailor than a marine, as it is intended to have a diplomat role so it can bribe minefields. Unfortunately, naval units (ie. Minesweeper) can't perform this function.

Thank you for making the other changes. I didn't realize that you had made some of those changes, which shows you how unobservant I really am. I know I've tested your patience, but there are still a few errors in the units file. As I'm sure you know, the glider unit is a re-flagged US Waco glider. Any chance of a DFS-230? Also the heavy machine gun should have an AA mount and the CR-42 could use a green color scheme. I promise that is it! Thank you again for all your help, I really do appreciate it.

 

[CurtSibling]

Those little truck icons on the Inf look great! I reserve the right to use them once this scen is out!

 

[Tanelorn]

@Fairline Gareth, great work as always.
I am flattered, but honestly I only just modded the Gladiator and the Defiant out of your own work (the Swordfish and the Hurricane). Your sig has to be there instead of mine.

 

[techumseh]

@Tanelorn, my apologies for leaving your sig off the Gladiator. I wrongly assumed it was Fairline's work.

 

[Fairline]

Man, I just re-read my post from yesterday - what a rude grouch

Sorry about that Brian; what was supposed to be a list of observations comes across as a bit of an angry internet rant, for which I can only offer a bad day at work as my excuse. Apologies old boy!

I'll gladly tackle the glider and MG.

@Tanelorn - don't sell yourself short mate - the Gladiator is fantastic and very much your work

 

[techumseh]

No worries. We've been friends a long time, it'll take a lot more than that to put me off. With these changes, and the last bits on their way, I have a clear path ahead to get a working prototype ready. I'm in the process of adding the British units to the map, Germans next, and then the events. How hard can it be?

 

[Patine]

No worries. We've been friends a long time, it'll take a lot more than that to put me off. With these changes, and the last bits on their way, I have a clear path ahead to get a working prototype ready. I'm in the process of adding the British units to the map, Germans next, and then the events. How hard can it be?

Isn't the events stage where you usually start punching holes in your computer room walls, Tech?

 

[techumseh]

Isn't the events stage where you usually start punching holes in your computer room walls, Tech?

My house after Burma Campaign.

 

[JPetroski]

I'm starting to get very excited about this one!

 

[McMonkey]

I love a bit of alternative history and I love Techumseh scenarios. If this is a fraction as good as OMG then we're in for a treat!

 

[techumseh]

Thanks guys.

Here's a question for my British friends. In the scenario, London is made up of 10 cities, connected by "suburbs" - actually railways. The 10 cities are: London (Westminster), Tottenham, Dagenham, Basildon, Harrow, Chelsea, Kingston, Greenwich, Croydon and Woolwich. I want to place 3 factory and 1 port unit in greater London. Where should they go? Remember, it's 1940. Thank you.

edit - make that 9. I just learned that Basildon is a post-war town.

 

[McMonkey]

Off the top of my head, I think there was an Arsenal at Woolwich. I think Dagenham is associated with vehicle productions. From the remainder, I would guess Croydon or Basildon are more industrial areas than the likes of Chelsea or Westminster. Perhaps you could replace Tottenham with Enfield. Greenwich is close enough to include the East End and London's docklands area.

 

[techumseh]

Thanks. I made enough progress on the weekend to risk a screenie: