Europa Games and Military History

Month: January 2016

Innofficial Innovations

Hi everyone,
thanks to the kindness of Eric Pierce, I was able to add his well-reasearched new Order of Battle for the Soviet Union in the Winter War (1939-40) to the Academy pages. Of course its inofficial (When did the last official material get published anyway – 2002?), but in Eric´s words its “pretty close to what A.E. Goodwin would produce”. Which means it takes into acocunt all the new research and sources that have been published in the past twenty years and should be up to date, and on the same level as the TW OBs (if they ever see the light).

I took this as an opportunity to clean up the War Academy main page and insert some pictures. Hope you like it,

Jun I 41 Allied Turn

EOT Dispositions

Malta [end of turn]:

  • The Br Hurri 2 F type air unit is in the Aborted Air Units Box of the Malta Command Replacement Pool.
  • Malta Status: 8, end of turn [at start 9, + 0 hits May II Axis Turn, – 1 repair this turn = 8]
  • Malta Repair Rate: 1 repair point each turn.

Valletta (18A:0407):
3-cap permanent airfield; one hit of damage

Valletta hex flack factor: 4 (3 intrinsic, + only 1 for the 0-1-8 hv AA II’s normally 2 flack factor, currently halved for still being Red U-2 because of the lack of gsp’s at Malta in the I. Phase).
3-6* Inf X                               1 M
2-6* Inf X                               2 M
1-8 MG II                               2 Ch
0-1-8 Hv AA II     AA=2       10
0-4 Cons X                             MC
4 gsp’s generated on the Jun I 41 Allied turn I. Phase [these were sea transported from Gibraltar, using 1 W Med NTP in the naval movement step of the M. Phase]
Note: This turn all ground units on Malta are still definitely Allied U-2 in the Allied I. Phase.

Jun I 41 Allied EOT dispositions: Libya, Sicily, and Malta

Jun I 41 Allied EOT dispositions: Libya, Sicily, and Malta

In Libya [end of turn]:
Tobruch (18A:4817) [clear terrain improved fortress/standard port]:
improved fortress; construction of the improved fortress was completed in the May II 41 Allied I. Phase.
3-cap temporary airfield; in the M. Phase the cons III expends MPs to increase the temp airfield cap to 3.
0-1-4 Cons X                          66 RPC (Col) [never moved; expends 2 MPs in the hex to increase temporary airfield cap; this turn becomes technically Red U-3]
0-1-8 Hv AA II      AA=2      51 [never moved; this turn becomes technically Red U-3]
7-8 Inf XX                              9 (Aus) [never moved; this turn becomes technically Red U-3]
2-8 Inf X                                 16 [never moved; this turn becomes technically Red U-3]
2-1-6 Tnk II                            7 RT [never moved; this turn becomes technically Red U-3]
3-8 Art X                                13 [never moved; this turn becomes technically Red U-3]
2-8 Inf X                                 23 [never moved; technically still Black U-2]
one step of attack supply [turn reinf; sea transported to here]
one step of attack supply [began turn here; never moved]
Hurri 1                        5F5      1/8       SAAF [operative; began turn here; never moved; technically still Black U-1]
12 gsp’s

  • These gsp’s were broken down in the May II 41 Axis I. Phase from a step of attack supply present in the hex.  This provides general supply to the forces in the Tobruch hex in the Jun I 41 Allied I. Phase and the Jun I 41 Axis I. Phase.
Jun I 41 Allied EOT dispositions: eastern Libya, western Egypt, Crete, mainland Greece, the Aegean Sea region

Jun I 41 Allied EOT dispositions: eastern Libya, western Egypt, Crete, mainland Greece, the Aegean Sea region

In Egypt [end of turn]:

19A:1219 [clear terrain Siwa road hex, 1 hex S of Matruh]:
1-10* Mot SG X      AA=1      2 [began the turn here; never moved]
3-2-10 Arm X                         7 [began the turn here; never moved]

19A:1320 [clear terrain hex]:
1-2-10* Mot SG X   AA=1    7 [began the turn here; never moved]
1-10* Mot Inf X                     3 (Ind) [began the turn here; never moved]

19A:1420 [clear terrain hex]:
3-8 Inf X                                 22 G [began the turn here; never moved]

Matruh (19A:1218) [clear terrain point city/minor port road/major rail junction coast hex]:
railhead marker
3-cap permanent airfield
fort marker (construction complete this I. Phase)
8* Inf XX HQ                         6 [began turn here; never moved]
2-8 Inf X                                  5 (SA) [began turn here; never moved]
1-8 MG II                                1 RNF [began turn here; never moved]
0-8 Lt AA II         AA=1         57 [began turn here; never moved]
P-40C    5F5      1/13  SAAF [operative; began turn here; never moved]
Well 1C    3NB4  1-6/28 [inop; began turn here; late in the E. Phase did strat port bombing air mission to Porto Bardiya hex, scored a Hit; returned to base here]

19A:1418 [clear terrain major rail coast road hex]:
3-cap permanent airfield

19A:1521 [clear terrain hex]:
2-8* Inf X                               5 (Ind) [began turn here; never moved]

19A:1621 [clear terrain hex; adjacent to Qattara Depression]:
2-8* Inf X                               11 (Ind) [began turn here; never moved]

El Alamein 19A:2119/20A:5033 [clear terrain point city major rail coast road hex]:
2-cap temporary airfield
0-1-4 Cons X                          43 RPC [began turn at Suda Bay, on Crete; successfully sea transported from Crete to Alexandria, where it disembarked; then railed to here]

  • In the 1941 ME/ER-II/Crete Scenario this unit is considered a fragile unit and cannot be rebuilt if eliminated.  This is per analysis of the WitD Allied OB booklet’s Jun I 41 ME Command Replacement Pool stipulation,found on p. 13, and the identical ER-II Allied OB stipulation.

