Author: Brian O'Connell (Page 3 of 7)

Initial Phase

Weather:  A 2 is rolled for weather in the north, so D stays muddy and E goes clear.  That will help the Axis in bombing Malta, moving in the hump and may help out quite a bit in the Balkan area on defense.  Hopefully it will go muddy again before the Allies get to the outskirts of Benghazi.  A 3 is rolled in the south, so all areas are clear.  At sea, the Atlantic is rough, as is the Indian Ocean surprisingly, while the Med, Red Sea and Lake Victoria are clear (a lake w/ sea conditions!)

The 10^th Greek Inf III on Kerkyra goes U-4 isolated, but rolls a 5 and manages to find enough rats to keep itself fed for the moment.  On Crete, the Eraklion Static X is mobilized, while on the mainland the 4^th Mtn X converts to the 4-5-6 15^th Mtn XX.  The RN-1 TF is called up for the second time in the quarter (-1 VP.)  One a/s in Alexandria is converted to 3 res pts.  As expected, the Thess const X begins a fort in 4612.  Clearly the Greek High Command hasn’t the stomach for war and plans to retreat away from the ever victorious Italian Albanian Command J.  The Blen4 and Wellsly each stay inop due to harassment bombing while 2 SM.79-I’s and an SM.81 on Sicily stay inop due to Malta bombing.  At the end of the ini phase the Italian fighters south of Tobruk abandon their airfields by flying CAP over Benghazi (2 units, with a third already on the field) and Agedabia (1 CR.42).

Movement phase

The turn actually opens with an Italian air mission, the Ba.65 flying a transfer mission to Sicily to avoid what will likely be a quick run up of Allied units.  Its 2 point tac strength will help there in naval patrol and airbase bombing, and it won’t be nearly so hindered by its short legs as it otherwise would be on the main front (a 3 hex DAS range for a B, so it would be at risk if it were within range of anything.)

In Greece, the Greek army concentrates in the north for possible attacks on either 3401 or 3502.  Taking advantage of the clear weather, the Greeks also concentrate a very large portion of their army in the southwest for possible assaults on either Egouminitsa (3 hex side frontage) or 3804 (a 2 hex side frontage.)  Practically every major Greek unit is now in the main line, with only flak troops and the Metaxas and Eastern Greece garrison units outside (plus the Brit 14^th X, which shifts down to Athenai.  Clearly the cowardly Brits intend to be close to a port so they can skedaddle at the first indication of trouble, or perhaps Gen Metaxas needs British guns to stiffen his back?)  On Crete, the Erak X guards its namesake city, while the Khania X shifts over to Rethymnon, leaving just the 5^th Mtn Hq guarding Khania.  Perhaps the Brit X is the unit the possible special op was planned for in the BF area??  I’ve got a bit of time to worry about that issue…

In North Africa, the 7^th Arm XX, the 4^th Indian XX (regrouped), 7^th RT Tank II, 1M Free French mot II, 16^th Australian X, W Art X and 1^st RNF machinegun II all concentrate for an assault on Bardia.  For the moment Tobruk has not been invested, but the 5018 airfield is taken and garrisoned by the 51^st Hvy AA II.  To the immediate rear, 6^th Nz X and a transport plus an a/s point make it to 0419 in the Halfaya Pass just south of Bardia.  20^th Australian X and the 23^rd Brit X remain in Matruh, while the 66^th RPC const X moves up to join them.  A res pt is moved up there and an a/s sits there as well… RPC and the res pt will likely be used to improve Tobruk?  The full 6^th Australian XX is formed up in Alexandria and then shipped south to Port Sudan (as opposed the historical shipment of the 4^th Indian, so Wavell is making more economical use of his troops logistically) as is the Free French Orient X.  The Delta is practically denuded of all troops (so much for Winston’s desire to maintain a strategic reserve, a rule not used in the current game), with just the 4^th NZ X in Alexandria, the Czech II in Port Said and of course the Egyptians themselves.  In Sudan, the Indian X’s which cleared Gallabat move up to assault the 1^st Cav mot Inf X from the northwest while the 9^th Ind X continues railing around and then moves around to assault the X from the southeast.  The unsupported EC Inf X takes up residence in Gallabat, from which point it sends evil glares at the Bande X just across the border.  The FB Inf II and the Ethiopian II march triumphantly into the empty Kassala.  Emperor Salassie awards himself a dinner plate sized medal.  Mot machinegun II’s screen roads leading north out of Eritrea.  In Kenya, the 1^st SA & 24 GC Col X’s abandon Moyale and head overland to assault the 103^rd DB Bande X from the northwest, while the 2^nd SA brigade does likewise from the southeast by moving through El Wak.  Two East African X’s, the SA recon II and a construction unit are also moving along this line, so perhaps the EA commander is going to ignore the Chisimaio/Mogadiscio area in favor of an assault directly towards Harar province from the Mandera area?  In the far south, the 23 N Col X remains stuck in Liboi, while the 27 NR Col X moves up to Bura but no further.   A/S is moved along the Mudda Gashi to Wajir axis, but nothing is currently moving along the coastal road to Chisimaio.

At the end of mov’t, I make some quick DAS calculations and determine that I can ensure no better than a single 3:1 -2 attack in the north of Greece by putting 1 pt of DAS (.25 effective) at 3401 and 4 points with the Ju87 (1 effective) at 3502.  Four more points at 3804 (2 effective) ensures no better than a 3:1 -1 there.  I have just one more point to spend at Egouminitsa, and it can’t ensure odds won’t go to 4:1 -1 if the Greeks press with GS, so I fly all three non-bombing fighters to that hex on a CAP mission.  That should keep the Allied bombers away, though it will leave me vulnerable to counter airfield or port ops in exploit.  C’est le guerre, but I’d rather defend the port (a critical VP issue.)

Combat Phase

I fly the DAS as indicated above.  No DAS flies in NA or EA.  The clever Greeks choose to attack the 3401 hex yet again, but they use the same routes of attack and the XX’s which vacated it for 3502 warned the new defenders what the Greeks did two weeks previously.  The 23^rd Fer XX, the elite 3^rd Guards of Savoy III and the 1^st Albanian X are well prepared.  The Greek High Command orders yet another very risky 3:1 -2 attack, and it rolls a 3 for another AS.  Lucky they didn’t get the AR or AH!  Anyway, clearly the Italian Albanian command has established a ‘no pasaran’ line along the northern Albanian/Greek border as the Greeks are no closer to Koritsa then they were a month ago.  In the south, the Greeks choose to attack the 3804 hex, ignoring the Egouminitsa port hex for the moment.  They probably figure that success here would force a retreat from the port hex.  The attack on the ‘B’ Inf III, 2 m/c III’s and a 3-2-6 Art III features 4 full Greek Mtn XX’s, a Mtn X, 3 Mtn III’s, a Bdr X and 2 Art III’s, a 3:1 -1 attack.  This time a 5 is rolled (again no AR), and they get another HX (urgghh.)  The 8 points defending dies, but so does the big 39^th Ev Mtn III and the A Arty III.  4^th Mtn XX, 13^th Mtn XX and the 5/14^th Mtn III all advance into the hex, for a 12 point DS stack.  This will temporarily cut the direct supply line from Egouminitsa back to Albania.  The attack doesn’t do anything for the Kerkyra defenders however, so they will still need to make a surrender roll next player turn.

