ETO's Naval System Crosses the English Channel
Your Frank Chadwick's ETO development team, while quiet publicly, has been very busy. The biggest project on our plate is the updated Naval System for the series. The Land System was set from Battle for Moscow and the Frank Chadwick's Campaigns in Russia series games. The Ground System evolved and the new Air System emerged with the release of Thunder in the East. As we have been playtesting the next volume in the ETO series (vol. III: The Middle Sea) the Naval System emerged and has now evolved in response to all of the wonder player feedback.
Consequently, we have been very "heads down" making sure it is shipshape and Bristol fashioned. Among its extended examples, we are presenting the following for your enjoyment. -The Team
Site Selection Example – The Operation Sealion Dossier:
The Axis have overrun France in the Spring of 1940 and survey the map for invasion sites in the UK that summer. The Axis player makes these observations and compiles them in the following dossier for consideration by OKH (the German military high command):
The Royal Navy must be cleared out of The English Channel and the RAF must be beaten back until it is pressed into its Reserve (352.0) for its own survival. This should allow what little is left of the Kriegsmarine(1) and Luftwaffe(2) to project their strength in support of ground operations in southern England. Fuel will be critical to keeping the Luftwaffe fighting. Also, we need Mussolini to press the British hard right now in the Mediterranean and lend this operation some units to press the fight against England directly. [Historical Note: Italy sends Submarine Group 3 into the Atlantic in July 1940 and a Br-20 Bomber Air unit to the West Theater in September 1940.]
Note 1: At this point (July I, ’40), after its losses in the Norwegian campaign, the Kriegsmarine has available for duty in Operation Sealion: BB Gneisenau, BP Scheer, CR Hipper, M Schlesien, CL Squadron 2, U-Boat Flotillas 1-3, UPL 1, and three MS units.
Note 2: Also, at this point, after its losses in the France campaign, the Luftwaffe has available for duty these 10 (+1 in Training Command) Air units: 2 x Ju-88s, 2 x He-111s, 1 x Do-17, 1 x Ju-87, 1 x Bf-110C, 3 x Bf-109Es, and 1 x Ju-52 (in Training Command).
In the Axis Destroyed box are these 10 units: 3 x He-111s, 1 x Do-17 (to be upgraded to a Ju-88), 1 x Ju-87, 1 x Ju-52, 1 x Bf-110C (to be upgraded to a Ju-88), and 3 x Bf-109Es. That means fully half of the Luftwaffe is destroyed primarily due to Air Doctrine hindrances that we are now slowly evolving past (Illustrated below).
Note 3: The Axis spent all their RPs in the Spring defeating France. To start the Summer, the Axis receive from Germany (and other nations):
18 German Personnel Points (+4 Italian)
11 Equipment Points (+1 from Italy, +½ from Poland, and -1 to the USSR for the Nazi-Soviet Pact)
6 Fuel Points (+1 from neutral Romania and +3 from the USSR for the Nazi-Soviet Pact)
Next, OKW (the Germany Army high command) orders you to ready an HQ marker with Amphibious Preparation (450.4). We won’t have the luxury of waiting once we’re ashore.
We must select the Scratch Flotilla card soon and look for the right moment to play it. We will need every Rhine barge and captured transport in the West to assist if we can secure the right moment. Right now, the Allies’ greatest fear is our holding this card; it is a powerful and potentially decisive direct threat to England.
Going from west to east in search of landing sites, the Major Port of Southampton must be invaded from the Western Approaches side (as it is not in but merely adjacent to The English Channel), which means the Axis Scratch AT unit cannot even go there (per its card) as it is limited to only a single Narrow Sea Zone! Still, we could make a paradrop there (327.3), but the UK Garrison unit in that Hard City hex would have to be overcome. If it were, though, reinforcements could sail into it directly through The English Channel. Tempting, but what else is there?
The hexes between Exeter (exclusive) and Brighton (inclusive) are protected from an amphibious landing by the 2-hex range of the functioning Naval Base at Portsmouth’s local defenses (324.2). Memo to self: have the Luftwaffe bomb the UK Naval Base at Portsmouth. This will, if successful, reduce it to a Minor Port, at least temporarily. At the very least, achieving this opens a window of opportunity for us. We can seriously threaten invasion of much of this coastline and that threat alone should help stretch thin the British Island’s defenders.