Alexandria (20A:4930/19A:2416) [major port/full city hex/major rail line coast hex]:
Supply Terminal marker
3-cap permanent airfield
0-1-8 Hv AA II     AA=2       68 [turn reinf; disembarked here; never moved]
2-8 Inf X 6 (NZ) [began turn at Suda Bay; retreated after combat to here from Khania on the previous May II 41 Axis Combat Phase; this turn successfully sea transported to Alexandria, where it disembarked; remained here]
2-8 Inf X 19 (Aus) [began turn at Suda Bay; did Reaction movement into Suda Bay hex on the previous May II 41 Axis M. Phase; this turn successfully sea transported to Alexandria, where it disembarked; remained here]
Glad 3F3 0/8 [operative; began turn here; never moved]
Blen 4  3B3     1-2/23 [inop.; began turn at 19A:1418; in C. Phase staged to Cairo partial city hex and performed GS air mission at 20A:4509, in the Vichy French Levant; returned to base here at the end of the C. Phase]
1 resource point [never moved]
one step of attack supply [never moved]
4 gsp’s, generated in the current turn’s I. Phase

Cairo (19A:3320) [clear terrain partial city hex]:
3-cap permanent airfield

Suez (19A:3718) [clear terrain reference city/major port major rail line terminus coast hex]:
Supply Terminal marker
4 gsp’s, generated in the current turn’s I. Phase

In Palestine [end of turn]:

Tel Aviv (20A:5011) [clear terrain dot city/minor port major rail line junction coast hex]:
0-8 Hv AA II        AA=1        2 (Aus) [began turn at 19A:1418, in Egypt; railed to here]
A-22       3A3     2-1/19 [inop.; began turn at Matruh; in C. Phase staged to Mansura (19A:3115), in the Delta zone, and performed GS air mission at 20A:4509, in the Vichy French Levant; returned to base here at the end of the C. Phase]
Blen 4  3B3     1-2/23 [inop.; began turn at 19A:1418; in C. Phase staged to Cairo partial city hex and performed GS air mission at 20A:4509, in the Vichy French Levant; returned to base here at the end of the C. Phase]

Haifa (20A:4710) [clear terrain dot city/major port transportation line junction coast hex]:
railhead marker [per WW Rule 41B1a-Western Desert Campaign Starting Conditions, “the transportation line from Haifa to Tripoli (20A:4005) is a road, not a railroad.”  This stipulation is used in the 1941 ME/ER-II/Crete Scenario.  More later on its construction.]
0-8 Marine Cmdo II           ME [began turn at Haifa; never moved]
1-8 Inf II                                11 (CS) [began turn at Rutbah (21A:5023); air transported to here by the Bombay T type air unit at the beginning of the the M. Phase]
Bombay    1T2   1-2/15 [inop.; began turn at Rutbah; air transported the 1-8 Inf II 11 (CS) to Haifa in the M. Phase; rebased here]
Hurri 1    5F5    1/8 [inop.; began turn at Haifa; in the C. Phase flew the Escort air mission to the 20A:4607 target hex, in the Vichy French Levant; returned to base here at the end of the C. Phase]

20A:4609 [clear terrain transportation line coast hex, N of Haifa]:
3-8* Mtn X                            Karp (Pol) [began turn at Haifa; moved one hex north to here; in the C. Phase participated in an attack at Sour (20A:4509), in the Vichy French Levant; remained here after the Combat]

Safad (20A:4608) [rough terrain point city hex]:
2-8 Inf X                                14 [began turn at Rethymnon, on Crete; successfully sea transported from Crete to Haifa, then regular moved 2 hexes to here; in the C. Phase participated in an attack at 20A:4508, in the Vichy French Levant; remained here after Combat]
1-8 Cav X                               5 [began turn at Haifa; regular moved 2 hexes to here; in the C. Phase participated in an attack at 20A:4508; remained here after Combat]

20A:4808 [rough terrain hex]:
1-8 Cav X                                6 [began turn at Tel Aviv; regular moved to here]

Allied Units in the Vichy French Levant [end of turn]:

Sour (20A:4509) [clear terrain point city transportation line coast hex]:
2-8 Eng X                              1 (Aus) [began turn at El Alamein; railed to Haifa, then moved one hex north to 20A:4609; in the C. Phase participated in an attack at Sour, in the Vichy French Levant; moved into the hex after the Combat]
1-8 Art II                                1 (Aus) [turn reinf; disembarked at Haifa, then moved one hex north to 20A:4609; in the C. Phase participated in an attack at Sour, in the Vichy French Levant; moved into the hex after the Combat]
2-1-6 Tnk II                           4 RT [began turn at Nazareth (20A:4809); regular moved 2 hexes north to Safad (20A:4608); in C. Phase participated in an attack at 20A:4508, in the Vichy French Levant; advanced into 4508 after Combat; in the E. Phase exploited one hex to here]

20A:4508 [rough terrain hex]:
7-8 Inf XX                             7 (Aus) [began turn at Alexandria; railed to Haifa, then regular moved 2 hexes to Safad (20A:4608); in the C. Phase participated in an attack at 20A:4508, in the Vichy French Levant; advanced into the hex after Combat]

20A:4708 [rough terrain hex]:
2-8* Inf X                              7 (Ind) [began turn at 20A:4709, in Palestine; regular moved to here; in the C. Phase participated in an attack at 20A:4607; remained here at 4708 after Combat]

20A:4607 [rough terrain hex]:
3-8* Inf X                              1 FL (FF) [began turn at Haifa; regular moved to 20A:4708; in the C. Phase participated in an attack in at 20A:4607, in the Vichy French Levant; advanced into the hex after Combat]
1-8 AT II                                65 [began turn at Haifa; regular moved 2 hexes to Safad (20A:4608); in the C. Phase participated in an attack at 20A:4607, in the Vichy French Levant; advanced into the hex after Combat]

21A:3116[clear terrain road hex]:
2-1-10* Mot Inf X                Hab [began turn at 22A:2826, W of Baghdad, in Iraq; admin moves northwards along major rail line to 21A:3608, SE of Mosul, in Iraq; moves through Mosul in the E. Phase, exploiting westwards along the major rail line hexes and ending the turn inside the Vichy French Levant.]