In North Africa, the massive assault on Bardia is launched at 5:1 -1 odds (a/s provided, unimproved fortress, 4 pts NGS from RN-1), but sadly, the Allies roll yet another 5.  A DH is achieved and what doesn’t die in the combat is forced through zoc’s and dies in the retreat out of the hex.  At least the attack used a goodly portion of the Allies’ North African resources, so they aren’t advancing leaps and bounds through Cyrenaica for the time being.

In East Africa, the Allies smash the 1^st Cav mot Inf X in Sudan and the Bande unit in Kenya at super high-odds (no a/s expended but GS provided as overkill, each attack at well over 9:1 -1 odds.)  ZOC’s ensure even a DR would have been deadly.

Exploitation Phase:

No ground mov’t in Greece.  The Blen1 from the North African area does however choose to support the Greek command by staging up to Larissa from Crete and then launching a strat port bombing mission against Durazzo.  The 1 pt of flak misses with a 7 rolled, but the bombing attempt is equally ineffective (4 rolled on the 1 column due to poor weather.)  The Blen1 and Greek Mxd B unit already in the area also stage up to Larissa, launching strat port bombing against Valona.  Three points of flak misses both a/c (5 & 6 rolled) and while the Greeks miss with a 3, the Blen1 hits the port with a 5.  In North Africa, the 7^th Armored XX breaks down and the 4^th Arm X, 7^th Spt Grp and the Free French mot Inf II leap forward and seize Gazala.  The 7^th Arm X and a transported 6^th New Zealand X seize the airfield at 4818 and begin the siege of Tobruk.  The 7^th RT Tank II moves up to join the heavy flak II at the 5018 field.  After these mov’ts, the Well1C stages up from Alexandria and launches a strat port bombing attempt against Benghazi.  One pt of flak misses (6 rolled) as does the a/c (2 rolled.)  The Bombay transports stage back to Alexandria and then pick up the 4^th NZ X, flying it on a one-way mission to the airfield at Gazala.  Two Glads and the Hurri1 than transfer in to the 4818 field outside Tobruk.  In East Africa, the Sudanese forces sit in place.  The units in Kenya move up to Mandera (4 full X’s w/ transports plus the SA recon II), from which point they may easily strike north into Harar province or south against Somalian area.  At the end of the Allied exploit, all three Italian bombers transfer to Addis, where they can take advantage of the GSPs converted last turn.  No point in wasting them, since the Allies chose not to dare enter the AOI, and we certainly can’t roll an 11 on a d6!

Initial Phase

In the Balkans an SM.79-I withdraws but a much better tactical Ju87B/R arrives.  Two inf pts, one mtn & one armor also arrive.  2 ARPs are spent to return the Mxd F to Rhodes and a previously aborted SM.81.  We review the situation in the East Africa area and believe there is a 75% chance that the Allies will not cross the border.  Even so, to facilitate mov’t next turn a point of a/s is converted to GSPs at Addis.  The point in Assab is converted to res pts.  Due to Indian units at Gallabat, the Gondar garrison is released.  Air woes continue and of the four units at the front in North Africa and the fighter to the rear, only a single CR.42 goes operative at 5018.  Still, we can’t use our Italian Navy, can’t really attack, so the lost usage of a few fighters and the Ba.65 won’t hurt us really.  On the positive side, Matruh is overstacked so the Bombay and a Glad go inop as well.  At the end of the phase, the Greek P.24F flies a CAP over Athenai to prevent any more terror bombing runs while the Wellsly & Blen4 fly an unescorted harassment mission to 0218, the hex just west of Bardia.  Our operative CR.42 flies intercept.  Random allocation pits it against the Blen4, but the CR.42 rolls a 9 and the Blen a 7 so both planes miss one another.  Time for some remedial training for our fighter pilots!

Movement phase

In Greece, with the elimination of one stack and the Greek terrorists having gained a pair of three hexside attack opportunities in the center of my line, the Italians are forced to temporarily give up some of the liberated Cham area (though we’ll get VPs for them at end of turn), two hexes total.  The line now runs along the border in the north to Kalpaki and then southwest to Egouminitsa.  So far no Greek feet have managed to set foot in Albania proper!  I do switch the units in 3401 and 3502, since the 3502 hex will be able to be attacked from three sides.  The defense strength will be the same, but the Albanian X should be better protected (a political issue) in the northernmost hex.  This will put the hero XX’s from last turn’s AS at 3401 into the 3502 hex, so we’ll see if they can withstand yet another assault.  The 48^th Taro XX and a III from another XX admin up to Koritsa to be fed into the line next turn.  The Albanian Blackshirt X backs off a hex, since it’s got no DS.  5 Pst Mtn XX lands at Porto Edda and moves one hex inland to join the line next turn.  37 Mod XX breaks down and it’s larger III lands directly in the line at Egouminitsa while it’s other III lands at Port Edda and moves inland with the Pst mountaineers.  Back at Valona, the two const III’s repair another hit via quick construction, and then one puts two more mps toward repair while the other begins moving north to Durazzo.  One a/s each is transported to Valona & Durazzo.  Five SMPs are used to move these points forward, while the remaining 10 are used to move the 2 res pts in Koritsa back to Valona, one then being transported back to Italy and the other shifting south along the coastal road.  One inf and one mtn point are landed at Valona as well.  Knowing I’ll have no attacks, and it will be obvious to the Allies, 4 rail bombing missions are run against the Greek rail net around the 5014 rail junction and the Sperkios river area.  One hit is achieved at 5013.

At Malta, 3 strategic bombing missions are launched against the interdiction forces, resulting in one hit (2 SM.79-I’s and the SM.81 participate, Malta number goes back to 6.)  Flak cannot fire due to the low amount available (2 column shift is off the chart.)  With Malta’s port essentially immune to complete reduction (12 RE capacity cannot be reduced to less than 5 RE’s), we bomb the airfield with some strat bombers, combining 2 units to get a 1 pt attempt.  Flak misses, but so does our attempt on the field (to ensure we have some units available for naval patrol, two units are used in non-Malta bombing missions.)

On the ground in North Africa, a general retreat is ordered.  Two XX’s and the const III in the front lines make the “safety” of Bardia, while units that were previously in Bardia or not in the front lines manage to make Tobruk.  Blackshirts and an arty unit that had been in Bardia admin up into the hump, midway between Derna and Gazala.  10^th Corps artillery admins to 3921 in the hump bypass, while the 24 dM Arty III and the Tonini parachute infantry admin to 3722 along the same road.  1^st Arm II admins as far along that road is its mps will carry it, but the 3^rd Arm II actually moves forward via rail along the Cyrenaica net and then via admin to the 3617 airfield.

