@calvinhobbesliker:
@LincolnsTopHat:
Just played my first Sea Lion as Germany the other day. Basically went the same as yours did, caught the British napping and took London T2. Definitely not as easy as going all in with Russia. The UK went heavy into Africa Turn 1 (hence the sea lion), and between the residual British and French, Taranto, and the US coming in a turn early, Rome was taken by the time I reached Moscow (with better Russian play, it wouldn’t have been nearly as fast). I agree that Sea Lion bringing in Russia doesn’t make a lot of sense. Honestly, I wish there was a 10-15 ipc National Objective for Germany taking London, there’s no point in starting the game in 1940 if you’re basically punished for pulling off Sea Lion.
Germany already gets 5 IPC’s for London, and Britain’s treasury. Is that not enough reward for executing an operation that was historically impossible? If doing it in game is disadvantageous for seemingly silly reasons, perhaps it’s a good thing that a historically impossible invasion, if it can’t be made impossible in-game, can at least be made unwise.
Here’s a quote from the Designer Notes in the Europe 40 rulebook:
With the fall of France, the possibility of Operation Sea Lion�Germany�s plan to invade England�had to present itself. If it�s going to happen, it has to start on turn 2. The Brits can�t be given time to recover. Turn 3 was when Pearl Harbor would have to occur, but not before Operation Barbarossa�Germany�s invasion of the Soviet Union. This would be especially true if Sea Lion was called off.
So it’s obvious that Sea Lion is suppose to be a possibility in game. I mean, if we’re going for historical accuracy, then the Germany’s occupation of Russia should not be as easy as it is either. Besides, Sea Lion makes the game much more interesting than the regular rush to Moscow. And if it’s clearly off the table, then there’s no reason why England can’t go 100% into Africa and crush Italy, which is also historically inaccurate (the primary reason Sea Lion wasn’t going to happen was because the British focused so much on defending the Island, while in game they can basically strip the Island and rely on Russia/US aid to keep Germany away).