On Cyprus [end of turn]:

Limassol (20A:3615) [clear terrain point city/standard port coast road hex]:
1-cap permanent airstrip [per WitD Allied OB booklet]
5 pos flk unit     AA=1          [Br; began turn at Suda Bay; successfully sea transported from Crete to Limassol; remained here]

Nicosia (20A:3413) [clear terrain reference city road hex]:
Glad    3F3      0/8 [inop.; began turn at Haifa; air transferred to here late in the E. Phase]

Famagusta (20A:3411) [clear terrain point city/standard port coast road hex]:
1-cap permanent airstrip [per WitD allied OB booklet]

Jun I 41 Allied EOT dispositions: the vast east Mediterranean Sea basin

Jun I 41 Allied EOT dispositions: the vast east Mediterranean Sea basin

Middle East (ME) Command Replacement Pool [end of turn]:

3-2-10 Arm X                         3 [eliminated in combat on the Mar II 41 Axis turn C. Phase of the EA game report]
3-2-10 Arm X                         4 [in the Scenario at-start in the ME Replacement Pool, per ER-II]

Eliminated Air Units Box:

Blen 4 3B3 1-2/23 [inop.; began turn at 19A:1418; in C. Phase it staged to Cairo partial city hex and flew the GS air mission at 20A:4607, participating in the first Allied attack in the Vichy French Levant; killed in air combat w/ the bypassing Vichy Fr D 520 F type air unit flying the Interception air mission]

In the Allied Near East Command:

In Iraq [end of turn]:

  • Iraqi coup collapse occurs in the May II 41 Axis I. Phase.  At that time all Iraqi forces/production are removed from the map and the Iraq Replacement Pool.  At the end of that turn all Iraqi territory is Allied owned; except in our case the Mosul hex, which at the time contained the Axis Conditional Reinforcement Ger LW Mxd A type air unit.
  •  At the beginning of this turn the new Allied Iraqi railnet-cap is 3 1/2.
Jun I 41 Allied EOT dispositions: Iraq and eastern Vichy Syria

Jun I 41 Allied EOT dispositions: Iraq and eastern Vichy Syria

Jun I 41 Allied EOT dispositons: off-map display details

Jun I 41 Allied EOT dispositons: off-map display details

Allied Conditional Reinforcements

Iraqi Coup Reaction Forces

Coup Turn 5/Jun I 41 Allied Turn

Near East:

Arrive:

2 x 2-8 Inf X                                       24, 25 (Ind)

Rutbah (21A:5023) [stony desert point city road junction hex]:
1-cap permanent airstrip [Allied owned]
1-10 Mot Cav III                    AL (T-J) [Arab Legion; began turn at 22A:2827, E of Habbaniya; admin moved to here.  This is a provisional new unit introduced in the 1941 ME/ER-II/Crete Scenario on the May I 41 Allied turn.  For more details, see that posted EA game report.]

Habbaniya (22A:2828) [clear terrain point city hex]:
3-cap permanent airfield
0-1-4 Static II                                      1 As (Col) [began turn at 22A:2826, W of Baghdad; regular moved to here]
Audax      1A1    1/8 [operative; began turn here; never moved]

Baghdad 22A:2825 [clear terrain partial city transportation line junction hex]:
one hit marker on airbase

21A:4109 [clear terrain major rail hex, to Mosul]:
2-8 Inf X                                             21 (Ind) [began turn at Habbaniya; admin moved along transportation lines to here]

21A:4507 [clear terrain major rail hex, to Mosul]:
8* Inf XX HQ                                     10 (Ind) [began turn at 22A:3324; admin moves along transportation lines to here]

1-8 Inf X                                              20 (Ind) [began turn at 22A:3324; admin moves along transportation lines to here]

22A:3022 [clear terrain road hex (on map 22A it is shown as a secondary rail line)]:
2-8 Inf X                                             25 (Ind) [turn Allied Conditional Reinforcement; disembarked at Kut-al-Imara port hex (w/ a major river hexside) 22A:3219; regular moved to here after crossing the major river hexside]

22A:4217 [clear terrain secondary rail line hex]:
one step of attack supply [began turn at 22A:4021; in E. Phase spends 5 SMPs moving to here]

Shaibah (22A:4314) [clear terrain secondary rail line hex]:
3-cap permanent airfield
0-1-4 Static II                                     2 As (Col) [began turn at Basra; moved one hex to here]

Basra (22A:4313) [clear terrain dot city/major port, w/ a major river hexside]:
Allied Supply Terminal marker
2-8 Inf X                                             24 (Ind) [turn Allied Conditional Reinforcement; disembarked at Basra; remained here]
one step of attack supply [never moved]

Allied Balkan Command 

Special Assault on Crete Segment Jun I 41 Allied Dispositions [{at start}/end of turn]:

Crete:

  • The island has both Allied and Axis forces on it.