In Italian East Africa, a meager 2 is rolled, so the Duca is limited to 3 RE’s of mov’t.  He needs to get off his duff and give some orders <grins.>  The 65^th Grenadiers of Savoy XX admins along the road leading east out of the Addis area, while the other RE is spent on the 22^nd Col X, which admins up to just west of Gondar to block any mov’t south from Gallabat.  Our Red Sea NTP carries one of the Assab res pts up to Massaua via coastal sea hexes.  SMPs are burned liberally, with the Gondar a/s point moved east to Adua, the remaining Addis point moved east, and the 12 converted GSPs also shifted slightly east to accommodate next turn’s mov’ts.  Three SMPs worth of trucks are left dead on the side of the roads due to an inability to perform proper maintenance (due to lack of spare parts, etc. caused by the command’s unfortunate but only temporary isolation.)  Fortunately, the Duca’s conservatism limits don’t prevent him from blowing up various infrastructure items, so airfields at Iavello, Neghelli, Magi (a very rare mountain airfield), Afmadu and Bardera are blown up and removed.  Likewise, various bridges and airfields get hits on them up in the northern areas circa Tessenai to Agordat.  Units that are outside of the AOI are not limited by conservatism, so the 12^th Col X abandons Kassala and heads southeast into Eritrea, while the 1^st Cav mot Inf X actually heads two hexes west of Kassala, where it begins the process of destroying the rail bridge across the Atbarah river.  The other unit remaining outside the AOI, the 103 Dub Bande X, shifts northeast a hex, taking up residence at 3W:0113 in the bush, hoping to avoid the coming onslaught of Allied transported inf X’s bearing down on it.

Combat Phase:

There isn’t any.

Exploitation Phase

Nothing happens in the Balkan area, literally.  In the EA area, only the 1^st Cav mot Inf X accomplishes anything.  First it completes the destruction of the rail bridge and then it breaks the rail in the hex as well.  It then settles in to await its fate, which will no doubt be ugly.  In North Africa, the 2^nd Lt Arm X exploits up to the “23M” group at 4317, the 1^st Lt Arm X joins the 10^th Corps Art III at 3921, and the 1^st Arm II takes up residence at Soluch, previously home to the 3^rd Arm II now at the 3617 airfield.  For the Allies, their CAP over Alexandria lands at Volos while a Blen1 and Glad at Matruh transfer over to Khania on Crete.  Axis earns 6 VPs for Greek hexes, so the totals are 34 Axis to 0 Allied.

Assessment

In Greece, despite lucky rolls with poor odds/mods attacks, our line is still fairly solid.  In North Africa, both Bardia & Tobruk are well garrisoned and will hopefully cause either a delay in an Allied advance as big units are assembled to assault, or will cause exchange losses in the event the Allies go with smaller scale attacks.  We have good blocking positions both in the hump and in the bypass.  Airfields were unfortunately left unscathed around Tobruk (by rule we cannot destroy airfields on Dec I 40), and one ungarrisoned one still has three of our air units while the other has a single air unit, but we’ll take care to move them out before the Allies can move into them.  The East Africa area is still in a ‘wait and see’ period while the Allies decide whether to press their claim to the area and cross the border.

Initial Phase

Axis spies get word that two special operations are in planning on the Allied side, one in the EA area and one that is probably in the BF area.  I cast about for possible targets and figure the sneaky Brits may be trying something in the Dodecannese.  We’ll have to see about that.  The only supply issue of note is the 10^th Greek Inf III on Kerkyra, currently at U-3 and isolated.  In East Africa, the 27^th NR X shows up for duty in Nairobi, while the Ethiopian 1/2 Inf II arrives at Port Sudan.  South African units show up on the south edge of the map ensconced in NTs, including the 5^th Inf X, 1^st Recon II, various replacement tanks and 10 smp’s worth of lorries.  In Suez the 6^th Aus Hq goes full, while a/s arrives at sea for mov’t forward.  Also, the FF Inf X upgrades to a 2-1-8 “Orient” X.  GSPs are generated at 4 locations, two in Greece which are being used to keep the British 14^th X in supply, and two more in Egypt, possible use as yet undetermined.  Malta is repaired to a 5.  Italian bombers in Massaua are placed on naval patrol.

Movement Phase

In Greece the Greek army moves up to engage the Italian forces intent on liberating the Cham, weakly in the south and more strongly in the northeast.  Three to one attacks in the muddy mountains appear the best that can be achieved.  The Thess Const X moves around to 4612, northeast of Mt. Olympus where a res pt is also located, probably intent on fort building in the gap between the mountains and the swamps to the east.  The Keph X is moved to Athenai via sea mov’t.  In North Africa, the Allies remain conservative regarding their left hooks, with two armored units and the W Art engaging the 0519 hex from the front, with the 4^th Arm X, 7^th Spt Grp, and two Indian and two Brit Inf X’s swinging around to take the 0520 hex from the rear.  Because of the impassible escarpment hexsides at the Halfaya Pass the forward Italian units are not isolated.  Hurricane and Glad air units fly CAP over 0519, while just a single Glad flies CAP over 0520.  To the rear, 16^th Aus & 7^th Indian X’s move up to 1018, while the a/s seized at Sidi Barrani is moved to the rear to join them.  20^th Aus & 23^rd Brit X’s are moved up to Matruh, while the 1M Free French II & the 66 RPC Const X are a bit further to the rear.  Of note, the GSPs created back in the delta are railed up to Matruh as well, where the Bombay transports are currently based.  A pair of NZ X’s join the two Australian X’s already in Alexandria, joined by the 6^th Aus Inf Hq.  21^st Aust moves to Ismailia and the Orient FF X shifts east to Suez.  The a/s that arrived for the Middle East command passes by the Italian bombers in Massaua unscathed, as do SMPs that are shipped in to Port Sudan from South Africa.  In Sudan, Kassala is lightly screened at a distance by a few battalions, while the heavier 10^th and 29^th Indian X’s engage the defenders of Gallabat from east and west.  9^th Ind X is railed around to the rail junction at 15W:1305.  In Kenya, 2 X’s and some transports reach a point just north of the town of Buna, a couple of hexes southwest of Moyale, defended by the 25^th Italian Col X.  More admin mov’t sees 21^st EA X to just southwest of the airfield at El Wak and the 2^nd South African X to Muddi Gashi via lorries.  22^nd EA & 27^th NR X’s admin towards the road junction at Garrissa from Nairobi, while the recently arrived 5^th SA X and some transports admin through Nairobi from where they landed at Mombasa.  23^rd N X admins up to Liboi, from where it can keep an eye on the Italians Colonials at Afmadu and in the Chisimaio area.

In response to the various Allied moves, the Axis stages the CR.42 on Sicily to Derna and then flies a CAP over the airfield at 4818, just south of Tobruk.  We judge that the Allies may be planning to seize the airfield in exploit and then fly in GSPs with the Bombay transports.  The Italian fighters should give the transports pause, which could put the kibosh on the whole enterprise.  The CR.32bis in Tripoli is likewise staged forward and flies a CAP over Benghazi to keep any port bombing missions to a minimum.

