Operation Sea Lion

Joni Nuutinen

About this game

Operation Sea Lion 1940 is a turn based strategy game set on the southern part of the United Kingdom during WWII. From Joni Nuutinen: by a wargamer for the wargamers since 2011. The last update October 2025.

You are in command of the German landing forces attempting to, against all odds, invade the United Kingdom by crossing the English Channel. The campaign is a logistical struggle to keep enough supplies flowing - in spite of the growing British naval supremacy - to give the German Army a fighting chance.

There is great flexibility as the scenario starts before any German landings have taken place, so you can direct the landing or multiple landings ANYWHERE you wish. A fair warning that keeping multiple faraway landings supplied will be a daunting challenge as opposed to one single landing over the shortest possible distance.

On August 13, 1940, Alfred Jodl, Chief of Operations in the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht, wrote:
"The landing operation must under no circumstances fail. A failure could have political consequences that would go far beyond the military ones... I consider the landing to be an act of desperation, which would have to be risked in a desperate situation but which we have no reason whatsoever to undertake at this moment."

FEATURES:

+ Long-lasting: Thanks to in-built variation and the game's smart AI technology, each game provides a unique war gaming experience.

+ Good AI: Instead of just attacking on straight line towards the target, the AI opponent attempts to balance between strategic goals and smaller tactical tasks like encircling or attacking nearby weak-looking units.

+ Settings: Two pages filled with options are available to alter the look of the gaming experience: Change difficulty level, hexagon size, Animation speed, choose icon set for units (NATO or REAL) and cities (Round, Shield, Square, block of houses), decide what is drawn on the map, most pop-up dialogs can be turned OFF, British can be given extra reinforcements, and much more.

For those who know the joy of rolling dice and commanding cardboard divisions with old friends, this series feels familiar, except you can skip the exhausting setup and scheduling headaches. Join your fellow strategy gamers in changing the course of the WWII!


Unbelievably, this great What-If of military history was actually war-gamed by actual German and British commanders for 16 hours at Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in 1974. Its aim was to find out what might have happened had Germany launched Operation Sea Lion. The wargame was organized by the Department of War Studies at Sandhurst. The British umpires were Air Chief Marshal Christopher Foxley-Norris, Rear Admiral Teddy Gueritz and Major General Glyn Gilbert. The German umpires were General Adolf Galland (air), Admiral Friedrich Ruge (naval) and General Heinrich Trettner (land).

The game was played using a scale model of southeast England, the English Channel, and northern France. Available troops and resources were based on known plans from both sides. After the game's conclusion, all the umpires unanimously concluded that the invasion was a devastating defeat for the German invasion force.

Ratings and reviews

Out of all Nuutinen's games, this is my favorite. Simulates air, sea and land operations without onerous rules or bookkeeping. Playability is high and even has difficulty levels so you can play an AI that definitely ate its Wheaties! Playing on Very Hard setting now and it is living up to its name. Fascinating historical "what if" and a great game to simulate it.

Game play is typical Joni...awesome. It's just hard to give it a 5 when CIC is a corporal with a drug habit. IRL Germany needed to capture UK to have any hope of conquering the USSR

Brilliant

What’s new

+ Extra boost for the immersive mode setting if it fails to behave
+ Option: Various ways to draw sea hexagons
+ New logo