Suda Bay 18A:4503/15B:2113 [for “Suda Bay,” see Rule 12C1c; rough terrain coast road hex]:
Allied Supply Terminal marker
port upgrade marker
{3-cap temporary airfield (w/ one hit) [the temporary airfield is removed early in the M. Phase after the 0-1-4 cons X beginning the turn in the hex embarks on an E Med NTP and evacuates Crete]}
1-4 Static X                                         Khania (Greek) [began turn at Suda Bay; never moved]
0-2-0     Hv AA X        AA=4              MNBDO 1 [began turn at Suda Bay; never moved]

Rethymnon (18A:4603/15B:2212) [rough terrain point city/standard port coast road hex]:
1-4 Static X                                         Reth (Greek) [began turn here; never moved]

Erakleion (18A:4903/15B:2310) [rough terrain reference city/standard terrain coast road hex]:
hit marker on the reference city airbase
1-4 Static X                                         Erak (Greek) [began turn here; never moved]

Balkan Command Replacement Pool [end of turn]:

4-3-10* Arm X                           1
3-2-8 Art X                                 W
8 Inf XX HQ                               2 (NZ)
8 Inf XX HQ                               6 (Aus)
2-8 Inf X                                      4 (NZ) [eliminated in May II 41 Axis Combat Phase]
2-8 Inf X                                      16 (Aus) [eliminated in May II 41 Axis Combat Phase]
3-8 Inf X                                      5 (NZ) [began turn at Suda Bay; eliminated this turn in sea transport from Crete due to Axis Naval Patrol bombing]
1-8 Marine Cmdo X                Layf [began turn at Hagios Nikolaus; eliminated this turn in sea transport from Crete due to Axis Naval Patrol bombing]
2-8 Inf X                                      17 (Aus)

  • In the May II 41 Allied turn EA game report for the WW 1941 ME/ER-II/Crete Scenario, at the beginning of the special Assault on Crete segment, this unit was initially placed in the BC Replacement Pool.  This is because it was not indicated as part of the Allied initial forces of the WW Assault on Crete Scenario, found in the WW OB booklet, although it was duly sent to Greece on the Mar II 41 Allied turn, per the WW Balkan Campaign Scenario Allied OB.  However, there are good indications per F. Watson’s “Syria: Operation Exporter” Europa battle scenario Scenario Notes, found in TEM#81, and also in Vol. 2 of Playfair’s history, at p. 101, that the beach evacuated components of this unit (and also the Aus 16th Inf X) from mainland Greece, in the southern Peloponnese, eventually made it to the Middle East prior to the final Allied evacuation of Crete.  In game terms this would likely be essentially through the mechanics of WW Optional Rule 34D-Emergency Evacuation.  Accordingly, very likely in the further worked draft OB for the new Scenario, which is intended to eventually be available at one or two websites, the 2-8 Inf X 17 (Aus) will Arrive at the ME Replacement Pool on the May II 41 Allied turn Initial Phase, along with 1 Aus inf RP at any Middle East supply terminal hex, and thereby be available in the ME Command by the Jun I 41 Allied turn, just as in Watson’s “Syria” Europa battle scenario.  But for now here we will stay the course done in the previous EA game reports.

Axis Southeast Command

Special Assault on Crete Segment Jun I 41 Allied turn non-phasing Axis Dispositions [{at start}/end of turn]:

At Rodi:

Rodi (20A:2230): [clear terrain major port point city coast hex]
3-cap-permanent airfield
3-4-6 Inf XX                               50 Reg
1-2-5 Art X                                  35
1-2-5 Art X                                  36
1-0-6 Lt Tnk II                           312
0-6 Lt AA II          AA=1           Rodi
Mxd F     2F2    0/8 [operative; began turn here; never moved]
Ju 52     1T2    0/20 [inop.; began turn here; Axis Conditional Reinforcement; flipped to its inop side at step 21 of the I. Phase due to airfield capacity]
MC 200     3F4   1/8 [inop.; began turn here; late in I. Phase flew a non-phasing CAP air mission over the Scarpanto airfield hex (19A:0701); returned to base here at the end of the E. Phase]
Mxd     2A3    1-1/16 (Ger LW) [operative; began turn here; Axis Conditional Reinforcement; never moved]

  • I currently don’t believe this unit, or its conversion, should be allowed to do Naval Patrol air missions in the context of the new Scenario; nor should it be allowed to transfer to Sicily or the Western Desert.  I’m currently thinking it could, however, do the GS or DAS air missions in Iraq, Vichy Levant, Palestine, Trans-Jordan, Cyprus, or Crete, in addition to port, transportation line, or airfield bombing air missions.  Or it may well be soon permanently withdrawn, per WW Optional Rule 38J6.

20A:2331: [rough terrain coast hex]:

3-cap permanent airfield
1-6 Hv AA III      AA=2      Rodi
Ju 88A1     3B5     3-5/26 (Ger LW) [inop.; began turn here; did Naval Patrol air mission; returned to base here]
Ju 88A1     3B5     3-5/26 (Ger LW) [inop.; began turn here; did Naval Patrol air mission; returned to base here]
Ju 88A1     3B5     3-5/26 (Ger LW) [inop.; began turn here; did Naval Patrol air mission; returned to base here]
Mxd B        1B2     1-2/21 [inop.; began turn here; Dodecanese garrison; flipped to its inop side at step 21 of the  I. Phase due to airfield capacity]

On Scarpanto:

Scarpanto (19A:0701): [rough terrain minor port point city hex]
3-cap permanent airfield
0-1-6 Lt AA II      AA=1      Scar
Me 110D    5HF5   4-2/12 (Ger LW) [inop.; began turn here; did Naval Patrol air mission; returned to base here]
Ju 87R       2D3     4-1/13 (Ger LW) [inop.; began turn here; did Naval Patrol air mission; returned to base here]
Ju 87B       2D3     4-1/8 (Ger LW) [inop,; began turn here; did Naval Patrol air mission; returned to base here]

On Melos (15B:1610):

3-cap permanent airfield
Me 109E    7F5      1/7 (Ger LW) [operative; began turn here; never moved]
Ju 87B       2D3     4-1/8 (Ger LW) [inop,; began turn here; did Naval Patrol air mission; returned to base here]
Ju 87B       2D3      4-1/8 (Ger LW) [inop.; began turn here; did Naval Patrol air mission; returned to base here]

On Crete:

  • The island has both Axis and Allied forces on it.