Combat Phase

In Greece, I fly das more for practice than anything else, as no matter how I allocate it Greek odds cannot be lessened beyond 3:1 -2, nor can they get any better with GS on their part.  In North Africa, I as the air commander make a bit of a mistake.   We have a chance to increase the odds of losses to the Allies by flying the Ju87 to the 0519 hex (1 in 6 of losses, whereas the Ju87 at 0520 would reduce the odds but still leave the chance of losses at 1 in 3.)  Of course, we have only 2 fighters that can fly escort, so there is a much better chance that the Allies will bypass and get after the Ju87.  Still, I reason that we have 2 ARPs in the bank, the Italians could get some free shots at Allied fighters, and even if the Ju87 is aborted or killed, we can bring it right back and it won’t have to go through the roll to be made operative… the mistake being of course that the Italians are apparently restricted from spending ARPs in their Dec I 40 turn in North Africa, a point I missed.  Anyway, the Allies promptly change their CAP over 0519 to intercept, having the Hurri bypass and the Glad engage the escorts.  In combat, the Glad returns the CR.42 with a 6, while the CR.42 misses the Glad w/ a 10.  The CR.32bis gets its free shot at the Hurri1, but rolls a 7 for no effect.  The Hurri then blasts the Ju87 with a 4 modified to a 3 for a K, with the Italians rolling a 7 modified to an 8 for another NE.  Dang.

In actual ground combat, the Allies begin in Greece with a 3:1 -2 attack (mud, mtns, mountaineering, auto a/s) against hex 3401, but the stalwart 49 Par and 51 Si XX’s catch the Greek mountaineers attempting to sneak up on the Italian lines send them back to their start line (3 rolled for AS.)  For this feat of arms, each division earns its Legionaire Eagle.  Further south at the 3602 hex things go less well, with another 3:1 -2 attack (same mods) rolling a 5 for a HX.  Six points of Italians die, as does the Greek 16^th Mtn X while two Greek XX’s enter the hole in the Italian line.  The Greek commander is clearly feeling ballsy, launching two attacks at 3:1 -2 odds, which could easily have seen the cream of the Greek army destroyed or sent packing with a 1 in 3 chance of an AH or AR in each case.

In North Africa things go better for Italian arms despite the trials and tribulations in the air.  The valiant 2^nd Lt Arm X screens the 64^th Inf XX’s defensive line and the Britsh 7^th Arm X, the heavy tanks of the 7^th RT II and the W Arty X find themselves seizing empty entrenchments (the 3:1 +3 attack at 0519 rolls a 2, resulting in a DR.)  Thanks to Halfaya Pass escarpments and Italian tankers, the defending Italians escape to the west no worse for wear.  Guarding the entrenchments and flank of the 0519 defenders, 63^rd Cir XX and the 21^st Corp Arty III are well sited despite the feeble Allied attempt to take their box in the rear.  The 2:1 +1 attack rolls a 4 for an HX result and while the defending 5 points of Italians die, they take two 2-8 X’s of British troops (16^th & 22^nd) with them.  In both these attacks the Allies used GS, but Italian flak had no effect.

In East Africa, the unit defending Gallabat is routed in an automatic kill.

Exploitation Phase

Nothing to speak of in Greece.  In North Africa, the 7^th Arm XX forms up at 0321, but otherwise makes no aggressive moves towards Bardia or Tobruk.  I guess our CAP at the 4818 airfield prevented any GSPs transport mission.  In Sudan, the few motorized units remain in screening positions back from the border.  In Kenya, Moyale is overrun, but Allied units remain on their side of the border.  Various other units are transported further forward, especially along the axis leading to El Wak and Garissa.  It would appear that the Allied EA commander is operating under a strategy of cleaning up the border areas first, probably to prevent the Axis from earning any VPs for owning towns in Kenya or Sudan.  In the air, the Allies get aggressive and launch an air raid against the airbase at Scarpanto, where the Dodecannese air force is based.  The Mxd F intercepts and bypasses the Greek Pz.24 in an attempt to keep the bombers on the ground safe, but the Allies roll a 6 aborting the fighters.  The Blen1 & Greek bombers then combine for an effective 1 bombing strength attempt and roll a 6 there as well, aborting the Italian Mxd B on the ground.  Bad turn for the Italian AF.  The Allied Navy than attempts to run the a/s from the Middle East Command into Malta, using night mov’t to get close to the port and then unloading during the day.  Two SM.79’s from the coastal base at 0603 quickly launch a naval patrol mission to Valleta, making contact with a 6 rolled (+3 for calm seas, -0 for distance), 2 points of flak fails to drive them off (8 & 9 rolled), and then a 6 and 3 are rolled in bombing, resulting in one NTP sunk and the a/s point eliminated as it was attempting to offload at the docks.  A small bit of vengeance for an otherwise bad air turn.

North African/Near East set up:

For the Axis, things are basically set out on a hex by hex basis.  There is very little variability allowed for our side.  In the Levant, we run a sort of in-house TEM contest to come up with the best possible position focused on trying to make overruns difficult or costly in terms of the number of Allied units necessary to implement.  In Lebanon, two support infantry III’s screen Beyrouth two hexes south of the city, while 2 cav III’s occupy the city itself.  The large 24^th MC Inf III guards Tripoli.  In Syria, a cav III and 2 Lt Arm II’s garrison Damas, with the MS.406’s based there as well.  Two hexes from the border, 2 more inf III’s guard the line leading up to Damas.  Alep has the 3 LE Inf III and the const X.  In Iran, all units are placed by rule, but the fighter unit sets up in Ahwaz.  In Iraq, the variable units are all set up in Baghdad for defense, while the air unit is set up in Kut al-Imara, where it can reach Baghdad but is out of range of the British Audax’s from either base the Allies control.  In Libya and Egypt all ground units are also placed by OB.  In the air, we have a CR.42, Ba65 low level bombers and the Ju87’s set up forward at 18:5018.  Another CR.42 fighter is set back at Gazala.  If the forward air units survive the surprise turn bombing attempts, they may be able to help out either on defense or any possible counter-attack scenario that might develop.  Back in Tripolitania, the two worst air units are placed, a CR.32bis and an SM.81.  On Sicily, all four big strat bombers, SM.79-I’s are placed with their 5 point strat bombing strengths.  A CR.42 is also in attendance for when Brit fighters should show their faces.

For the Allies, forces around Matruh are set up as forward as possible.  All of the infantry X’s, 7RT Tk II, the W arty X and the 4^th Ind XX Hq, plus a transport are set up in 19:1119, while the remaining 4^th and 7^th Arm X’s and the 7^th Spt Grp are in 19:1219.  Matruh has the 51^st Hvy AA II, plus a Hurri1, a Glad & some Blen1’s.  One a/s is in Matruh and the other is way forward at 19:0920, no doubt in preparation for use in the regular turn.  The 7^th Ind X guards El Alamein, while Alexandria has two X’s of Australians, a X of Brits, a constr X and a machinegun II.  Five air units including the Well1C’s, the Blen4’s, the Glads, the Bombay transports and the Wellsly’s are also based in Alexandria.  Two more Australian X’s are placed east of the city on coastal defense (?).  New Zealander’s garrison Port Said and Damietta, with the 3^rd Egypt X also located in Damietta.  Cairo has a hodgepodge of troops and nationalities, including both Free French units, the Czech Inf II, the Egyptian 1^st and 2^nd X’s, the Egyptian 1^st Lt Arm X and the Egyptian Glads.  The Egyptian 1^st MG X is further north at Tanta.  Over in Palestine, 3 Brit Cav X’s and the 21^st Australian Inf X garrison various cities in the territory.

