Battle of the Blogs II: Sealion Turn Five

It’s been too long since I’ve used the banner I borrowed from Ian:

The Battle of the Blogs continues with Turn Five. This puts use one quarter of the way through the scenario, and I am sitting at 8 of 24 victory points. That makes me feel like I’m ahead of the game. The next 16 can come from London, if I am so lucky.

Victory Status

There is now increasing cause for concern, however:

What’s worse, it is raining again. The Germans hate shipping in the rain:

Things are looking OK on the front lines, however. We have one isolated British unit in the rear, but it shouldn’t trouble us for too long. We should be able to use the Panzers on the west flank to start a drive to encircle London. Hopefully, on turn 7, I will get the chance to land an additional Panzer Corps, which will allow me even more freedom of movement.

The Front, Turn Five

I decide to open the turn with an armored assault on the British 50th Infantry Division, which results in heavy losses. The follow up attack forces a retreat.

Attacking the 50th Infantry Division

Heavy Losses for the British

A Follow Up Attack on the 50th Infantry Division

Elements of the 2nd Panzer Division then move to attack the British 3rd Infantry Division, stacked with a Home Guard brigade.

Panzers Assault the 3rd Infantry Division

The results are devastating for the British, as you may have predicted:

Another Victory for the Panzers

The effort to finally push British units out of the Southwest continues, with an multi-divisional attack on the British 20th Infantry Brigade.

Attacking the 20th Infantry Brigade in the South

Panic Grips Southern England

Now I need to ensure that I can contain the British unit that has forced my way into my territory. I grab elements of the 15th Infantry and move them in position to assault. Hoping to end this quickly, I play my HQs “Infantry Attack II” card to boost their effectiveness. They cause more panic, but sadly do not eliminate the unit.

I Use My HQ to Boost the 15th Infantry

The Attack on the 1st Armored Division

Resulting in Panic

Now that the armor is at least contained, I move to eliminate the Hasting Home Guard, which has survived for an admirable length of time against my infantry division. This time I break them, which enables me to move infantry out towards Dover. Perhaps later I can pull them towards London, in an attempt to isolate it.

With the Armor Contained, I Move to Eliminate the Hasting Home Guard

Success!

Finally, I launch an attack on the infantry on the north east flank of my advance. At this point, I am hoping to advance with the Panzers on the north west flank, and hold the line in the East. Depending on the success of my Panzer Corps, I will either reinforce with an additional Panzer Corps in a few turns, or use that Corps in a double envelopment of London.

Attack on the 37th Infantry Brigade

Forces a Retreat

I have 10 shipping points to use, and I hope to avoid the mistakes of last time, where I let them go to waste. Instead, I decide to spend them on an artillery unit and an engineer:

Over the next couple of turns, I will be trying to push the 1st and 2nd Panzer Divisions through (or around) the forest south of Guildford, which will put me in a position to begin the encirclement and siege of London. At the moment, the front looks like this:

The Front at the End of Turn Five

Next Post: The British Put Up Some Resistance