18A:4304/15B:2115 [rough terrain coast hex; SW of Khania]:
1-5 Glider II 1 St (Ger LW) [still disrupted this turn; this turn becomes technically Red U-1]
2-5 Para III 1 St (Ger LW) [this turn becomes technically Red U-1]

Khania (18A:4403/15B:2115) [rough terrain reference city/standard port road terminus coast hex]:
2-5 Para III 7/1 (Ger LW) [this turn becomes technically Red U-1]
2-5 Para III 7/2 (Ger LW) [this turn becomes technically Red U-1]
2-5 Para III 7/3 (Ger LW) [this turn becomes technically Red U-1]
1-6 Marine Cmdo II Gr/SM [still disrupted this turn; this turn becomes Red U-1]
3-8 Mtn III A (Ger) [this turn becomes Red U-1; an unsupported component of the Ger 7-8 Mtn XX 5]
2-6 Eng III 685 (Ger) [this turn becomes Red U-1]
one gsp [generated in the May II 41 Axis I. Phase]
Me 110C 5HF5 1/12 (Ger LW) [operative; began turn here; never moved; this turn becomes technically Red U-1, but is in Axis designated special supply via the single gsp, also in the hex]

Mainland Greece:

15B:1415 [southeastern Peloponnese rough terrain coast hex]:
3-cap temporary airfield
5 pos flk          AA=1            (Ger LW)
Me 109 E     7F5      1/7 (Ger LW) [inop.; began the turn here; late in the I. Phase flew a non-phasing CAP mission over the Suda Bay hex (18A:4503), on Crete; returned to base here at the end of the E. Phase]
He 111H     4B4     2-7/S/22 (Ger LW) [inop.; began turn here; did Naval Patrol air mission; returned to base here]
G 50 bis     3F3        0/10 [operative; began turn here; never moved]

Kalamai (15B:1118) [clear terrain reference city/standard port secondary rail line terminus coast hex]:
2 x 5 pos flk       AA=2        (Ger LW)
Ju 52     1T2     0/20 (Ger LW) [operative; began turn here; never moved]
15B:0914 [eastern Peloponnese rough terrain coast hex; E of Nauplion, SE of Korinthos]:
3-cap temporary airfield
2 x 5 pos flk        AA=2       (Ger LW)
Do 17Z     3B4     3-4/13 (Ger LW) [inop.; began turn here; did Naval Patrol air mission; returned to base here]
Do 17Z     3B4     3-4/13 (Ger LW) [inop.; began turn here; did Naval Patrol air mission; returned to base here]
{Do 17Z    3B4     3-4/13 (Ger LW) [Aborted; began turn here; did Naval Patrol air mission; aborted by E Med NTP flack and placed in the Aborted Air Units Box of the SE Command Replacement Pool]}

15B:0813 [rough terrain secondary rail line coast hex, E of Korinthos]:
3-cap temporary airfield
5 pos flk          AA=1            (Ger LW)
3-8 Mtn III                           A (Ger) [unsupported breakdown of 7-8 Mtn XX 5]

Athenai (15B:0911) [great port/full hex city  transportation line junction coast hex]:
6 Para XX HQ                      7 (Ger LW)
7-8 Mtn XX                          6 (Ger)
2-6 Eng III                           690 [any] (Ger)
1-8 Ski II                               MC
2 x 5 pos flk    AA=2           (Ger LW)
one step of attack supply
3 x Ju 52     1T2     0/20 (Ger LW) [all operative; all began turn here; all never moved]
Z 506B        2B3        2-4/F/22 [operative; began turn here; never moved]
15B:0811 [clear terrain secondary rail line coast hex, NW of Athena]:

3-cap permanent airfield
5 pos flk            AA=1           (Ger LW) [began turn here; never moved]
2 x Ju 52 1T2 0/20 (Ger LW) [both operative; both began turn here; both never moved]
Lauren (15B:1111) [clear terrain point city/minor port secondary rail terminus coast hex]:
8 Mtn XX HQ                      A (Ger) [HQ unit breakdown of 7-8 Mtn XX 5]

15B:0711 [clear terrain transportation line junction coast hex, 2 hexes N of Athenai]:
3-cap temporary airfield
5 pos flk           AA=1           (Ger LW)
2 x Ju 52     1T2     0/20 (Ger LW) [both operative; both began turn here; both never moved]

Levadia (15B:0612) [clear terrain major rail line hex]:
3-cap temporary airfield
3 x Ju 52     1T2     0/20 (Ger LW) [all operative; all began turn here; all never moved]

WW 1941 ME/ER-II/Crete Scenario Jun I 41 Allied end of the I. Phase dispositons: Iraq

Jun I 41 Allied end of the I. Phase dispositons: Iraq

Initial Conditions

Standard Supply Terminals:  Damas (20A:4505/19A4701) and Beyrouth (20A:4207).
Steps of attack supply:  1 step each at Damas and Beyrouth.
SMPs:  5
Rail Capacity, Levant Rail net:  4.
Airfields:  a 1-cap permanent airstrip at  Rayak (20A:4306) [based on Watson’s “Syria: Operation Exporter” Europa battle scenario, but he uses a 3-cap temporary airfield]
Intrinsic AA:  Per the WW Intrinsic Light AA Summary, 1 point per dot and major city hex in the Levant.
Provisional Initial Forces Set-Up stipulations/requirements for the Vichy French Levant forces, done exclusively for the Jun I 41 turn of the EA reported Scenario project:

  • The notation “TFL” refers to the TEM#81 article by Jean-Guy Rathe entitled “Troupes Francaises du Levant Order of Battle (Land), June 1941”.
  • The notation “Syria” refers to the TEM#81 Europa Battle Scenario article by Frank Watson entitled “Syria, Operation Exporter: June-July 1941”.
  • The “WW” reference is for the WW Western Desert Scenario Neutral Nations OB for Vichy Levant forces found only on the WD map group map 19A; and so this OB deliberately omits those Vichy French Levant forces found on the NE map group maps 20A and 21A.
  • The “WitD” reference is for the WitD Neutral Nations OB booklet.
  • The “Scenario” references are for the WW 1941 ME/ER-II/Crete Scenario project.
  • The OB instructions below are the basic parameters used for the Vichy Levant set-up done expressly for the EA game report, just in case anyone might want to tinker with it.  Right now these set-up “parameters” are intended to closely coincide with the finished Scenario product Vichy French Levant OB, pending any further input.  In the EA reported Scenario some of the new Vichy Levant Troupes Speciales (TS) units have certain movement restrictions while other TS units don’t; but all non-TS Vichy French Levant units may move freely after the Allied invasion.