Weather: The weather roll for Europe & North Africa is a 3, resulting in mud in D & E and clear in F & G.  The East Africa roll is a 4, resulting in clear everywhere except around Lake Victoria, which is muddy.  Sea zones are calm in the Med (2), calm in the Red Sea (2) and calm in the Indian Ocean (5).  Sea zones not in play didn’t get a roll.  With a 4 rolled, there are no desert storms.

Initial Phase

All units involved in Compass or defending thereby are in supply.  The RN-1 TF is called up for NGS support.  No air units fly on either side (the Italians cannot fly at all.)

Movement phase

Only the air and naval units, plus the Compass force, may move.  The RN fleet heads for 19:0818, where it preps for NGS.  The RAF then takes off en masse to put the Italian AF out of action.  The Blen 1’s fly an airbase bombing mission to the big Italian airbase south of Tobruk at 5018.  Since Italian XX’s in NA have flak, they must at least survive nominal flak rolls.  The roll on the 1 column is a 5 for no result, but the air units roll a 3 and miss, with the Blens then heading for Eraklion to land.  The Blen 4’s attempt to do better by staging through Matruh with the same target, but a 7 for flak and a 3 on bombing result in more misses on each side.  This unit also returns to base on Crete, this time at Rethymnon.  The Wellington’s try their hand, but a 7 flak and 4 bombing roll mean no hits again.  The Well’s return back to Alexandria.  Finally, the Bombay transports attempt to bomb, but a 5 on flak and a 2 on bombing again result in zippo results.  The transports return to Matruh.  The German planners for the upcoming invasion of the Soviet Union take note of how things were handled so they might improve upon things in say the June timeframe…

The Allied ground units then trundle out of their start positions, knowing full well that the Italians are asleep at the switch.  Thanks to reduced Italian zoc’s, the 7^th Arm X and 7^th Spt Grp move to 0619 where they can take the motorized elements of the Libyan forces in the rear and isolated both forward Italian stacks.  The 4^th Arm X, the W Art X and the transports move to 0720 where they can attack the Italian right flank.  The remaining four infantry X’s, the 7RT and the 4^th Ind HQ charge right up the coast directly at the 1^st Libyan XX, the 4^th “3G” Blackshirt XX and the 22^nd Corps Arty.

Combat Phase

Both the Wellsly’s and the Hurri1’s fly GS to 0719, where it is supposed that one point of flak will be insufficient to drive both air units away, thereby ensuring a 3:1 +3 attack.  Italian flak rolls a pair of 4’s, but that’s sufficient only to drive the Wellsly’s away with an R.  The two armored X’s, arty and spt grp then attack the 2^nd Lib Inf XX, both Lib mot inf III’s and the Italian 2^nd Arm II.   Thanks to Italian disarray, the attack goes in at 3:1 +3 (a/s, 1 pt of GS) and a 6 is rolled, completely eliminating the Libyans to a man.  The 7^th Arm & 7^th Spt Grp advance east into the hex, away from the zoc’s of the Italian 2^nd line.  In the second Compass attack, the infantry, arm II & NGS attack the 0718 stack at 4:1 +1 (a/s), and with a 4 rolled a DH kills half the units and zoc’s do in the rest.  The Allies continue their streak of good rolls when a pair of 6’s shows on the attempt to seize the Italian forward supply dumps, both a/s falling into the hands of the advancing Brit 22^nd Inf X.  The only “bright spot” for the Italians is the rule change that prevents all these units from being considered scrapped.  The Libyans and Blackshirts die permanent deaths due to their fragility, but the arm II and art III will at least go into the pool for rebuilding a few months hence.  This also saves our side a whole passel of VPs.  At this point, the turn ends and rolls into the regular Dec I 40 allied player turn.

Interlude

The figure of a driver pushed his way through the flaps of the tent, bringing wih him an unwelcome blast of heated air and sand. The storms outside were still raging and the figure quickly pulled the flaps of the tent taut again

“Damn these sand storms that keep blowing up what” said General Pasco, looking up from the maps in his command tent somewhere in the desert outside Matruh.

“What is the news from the tankers? Lets just hope that it is better than that from the fly boys what….”

The figure froze at that reference to the failure of the air assualt against the Italian air force. The surprise attack in the air that had been planned to smash the enemy stukas on the ground so that they could not interfere had largely come to naught as the airfields had been obscured by sand storms. The 200 bombers sent to smash the planes on the ground before they could react hadn’t been able to find the target, let alone attempt to bomb it.

Regaining his composure the figure snappily fired off a salute

“Corporal Jones sir, reporting in sir. Its good news sir. The sand storms hid our advance and our troops have carried the day whenever they have come into contact with the enemy. They are surrendering en masse, just as you said they would”

“Yes. Mussolini’s boys have no stomach for a fight what ho. Not like our lads! What news of the supply dumps at Sidi Barrani?”

“Captured intact by the 22nd Guards, with almost no casualties.”

“Excellent news, I knew we could rely on those chaps. I feel better already, carry on Corporal.

Turning to his planners he smiled a teethy grin “Now lets have some tea and get the next phase of operations underway.”

Initial Phase

Rhodes goes to U-3 black, the Kalpaki pocket & Kerkyra are U-2 red.  British units (the X up in the Metaxas line and the pos AA in Athenai) are U-2 black, but go into special supply by using GSPs generated from the Greek restricted full supply sources.  All Italian ground reinforcements arrive at Bari for transfer to the Albanian front.  2 a/s are placed at Trieste, all replacement points at Taranto and the new MC.200 fighters are placed at Brindisi.  Fort building continues at Koritsa.  At the end of the phase, the MC.200’s fly a CAP over Kalpaki so they can be first on the scene.  Other F’s in Albania will wait to see if the Greak AF wishes to commit.

Movement Phase

The turn starts with a series of naval mov’ts, reinforcements from Bari crossing over to Albania.  First, the 3 C Art III travels to Egouminitsa (interference roll of 7, with only a 12 generating a contact) and moves directly into the line.  2 Tri Alp (6 rolled) and 8 C Art III (9) travel to Porto Edda and from there move east a hex to engage the Kalpaki defenders on their west flank.  The two construction III’s then move to Valona (5 & 9), and with their two remaining mps left combine for some quick repair of the port, removing a hit and getting it’s available capacity up to 4 (2 used so far.)  This nets me an add’l RE of capacity immediately, and then the 4 M Arm II (8) and one supported III of the 33^rd Inf XX land (6), admining towards the southern front.  Finally, the second III of the 33^rd (10) and the 48^th Inf XX (9) cross the Adriatic and land at Durazzo, both admining through the mud southwards to the road junction at 3919.

On the mainline in the east, the 51^st XX withdraws a hex, and minor tweaks occur to leave the northernmost two hexes at 7 ds, the next two at 6 ds.  Part of this process sees the big Julia Mtn XX shift a hex south so it too can participate in attacks against the Kalpaki pocket this turn.  M/C III’s shift about to help out as well, and some unsupported units will be attacking from the northwest and northeast just to ensure that no cadre can retreat into Albania on a DR.  Attack supply is moved a hex forward, though this isn’t really necessary.

