Sealion 40 - how to kill the RAF

[Longasc]

Hi, I am playing the standard Panzer Corps campaign (yeah really... finished the excellent Afrika Cmpaign and decided to play this one before going into the more difficult DLCs) on Field Marshal with save/reload and undo move restrictions I imposed upon myself. But I feel free to reply a scenario if it didn't turn out well.

I am having a problem in Sealion 40, it's called RAF and the core of the problem is the fight of my Bf109s vs the Spitfires.
The E could hurt the early Spitfires, but has SERIOUS range issues. The F works better, but lacks the punch despite supreme initiative.

I am having trouble to win air superiority as I cannot reliably destroy enemy fighters. I am baiting them an all that, but it's hard to escort and kill fighters at the same time. Often I can only win 1-2 turns of repairs when I fail to down a single Spitfire. Maybe I should buy even more Messerschmitts, or maybe rather some SPAA?

Anyways, your input how to deal with the Spitfires would be very much appreciated!

[airbornemongo101]

How many aircraft and what types are in your core?

By the time I hit Sealion I have 6 Me-109f's,3 Bf-110d's and 3 Ju-88's ,which is my max of Lufwaffe units in my core. I just upgrade those units

I have never had a problem containing/destroying the RAF and Royal Navy

[Numdydar]

As an fyi, I had 4 109fs (one bought just for Sealion), 2 JU87rs, 1 ME110d, and 1 JU88a got a DV on FM. So you can win using a smaller air fource if needed.

Also do not send your planes over England over the first few turns. Keep them around the channel. Trust me they WILL come to you lol. This way they have furthr to fly back so after the first couple of turns they will start showing up piecemeal rather than all at once.

[soldier]

some 88mm flak on the beaches will show those islander fly boys who their new rulers are

[robman]

some 88mm flak on the beaches will show those islander fly boys who their new rulers are

Aye, and if you also concentrate on protecting your bombers and ground units, both before and after the landing, you will take the island right out from under them.

[Longasc]

Thanks for your feedback, I replayed and bought two BF109 instead of one and an artillery. But the major difference was keeping my fighters together and letting them come to me. I hit the RAF hard enough in the first turns and was surprised that they didn't produce new fighters.

I think this invasion will turn out well, though I am not sure if I will achieve a decisive victory.

[Longasc]

One turn too slow. But that only means that I can invade England again!

[airbornemongo101]

One turn too slow. But that only means that I can invade England again!

Watch out...Sealion '43 is a little bit harder

[Longasc]

Getting slowly back in DLC fighting shape!

I used to intentionally lose some scenarios before to extend the campaign, with increased difficulty levels and all that I no longer "have" to do that. I think that's just the right difficulty for me.

Sure, knocking England out of the war would make things a lot easier but... it will be interesting to see if I can live with the consequences of this One Turn Too Late (which is a movie based about Panzer Corps, inspired by a movie everyone has seen a gazillion times by now, A Bridge Too Far... hehe)

[collegeprof86]

the best methodology i use to kill any opponents air force, is to triple or quadruple up on whichever enemy fighter is the weakest and most likely to get a complete "kill" as opposed to whittling it down to 1 or 2 points... so, i surround the weakest enemy fighter or bomber with 3 or 4 of my own fighters, and finish each one of - it takes a few turns, but when the enemy loses 1 air unit each and every turn of clear weather, before you know it, the skies have been cleared... of course, this is completely unrealistic given in ww 2 one would not know if the enemy had ammo or not (even though we see this for all units on the map that are visible - ours and theirs)... so pick on the units that have little fuel to maneuver and are out of ammo, and those that are already a few hit points down, and within 4 or 5 turns the skies will be clear of any one - its how i win the italy campaigns as the germans - i clear off the raf and usaf, than use build stukas once air supremacy is achieved, and then pounce on the ground forces... when playing the british or the us facing invasion, the number 1 thing to do is - target the transports while still at sea - before they even are against an empty target - for the damage out at sea means they do not land at full strength.. i have won every time palying both sides, by either targeting the transports, or by whipping out the defending air forces.. its why air power is so important - even today...

[Longasc]

I usually try to kill off enemy fighters, too.

In the DLCs some players focused on a shrewd strategy. The problem was, the faster you killed them, the more fighters the enemy seemed to produce.
So it was rather like shooting planes down to 1-2, let them fly back to their base which often took more than just 1 turn, repair and use up prestige, before they returned some 4-5 turns later. Just killing them would have spawned a new plane immediately.

^ I am not sure how well the trick works. For Sealion 40 I recommend your focus on one target till its dead strategy, which is usually the better choice than to allow weakened units to heal up to full strength. The RAF didn't replace losses, was a bit surprised about that.