Within 2 hexes of the Palestine/Lebanon border:
2-6* Inf III                              22 TA (Afr) [per “Syria,” WitD, WW, & TFL.  The Scenario game report has it beginning at 20A:4509.  It is eliminated in the Jun I 41 Allied C. Phase]
2-6* Inf III                             29 TA (Afr) [per “Syria,” WitD, WW, & TFL.  The Scenario game report has it beginning at 20A:4508.  It is D-backed to 20A:4407 in the Jun I 41 Allied C. Phase]
C-8 Cav III                              Ligne (TS) [new TS unit per TFL; the Scenario draft OB Palestine/Lebanon border stipulation appears to correspond w/ his article.  After the Allied invasion it can move freely.  The Scenario game report has it stacked w/ the 1-8 Cav III 2 MS (Afr) at 20A:4607.  In the Jun I 41 Allied C. Phase it is Dispersed in the cohesion check die roll and then placed in the Sud-Syrie territory box.]

Within 2 hexes of the Transjordan/Syria border:
1-2-6* Inf III                        16 TT (Afr) [revised unit per TFL; “Syria,” WitD, and WW indicate it as a 1-6* inf III; the Scenario game report has the revised TFL unit beginning at 20A:4806]
2-6* Inf III                            17 TS (Col) [revised unit per TFL; “Syria,” WitD,  and WW indicate it as a 2-6* inf III; the Scenario game report has the revised TFL unit beginning at 20A:4707]

Damas (20A:4505) [clear terrain dot city transportation line junction hex]:
Standard Supply Terminal marker [Vichy French Levant specific]
2-1-6* Lt Arm III                 6 CdA (Afr) [revised unit per TFL; “Syria,” WitD, and WW indicate it as a 1-6* lt arm II]
2-1-6* Lt Arm III                 7 CA (Afr) [revised unit per TFL; “Syria,” WitD, and WW indicate it as a 1-6* lt arm II]
1-6 Inf II                                V/1 TM (Afr) [new unit per TFL; the Scenario draft OB placement appears to correspond w/ his article]
A-8 Cav III                           Tcher (TS) [new TS unit per TFL; the Scenario draft OB placement appears to correspond w/ his article. After the Allied invasion it can move freely.  Note:  It was decided to add this TS unit to the game in the process of the Jun I 41 Allied turn, and is admittedly not in the earlier posted photos of the game board.]
one step of attack supply [per WitD/WW and TFL; required set-up here per the Scenario draft OB]

Beyrouth (20A:4207) [rough terrain dot city/standard port transportation line junction coast hex]:
Standard Supply Terminal marker [Vichy French Levant specific]
one step of attack supply [per TFL; in the Scenario game report the step of attack supply is stacked w/ the 1-8 Cav III 1 SM (Afr), which is placed at-start “anywhere in the Levant.”  Per the Scenario OB at least one permitted Vichy French Levant unit must be placed at-start at Beyrouth.  This second step of Vichy French attack supply is not indicated in “Syria,” WitD, or WW.]

Tripoli (20A:4005) [rough terrain reference city minor port transportation line coast hex]:
railhead marker [per WW Rule 41B1a-Western Desert Campaign Starting Conditions, “the transportation line from Haifa to Tripoli (20A:4005) is a road, not a railroad.” This stipulation is used in the 1941 ME/ER-II/Crete Scenario. More later on its construction.]
3-6* Inf III                           24 MC (Col)  [per “Syria,” WitD, and TFL]

Alep (21A:3231) [clear terrain partial city transportation line junction hex]:
0-1-5 Cons X                         Lev (Col) [per “Syria,” WitD, and TFL]
4-3-6* Inf III                        6 LE (LE) [revised unit per TFL; “Syria” and WitD indicate it as a 3-2-6* inf III]

C-8 Cav III                            NSyr (TS) [new TS unit per TFL.  The Scenario draft OB places this unit at-start at Alep, and this appears to somewhat correspond w/ his article; but it can move freely after the Allied invasion.]

Lattique (20A:3405) [clear terrain reference city/minor port road terminus coast hex]:
A-5 Inf III                             1 Lev (TS) [new TS unit per TFL.  The Scenario game report places this unit at-start at Lattique, and this appears to correspond w/ his article.  But in the Scenario draft OB at least one permitted Vichy French Levant ground unit must be placed at-start at Lattique.   After the Allied invasion its operational area is restricted to the area north of the Lebanon border and on or west of the major rail line going from Tripoli-Homs-Hama-Alep-Turkish border, in Syria.  This restriction is lifted if it is pushed/moved out of its operational area due to movement in a C. Phase.]

Hassetche (21A:3218) [clear terrain point city road hex]:
D-8 Cav III                           Djez (TS) [new TS unit per TFL; the Scenario draft OB places this unit at-start at Hassetche, and this appears to correspond w/ his article.  In the Scenario draft OB it is a required at-start unit and must remain at Hassetche until it moves out of the hex by movement after combat, after which it may move freely.  The reason is that evidently the historical Allied push into the Vichy French Levant from NW Iraq encountered definite although admittedly brief resistance at Hassetche, and it was likely due to this unit.]

Deir ez Zoir (21A:3922) [reference city road junction hex]:
A-8 Mot Cav III                    Lev (TS) [new TS unit per TFL; the Scenario draft OB requires this unit be placed at-start at either Damas, Palmyre, or Deir ez Zoir.  In any event at least one permitted Vichy French Levant ground unit must be placed at-start at Dier ez Zoir.  If placed at Damas it may move freely after the Allied invasion.  If placed at Palmyre or Deir ez Zoir it may move freely on the 2nd turn of Invasion, eg., in our EA game reported case, on the Jun II 41 Axis turn.