Back in the main portion of Europe, 2 a/s is railed around through Germany and Hungary into a map edge hex in Rumania, should add’l a/s be required latter in that part of the world.  I’ll have more than enough Italian attack supply given the limited Italian opportunities to attack, though I need to try and get more landed… just not enough port capacity in Albania, and I’d rather have units than a/s at the moment.

Combat Phase

No DAS flies.  I fly the Z.506 & Z.1007 bombers with their 2 pt tac strengths against Kalpaki, bring the total attack strength up to 27 against the 4.5 effective defense strength of the Kalpaki encirclement (6:1 even, a/s to all Italian troops, rough, 1/10^th AECA, defenders U-2).  A 5 is rolled in combat and the Greek 9^th Mtn XX, and VIII & IX Bdr X’s are eliminated to a man.  A m/c unit from the northwest and the 2 Tri Alp XX and 8 C art III from the west advance into the hex.

Exploitation Phase

M/C III’s and the 4 M Arm II advance into the front lines in the south, bringing the defense at Egouminitsa up to 8 (rough), the 4619 hex up to 5 (rough) and the crook in my line at 4618 to 9 (1/2 or better AECD in rough terrain.)  That hex and Egouminitsa are both assailable from three hexes, but the first is guaranteed a -3 mod regardless of the next weather roll and the port hex is a bit far away from the biggest Greek units, so I’m hoping for a stalemate to begin developing.

In the air, the SM 79-I flies another daylight terror bombing raid against Athenai, but improved flak defenses push them off after ineffective bombing runs (5 rolled on flak).  It returns to Durazzo to open up space at the Valona airfield for the MC.200’s.  The Mxd B on Rhodes then flies its own terror raid at Athenai, slipping by flak guns which were trained northwards (6 rolled) and putting cracks into the Parthenon (6 rolled for a hit.)  It lands on Scarpanto, and the Mxd F transfers there as well. Greek civilians demand action of their government against these perpetual raids damaging their historically significant sites (+1 VP for Axis.)  Lastly, the SM.81’s at Koritsa attempt to raid Athenai as well, but because of their range they must transit the patrol zone of the P.24’s at Larissa.  The P.24’s do patrol attack, and a 6 rolled results in the SM.81’s being aborted.

End of Turn

Axis earn 8 vps for hexes in Greece, though one of these hexes will be lost next turn as I have abandoned it.  If the Italian line benefits from nasty weather, we’ll be netting 7 per turn or thereabouts from this point forward.  Current VP total is 26:0.

Initial Phase

Weather:  Weather rolls of 1 for land and 3 for the Med see mud remain in zone D, clearing in E, while the Med stays calm.

All Axis units are in supply other than those on Rhodes.  Greek units on Kerkyra and in the Kalpaki pocket are U-2 red.  The Khania static X shows up for duty in its patronymic city, while the Dodek Inf III arrives in eastern Thrace.  The 3^rd Mtn X withdraws.  4 GSPs are generated at both Thess & Athenai, presumably to supply the Brits since there is so far no Allied supply terminal established in Greece.  Neither side declares CAP, and I put the Mxd B’s on Rhodes on naval patrol.

Movement phase

Movement opens with the Greeks sailing the Keph Stat X to Athenai by way of the Corinthian Canal.  Italian fleet elements catch wind of the movement and make contact with the Greek fleet (10 rolled on the 9 column), but fail to sink the transports (6 rolled for contact effect, for an NE result.)  Two regiments of the Greek 5^th Mtn XX at Khania then board transports heading out of the port as night falls, bound for Nauplion.  However, Italian bombers on Rhodes attempt to contact the ships after the loading is complete but prior to the departure from the port’s hex.  Unfortunately this just fails (4 rolled, +3 for calm, -3 for distance.)

On land, in the south the Greeks concentrate for an assault on the 19^th Vnz XX in 4719, with two large stacks on the wings and a smaller stack in the center.  In the mountains, 4 to 5 pt stacks are built up to the bend in the line at 4316, where 2 Mtn XX’s plus a strong III are in place.  One of the units from near Thessalonike catches trains to the front, reaching Phlorina to help support the border X’s.

In the rear, the rest of the units that were held up east of the Axios cross the river.  They make it generally to just east a hex or two behind the main Greek line along the east side of the front via admin mov’t.  The two 5^th Mtn XX regiments from Crete admin through the Patrai narrow straits and up the west coast road.  In Athenai, large numbers of flak points admin or rail in to get the flak strength up to 7, no doubt as a result of last turn’s massive terror bombing raids.  Those that were in Thessalonike move to Larissa’s airfield, where the Allied AF is current based, bring its flak strength back up to 5, while Thess’s strength drops to 2.  The Brit 14^th X is railroaded up to the Metaxas line, while a border unit moves into the line from eastern Thrace, which frees up some troops for the Albanian front.

At the end of the turn, the Greek P.24 unit flies CAP over 19^th Vnz Inf XX.  I counter CAP with all three Italian F’s, and the Greeks wisely choose not to respond.

Combat Phase

I put 2 pts of DAS (.5 effective) over 51^st so that there is at least a chance for a good result, ensuring the Greeks no better than either a 5:1 -2 or -3, depending upon to what extent they wish to put their mountain units at risk.  Just to be safe, the Egouminitsa hex gets 1 pt effective as well, to ensure no better than a 3:1 -1 should the Greeks decide to abandon the attack on 19^th Vnz and instead go after the port.  The 19^th gets the last effective point, flown by the SM81’s and SM79’s to lessen the chances that all DAS will be returned.  With three fighters, I decide to convert the CR.42’s to escort and leave the remaining two fighters on CAP.  This allows me to get a free shot against the P.24’s should they attempt to get at my DAS, and ensures I have a shot at the Allied air should ignore my DAS & choose to fly GS missions in support of their attack.  I figure this gives me the best chance to keep the odds against the 19^th to 4:1 vice 5:1 (possible if both their air units got through or my DAS gets hit.)  The Allied commander chooses to intercept my DAS, and the P.24’s bypass.  CR.42’s fire ineffectively with an 8 rolled, but the P.24’s do worse when randomly allocated against the SM.79-I’s, with a 12 rolled by the interceptor and a 7 rolled by the bombers.  The Allies choose not to fly their bombers into my two CAP units, remaining on the ground.

The Allies do in fact launch the attack against 19^th Vnz in wooded rough terrain with some mountain hexsides, but the attackers are all arty or mountain themselves, which cancels the wooded rough terrain.  The 4:1 even (wooded rough, mountaineering) attack rolls a 6 for a DE, with 3^rd Mtn XX and 4^th Mtn X advancing into the hex.  In the east however, three Greek mountain XX’s, a 3 pt Mtn III and an arty unit fail to make headway against the stalwart 51^st Si XX at 4215 when the 5:1 -2 attack goes off poorly with a 1 rolled for an AS.  The 51^st XX earns its legionnaire eagle and Albanian Command Hq decides the unit has done its duty and will be pulled from its exposed position (the effects of cutting down the number hexsides the Greeks can attack from against 4216 are now nullified by the arrival of the units from east of the Axios.)