Brighton is the most likely landing site as it can accommodate a direct beach landing there using the Axis Scratch AT unit if the UK’s Naval Base at Portsmouth can be neutralized by air. Add a paradrop with some Stuka support and that just might work. Yes, having a Beachhead marker (450.3) in this vicinity and fully supporting it is the logical way to most effectively dropping the biggest hammer we can muster. If we can secure the southwest corner of England as a line behind which to build up… Yes, that seems the surest, safest way to go, but the British know that too.
The Cliffs of Dover and the hex to its west prohibit a direct beach landing there using the Axis Scratch AT unit (450.1.4). However, a direct landing in the Minor Port of Dover is possible versus its Coastal Defense (451.0). This would be an audacious gambit that only the Führer could take responsibility for. It can be done but is a very high risk/high reward proposition.
Chatham appears an excellent location, except it is defended by a UK SM Infantry Division with an Improved Defense marker. Here, Churchill would be as good as his word regarding a “fight on the beaches.”
A direct assault landing in London is currently out of the question. Although the UK has only a single step there in its defense, it is in a Hard City and, worse, invading it directly is impossible at the moment as there is a Warship unit in its Major Port (421.6.1). This means that either the Warship must be attacked from the air and removed from London or the Major Port must be bombed to Disruption (reducing it temporarily to a Minor Port and creating a window of opportunity for a direct invasion by sea). It seems a fool’s errand, thus, to try to capture London from direct air and sea landings under these circumstances.
Finally, the Major Port of Great Yarmouth must be invaded from the Humber side (as it is not in but merely adjacent to The English Channel), which means the Axis Scratch AT unit cannot even go there (per its card) as it is limited to only a single Narrow Sea Zone! Still, we could make a paradrop there (327.3), but the UK Garrison unit in that City hex would have to be overcome. If it were, though, reinforcements could sail into it directly through The English Channel. German units landing there would be feeling very lonely and disconnected. Still, it has possibilities as a diversion that might turn into something if we can tie the UK forces down elsewhere.
I agree there is a lot going on in planning an operation of this type in ETO which is one of the reasons I rate it.
My limited experience so far of doing invasions in ETO suggests they can easily go wrong through bad luck/bad coordination and it is essential to have a bit of redundancy or reserve. In Norway the Germans had bad luck in several places but they overwhelmed the defences by attacking in multiple places at once (good coordination) and then persisted when they suffered reverses (redundancy).
Air superiority is often the key. If bombers can surpass any CAP and attack the transports then even a damage result can frustrate a landing. It is not a…
To fight to expand the landing zone, you better take a Major Port or a Naval Base. If the sea zone gets INTERDICTED even with a HQ in a Minor Port or a Beachhead, you will be Out of Supply.
The Germans have so few corps that build up from divisions, which can land in a minor ports. Maybe they can get ashore but then, the fighting will start. The UK's ability to build BGs give them a last line of defence even if the Force Pool was empty of units. Demobilized units could not be rebuilt back home until the next turn. You will want some FPs in the stockpile in the UK or you might be limited to…
Well, the Axis might not be able to create a Beachhead so, yes, capturing a Port directly looks a lot more attractive. That's how they got Norway... no Beachhead marker there! The Axis Scratch AT Naval unit is expensive and, in the face of the Royal Navy and RAF, vulnerable to having the stuffing knocked out of it and leaving troops stranded should that happen. Although the mechanisms are pretty straight-forward in ETO, the wheels-inside-wheels of player possibility space means that for every problem of this magnitude, should you "solve" it, the opponent can create their own problems again trying to undo your solution. The whole thing is really fascinating. :D
Is it necessary to land in a port? If the beachhead marker gives capacity as a minor port (major for cargo), does that not serve as well as capturing Brighton, Dover or Chatham? Say you landed between Portsmouth and Brighton or between London and Great Yarmouth you might pin the defence to defend multiple places and if you can next turn capture another port then you have two port’s capacity to reinforce through.
That is really a question about the follow up in what happens after you land but I am wondering what is the specific advantage of capture of a minor port in the landing. Does adding the beachhead add further capacity? That would be an answer.
interesting article,…
Napoleon had barges and they were never used. The German Navy does not seem much better and Alan has not showed you the other side. With the Fall of France, the Admiralty will need to have a force in the Med. to limit the Italians but, I bet they will be able to send a few ships.
No great battle like Jutland but, the Gneisenau would have a tough job protecting all those transports.