Anywhere in the Levant:
1-8 Cav III                          1 SM (Afr) [per “Syria,” WitD, WW and TFL.  In the Scenario game report it begins at Beyrouth (20A:4207), stacked with the step of attack supply starting there, per TFL.]
1-8 Cav III                         2 MS (Afr) [new unit per TFL.  Rathe appears to substitute it for one of the other two 1-8 cav IIIs in WitD/WW, but he omits the third 1-8 cav III indicated in the “Syria,” WitD, and WW OBs.  In the Scenario EA game report it begins at 20A:4607, close to the Palestine border, stacked w/ the C-8 Cav III Ligne (TS).  In the Jun I 41 Allied C. Phase it is eliminated in combat.  The C-8 Cav III Ligne (TS) is dispersed per the cohesion check die roll and placed in the Sud-Syrie territory box.]

Any airbase in the Levant:
D 520    6F5    0/11 [This is a Mar I 41 Axis turn conversion of the original Fr MS 406  4F4  0/8 air unit. In the Scenario EA game report it begins at Damas.  On the Jun I 41 Allied C. Phase it performs the Intercept air mission at the 20A:4507 target hex, and after bypassing the escorting Br Hurri 1 air unit, kills in air combat the Br Blen 4 air unit there on the GS air mission.  It rebases at Damas.]

Provisional special considerations regarding the Troupes Speciales (TS) units:

  • Use the Troupes Speciales Rules found on pp.44-45 of Rathe’s TEM#81 article.
  • At the start of the Scenario two TS units must be considered permanently Removed.  One of these Removed units must be the D-8 Cav III PTch, which is evidently always “Removed” the “1st turn of invasion,” per Rathe’s article, p. 44.  The other required Removed unit must be either the A-8 Cav III Tcher, or the A-8 Cav III Ligne, or the A-5 Inf III 1 Lev, or the B-5 Inf III 2 Lev, or the B-5 Inf III 3 Lev, or the C-8 Cav III NSyr, or the C-8 Cav III Druze.
  • At the start of the Scenario at least two TS units must be scrapped.  The two initially scrapped TS units must be either the A-8 Cav III Tcher, or the A-8 Cav III Ligne, or the A-5 Inf III 1 Lev, or the B-5 Inf III 2 Lev, or the B-5 Inf III 3 Lev, or the C-8 Cav III NSyr, or the C-8 III Druze.  Scrapping these two units fetch the Axis player .5 TS inf RPs, stored at Damas, at the start of the Scenario.
  • If the C-8 Cav III Druze (TS) is neither initially Removed nor scrapped, it must be placed at-start at Soueida (20A:4905).  After the Allied invasion it may move freely.  In the EA game report this unit is scrapped at-start, along with the B-5 Inf III 3 Lev (TS).
  • If the B-5 Inf III 2 Lev is neither initially Removed nor scrapped, it must be placed at-start at either Damas or Deir ez Zoir.  If placed at Damas it may move freely after the Allied invasion. If placed at Deir ez Zoir it may move freely on the 2nd turn of Invasion, eg., in our EA game reported case, on the Jun II 41 Axis turn.  In the EA game report this unit is Removed at-start, along with the D-8 Cav III PTch (TS).
  • If the B-5 Inf III 3 Lev (TS) is neither initially Removed nor scrapped, it must be placed at-start at any city hex in Lebanon.  After the Allied invasion its operational area is Lebanon.  This restriction is lifted if it is pushed/moved out of its operational area due to movement in a C. Phase.  In the EA game report this unit is scrapped at-start, along with the C-8 Cav III Druze (TS).

Additional Vichy French Levant Considerations:

  • Per WW Rule 38V1-[Vichy] Operational Area, the operational area of French Vichy Levant forces are the land hexes of the French Levant and the “adjacent sea zones.”
  • The Conditional Reinforcements found in Rathe’s “Troupes Francaises du Levant” TEM article are essentially included in the Scenario draft OB, as are the Aug I 41 and the Oct I 41 Regular Reinforcements.  For the 3rd Turn [Jul I 41] of Invasion 1 x Unimproved Fortified Hexside, the old Torch fortified single hexside counter can be used as a marker.  The Vichy Levant Jun II 41 and Jul I 41 Regular Reinforcements in Watson’s “Syria: Operation Exporter” Europa battle scenario are used.  Also used is the Surrender of the Levant withdrawal of the LeO 451 air unit, found on p. 5 of the WitD Neutral Nations OB booklet.  Finally, if the Allies conquer the Levant, this kicks in the Free French Conditional Reinforcements found on p. 6 of the WitD Allied OB.
  • Rathe’s May I 41 Vichy French Levant OB (Land) major reorganization is quite interesting, but presently cannot not be worked into the Scenario EA demonstration as an alternative set-up.
  • The Scenario uses WW Optional Rule 38V3F-Variable Levant Surrender to Allies, which utilizes the Variable Levant Surrender Table, found of WW Game Play Chart 8-Political Events.

Special considerations regarding the 0-1-8 Inf II Fawzi unit:

  • Axis, Vichy Levant, or Iraqi air units may not provide DAS to the Fawzi unit, which is similar to the Rathe’s provision for Vichy French TS ground units.
  • The Fawzi unit cannot be eliminated by random movement die rolls (per WW Optional Rule 39E4) off the map edge or into prohibited hexes.  In this case the Fawzi unit simply ends its random movement at the last rules-legal hex.
  • Note that per WW Optional Rule 39E4 the Fawzi unit “may never stack with another unit (including another Axis, Iraqi, or Vichy French unit).  If in guerrilla mode, Fawzi must always attempt to retreat before combat.”

Turn Activity

Quite significantly, at step 13 of the Initial Phase the Allied player does not declare the existence of a tight South Aegean Naval Interdiction Zone for this and also the following Axis player turn.  This is likely a sure signal that the Allied player is done with continuing a stand at Crete.