Exploition Phase:

The two Allied bombers combine in an attack on the airfield at Koritsa, gunning for the CR.42’s.  A three is rolled however, so the Allies miss.  They then end their turn.

Initial Phase

A 6 is rolled for the weather, turning both D & E zones to quagmires of mud and the Med into rough.  The Dodecanese go U-2 black, while Kerkyra and the Kalpaki pocket remain U-1 red.  All British units in Greece go U-1 black since there is no Allied standard supply terminal in Greece (Athenai is a restricted full supply source for Greek units only, so the British must set up their own terminal or face supply questions.)  Italian M/C units arrive for service in Albania at Bari, while another F and B show up at Brindisi.  A/S is produced at Trieste and an Ital Mtn RP at Taranto.  A fort is begun at Koritsa to protect the airfield, although with mud and the new WW rule, it will be Jan I 41 before the fort is finished.

Movement Phase

Naval transport across the Adriatic kicks off the turn.  The 1 B M/C III is transported to Porto Edda, the 2 B to Valona and the 4 B to Durazzo.  Interference has no effect (8, 8 & 5 rolled respectively).  The Ital Mtn RP is also sent to Port Edda (5).  Because of insufficient port capacity and no need to risk unloading a/s at a beach, the a/s in Trieste remains on the quays.  The M/C regiments at Durazzo and Valona are able to admin forward a single add’l hex.  Along the front, the Julia pulls back a hex now that the Greeks have engaged her.  Minor tweaking along the whole front creates a line from 4215 to 4216, then southwest to the wooded rough at 4719 and then west to the coast at 4720 (Egouminitsa.)  Along the main front, 5 or 6 pt DS stacks are the rule, though at 4215 the 51^st XX still stands alone in a 3 pt stack, while in the far south 4719 and 4720 are 4 and 3 pts respectively.  The Italian high command hopes for mud, though Mussolini questions why his troops are not advancing faster (Note:  The Axis backed out of one hex, but did take a new one and that one was a good defensive position.  The line is fairly straight actually.)  Since there is no chance to launch an attack anywhere, the Italian AF chooses to tip its hand and run missions in the mov’t phase.  Five strategic terror bombing missions are launched against Athenai since it has no fighter cover and only slight flak (3 pts).  All bombers participate with the following results: SM81, flak 7, bombing 5, hit; Z.1007b, 6, 4 miss; Z.506B, 7, 4 miss; SM.79-I, 9, 1 miss; Mxd B, flak 4 for an R.

Combat Phase

No DAS is flown.  No combats occur.

Exploitation Phase

The three m/c units each move south as far as their mps will take them, except the southern most one at Porto Edda, which moves one hex west to provide non-arty support to the 26 C Arty III.

End of turn

The Axis collects 1 VP for terror bombing Athenai, plus 8 more for Greek hexes, for a total of 17:0.

Assessment

The Axis seems to be doing fairly well in Greece.  Weather should prevent any attacks in the eastern part of our line, while in the south, it will depend upon whether mud remains in zone E.  There’s a 50/50 chance of mud or clear.  The Greeks could launch an attack to help relieve the Kalpaki pocket in clear, but I doubt they could do so in mud.  Even in clear, they’ll be facing a –2 mod at 4719 thanks to wooded rough, and this hex won’t allow a reconnection with the pocket.  The rough at 4618 provides a more direct route to the pocket, but it will face a –3 mod regardless of the weather (either –1 for rough plus –2 for mud or –2 for AECD.)  The Axis will have air superiority over the whole front, which is a big help in keeping the line defensible against more numerous and stronger Greek units.  I’m not sure which I’d prefer, clear weather with the risk of a Greek counterattack but which might allow a chance to clear the pocket having gone U-2, or mud, which would better protect my line but prevent any assault on the pocket.  I suppose the more conservative mud would be better, but we’ll have to see how the weather plays out.

Initial Phase

Weather is automatically clear throughout the Balkans area of operations by rule.  Reinforcements show up per the OB, predominately Greek XX’s going full strength or arriving in toto, while various other cavalry and artillery regiments also mobilize.  In Egypt, the British 14^th Inf X, a position AA unit and some Blen 1’s prepare to deploy to the Balkans.  The Well1C is not called up.  2 Grk Mtn RPs are produced at Athenai, as is ½ a res pt.  Neither side flies any CAP, while the bombers on Rhodes go on naval patrol for the Axis.

Movement phase

In naval mov’t, the 14^th X and the pos AA board transports and head along the coast towards Matruh, then cross the Med to the west of Crete, aiming for Nauplion.  Effective night mov’t results in their only being interceptable by the Rhodian naval patrol along the coast of the Peloponnesus, at a maximum 21 hex range.  The bombers attempt to do so but a contact roll of 3 fails (+3 calm, -4 for distance, needing a 6).  The British X arrives at Nauplion, then admins to Athenai, while the flak point admins to the airfield northwest of the city.  In Greek mov’ts, admin and some limited regular mov’t allows the Greeks to build a 4-6 pt defensive line from 4920 up to 4717 on the west coast.  Only contact with the Italians is with Centauro, but neither side is a threat to one another just yet on the west coast.  To the east, regular mov’t sees stacks of 5 to 8 build up from around Phlorina into the salient at 4316 and south to 4516.  Back in Thrace, a minimum garrison for the east takes up residence in Alexandroupolis, while a similar minimum garrison arrives in the Metaxas line hexes.  [Oddly, the Greeks choose to garrison only the two western most hexes, the ones with the rail lines running in from Bulgaria, leaving the flanks to the east wide open.  Presumably this is either a temporary arrangement, or they are positioned to try to hold the western most hex in strength to delay the eventual German ‘surprise’ attack, figuring 14 pts sufficient for this.]  The rest of the units in eastern Greece pile up west of Thessalonike, except for the flak units, which make the city itself their home.  Clearly, the Allied AF will be using Thess as a base in the future given its 7 pts of flak.  At end of turn, the Greek P.24F’s fly CAP over the Italian Julia Alpini XX and the GdS III.

Combat Phase

The Allies have sent only enough troops to just get a 3:1 against Julia and the GdS III.  Both of the 2 pt tac bombers fly DAS over Julia to ensure no better than a 2:1 even.  Both G.50’s and CR.32bis’s fly escort.  A second DAS mission is flown to support the 51^st XX at 4215 with the SM.81’s.  This should ensure no better than a 3:1 -1.  (I actually made a mistake with these DAS arrangements, since the SM.81’s and one of the Z’s could have switched places, still ensuring no better than a 2:1 against the Julia but dropping the max odds against the 51^st to 2:1 -1.)  The P.24’s choose to remain on CAP, letting the DAS over the Julia XX get by unscathed.  Either attack by the Greeks entails a 1 in 6 of an AR, which leaves the large stack at 4316 subject to an AR through enemy zoc’s.  The Metaxas and Greek high command size up the risk and choose to launch no attacks this turn.  All Italian bombers return to Valona, while the CR.32bis’s return there as well and the G.50 returns to Koritsa.  The floatplanes can use the port as their airbase, so I can stuff 4 planes into Valona where they are protected by all the Italian flak available in Albania (a modest 3 pts.)

Exploitation Phase

The Blen 1’s in Egypt and Greek Mxd B in Athenai stage up to Thessalonike, then run a bombing mission to Valona.  The CR32’s choose not to scramble, as there is little point to it.  The Allied AF gets its free shot at the Italians since there are still insufficient Italian fighters in the command to double escort and have a unit on standby for intercept.  In this case, it doesn’t matter since the Allies choose to go after the port.  Flak is unsuccessful (9 vs Mxd B, 11 vs Blen1), but so are the bombing attempts (4 & 3 respectively.)  In a minor surprise, all Allied air units choose to return to Larissa vice the flak field at Thessalonike.

Setup

I’ll cover this information as each section of the game opens up, but since for the moment the action is limited to the Balkans, we shall start there.

The modified rules for setting up the Greek forces are used (those pertinent to using the Balkan map overlay, which is being used in this game.)  Also, the errata regarding border troops setting up is in use.  This is much more restrictive regarding how much force the Greeks can put along the Greco-Albanian border.  By breaking down units into supported non-divisionals, they may have been able to cover the border.  In this case however, the Greek high command has decided to go with a hedgehog/strong point defense.  He has a strong defense at Phlorina of 7 DS centered on the 1^st Mtn XX, while another 7 is guarding the road crossing the border just 1 hex west of Phlorina, this time centered on the 8^th Mtn.  At Kalpaki, the border guards are beefed up by having the 9^th Mtn XX provide support.  Between the 8^th and 9^th Mtn XX’s, only a single hex is occupied by the 51^st Mtn III, at 4417.  To the west of the 9^th Mtn’s stack, there is nothing on the flanks leading to the sea (in other words, there are only 3 of 8 hexes occupied by Greek units along the border, though one of these is backed by a strong stack watching the Yugoslavian border.)  I can only guess the Greeks have set themselves up in this fashion to limit the amount of units that can be attacked by the Italians on turn one.  However, my Italians should manage to completely surround the 9^th Mtn stack while eliminating the 51^st Mtn III isolated.

The Italians set up for a more aggressive push to the south (my recent games have all had pushes more towards the east), due in part to the way the Greeks have chosen to set up their border forces, but also due to the new E zone terrain on the west side of Greece.  Hopefully, we’ll be able to make better use of Centauro with this improved weather area.  Centauro actually sets up in the mountains northeast of the Greek 9^th Mtn XX stack, but from here it can participate in the planned assault on the 51^st Mtn III while executing a maneuver around the 9^th Mtn in exploit.  Attack supply is split between the east and south sections of the front, while the Const III sets up at Koritsa to start repairing the airfield.

The Italian AF sets up to the rear for the most part, other than a G.50 at Koritsa.

Initial Phase

The Government of Italy makes contact with the Greek Government, indicating that their continued oppression of Albanian nationalists in the Cham region is intolerable.  Italy will abide by their defensive pacts with the Independent Republic of Albania (cough) and ensure the free and fair assimilation of the Cham into greater Albania.  Since Metaxas chooses not to respond within the 30 minutes allotted, Italy declares war on Greece on behalf of all Free facists (uh, peoples) everywhere.  Weather is by rule clear.  All Greek units are in supply, as are all Italian units in Albania.  Rhodes goes U-1 black.  1 attack supply is converted to 3 resource pts at Koritsa.  All Italian garrisons are in place and no construction efforts begin.  Neither side puts up any CAP, nor does either side declare naval patrol.

Movement phase

The San Marco Marines hold the narrow straits across from northern Kerkyra in the face of the defending Greek 10^th Inf III set up on the north hex of the island.  The 47^th Bari XX moves from Port Edda south and seizes Egouminitsa on the coast, trapping the Greek 10^th Inf III on the island due to having seized the ferry’s port hex.  This should put the 10^th out of supply and isolated as the Kerkyra port is neither a supply source nor a limited supply terminal for isolation purposes.  19^th Venezia crosses the border and engages the Greek 9^th Mtn and the border troops from the southwest.  Centauro Lt Arm XX plus the 29^th Pie XX cross the border between the 9^th Mtn and the 51^st Mtn III, pinning the division while engaging the Greek regiment.  To the north and northwest of 9^th Mtn, weak non-divisional stacks defend from a counterattack by the Greeks into Albanian territory (1 and 2 pt stacks), but this is considered to be a small risk given the soon to be isolated status of the 9^th.  The CCNN Albanian blackshirts feint at the Greek mtn III from the front, while the 3^rd Julia Mtn XX supported by the GdS Inf III slip between the 51^st and the Greek 8^th Mtn further to the northeast.  Five point defensive stacks are set up along the border facing the 8^th Mtn, while the 51^st Si. XX advances into the empty 4215 hex.  The 51^st is a lure to encourage the likely Greek counterattack to fall on this unit (it wouldn’t have a retreat due to zoc’s, but the loss of the hex would be minor and would get the Italians into the muddy weather of November, which should shut down Greek offensives in the east.  The 5 pt defensive stacks at 4216 and 4317 cannot be attacked at 3:1 due to the Greeks not being able to get enough troops into the single 4316 hex to launch such an attack on Nov I 40.  The large stack at 4416 can be attacked at 3:1, but it will have a retreat open to it at 4417 since no unit with a zoc can get into 4517 and 4417 will be left empty of Italian units, preventing any sort of double attack netting a zoc scam.)  In the rear, the 26^th Const III fixes two hits on the Koritsa airfield, while SMPs lug 2 attack supply forward in the south.  No air missions are launched by either side.

Combat Phase

The Greek air force contents itself with sipping Uzo in the café’s of Athenai.  Z.506B’s and Z.1007b’s launch GS missions in support of the big attack against the Greek 51^st III, which is isolated.  Attack goes in at 7:1 -2 (most units get a/s, mtns) and in a triumph of Italian arms a 6 is rolled for a DE.  Divisional and regimental commanders give themselves medals for this feat.  No units advance however as this actually protects the Julia Alpini XX to the east.

Exploitation phase

The Centaura XX exploits around the rear of the Greek 9^th Mtn XX and VIII and IX Bdr X’s, completing the encirclement of that stack.  SM.81’s launch a rail bombing mission against the line leading up from Athenai, at the rail junction 2 hexes north of Lamia.  The big 6 is rolled again, so the SM.81 pilots all get medals too.

End of Turn

The Italians throw parades for having seized 15 hexes of Greece and earned 8 VPs (1 per hex, but a max of 8 per game turn.)  Many of these hexes are in fact in front of the Italians thanks to their zoc’s, but 8 of these hexes are actually on or behind the Italian lines, so they are well positioned to earn some more VPs next turn.  Athenai or bust!  Meanwhile, the Greeks will have trouble advancing up the west coast of Greece in strength to rescue the pocketed 9^th next turn, given the distance from the nearest units (and the 7 points AS in the stack will be quartered, so the units preventing a Greek attack into Albania should not be threatened.).  A limited push further south along the coast may be an option for the Axis, though the Italians will be doing their best not to expand too far and thereby weaken their hexes.