Jun I 41 Allied end Initial Phase dispositions: Libya, Sicily, Malta, Crete and the southwestern part of the Aegean Sea region

Jun I 41 Allied end Initial Phase dispositions: Libya, Sicily, Malta, Crete and the southwestern part of the Aegean Sea region

At step 14 of the Initial Phase the Allied units at the isolated Tobruch hex that began the turn technically at Red U-2 now become technically Red U-3.  But all are in special general supply due to the available gsp’s in the hex.  All the Axis units on Crete become Red U-1.  There is a somewhat superfluous single gsp at the Khania hex, but the Axis player designates it as supplying the Me 110C air unit based in the hex.  Also somewhat superfluous for our particular I. Phase situation is the stipulation at WW Rule 24B2-[Airborne Landing] Supply Conditions, stating that the air-droppable units are in “special general supply for the following enemy player turn.”  At Malta the Allied units there are all definitely Red U-2, with no available gsp’s on the island at step 14 of the I. Phase.

In the Initial Phase, at step 16, the Allied player generates 4 new gsp’s at the Suez and Alexandria Allied Standard Supply sources.

In the Initial Phase, at step 22, the non-phasing Axis player flies the Me 109E F type air unit based at 15B:1415, on the southeastern Peloponnese coastline, on the CAP air mission over the Suda Bay hex, on Crete.  The MC 200 F type air unit based at the Rodi airfield flies the CAP air mission over the Scarpanto airfield hex (19A;0701).  He also flies a number of Naval Patrol air missions from bases on mainland Greece, the Aegean isle of Melos, Rodi, Scarpanto, and Derna, in Libya.  See the texts above or the pictures below for more details.

Jun I 41 Allied end of step 21 of the Initial Phase dispositions: the Western Desert region, Greece, and the Aegean

Jun I 41 Allied end of step 21 of the Initial Phase dispositions: the Western Desert region, Greece, and the Aegean

Jun I 41 Allied end of Initial Phase dispositions: eastern Libya, western Egypt, Greece, and the Aegean

Jun I 41 Allied end of Initial Phase dispositions: eastern Libya, western Egypt, Greece, and the Aegean

In the Initial Phase, at step 24, the four old gsp’s at Alexandria and Suez respectively, that were generated on the May II 41 Allied Initial Phase are removed from the map.

Sea transport in the Allied turn naval movement step, prior to any Axis Naval Patrol Contact attempts, in the order done:

  • One West Med NTP is used to successfully sea transport 4 gsp’s generated in the Jun I 41 Initial Phase from Gibraltar to Valletta, on Malta.
  • Using the turn reinforcement sea transport ability, the Allied player sea transports one of his reinforcement steps of attack supply into Tobruch.  Sea movement at night is used in the 9 hex naval transport stretch from all-sea hex 19A:0617 (NW of Sidi Barrani) to the coast hex of Benghazi (18A:4817).  The Axis player declines to attempt a Naval Patrol contact using the available Axis air units in range at Derna, saving them for the anticipated Allied evacuation from Crete and not wishing to tangle with the SAAF P-40C F type air unit based at Matruh.  The second turn reinforcement step of attack supply is sea transported to Alexandria, where it disembarks.  In the M. Phase it is railed to Haifa, where it is expended in the three attacks done in the Combat Phase against the Vichy French Levant forces being attacked by the Allied invaders.
  • Using the turn reinforcement sea transport ability, the Allied player sea transports the the Br 0-1-8 Hv AA II 68 unit (AA=2) reinforcement to Alexandria, where it disembarks and remains. The Aus 1-8 Art II 1 turn reinforcement uses the reinforcement sea transport ability to sail to Haifa, where it disembarks and then moves towards the Palestine-Vichy Levant border, in preparation for an attack.
Jun I 41 Allied M. Phase naval movement step activity in the seas surrounding Crete

Jun I 41 Allied M. Phase naval movement step activity in the seas surrounding Crete

List of the Allied sea transport evacuation of certain Allied forces from Crete using East Med NTPs, in the order of the Allied sea movement, juxtaposed with the Axis Naval Patrol air mission attacks done in the Allied Movement Phase naval movement step:

  1. The Br 5 pos flk unit (AA=1), beginning the turn at Suda Bay (18A:4503), sails eastwards 10 hexes in the Aegean Sea at night to all-sea hex 19A:0502.  But at the next all-sea hex at 19A:0503 (the first daylight hex of sea transport), the Axis player declines to make any Naval Patrol Contact attempt, waiting for bigger fish to fry.  And so the East Med NTP transporting the Br pos flk unit proceeds to Limassol (20A:3615), on Cyprus, where its cargo is disembarked.
  2. The 3-6 Inf X 5 (NZ), beginning the turn at Suda Bay, sails eastwards 10 hexes in the Aegean Sea at night to all-sea hex 19A:0502. At the very next all-sea hex at 19A:0503 (the first daylight hex of sea transport), the Ger LW He 111H4  4B4  2-7/S/22 air unit based at 15B:1415 (on the southeastern Peloponnese coastline) rolls for Contact on the Success Table.  The modifiers are +3 for calm seas and -3 for the 16 hex range, for a 0 modifier.  The Success Table die roll is a 2: Failure.  The air unit returns to its base, landing inoperative.  But at the very next all-sea hex at 19A:0603, the three Ger LW Do 17Z  3B4  3-4/13 air units based at 15B:0914 (on the eastern Peloponnese coastline) roll for Contact on the Success Table.  The modifiers are +3 for calm seas, -3 for the 18 hex range, for a 0 modifier.  The Success Table die roll is a 5: Success.  Then the Allied player has 3 two factor Antiaircraft Fire Table dice rolls (no modifiers) for the Allied East Med NTP flack shot (see WW Rule 27A1), resulting in an Abort done to a Do 17Z air unit.  The other two Do 17Z air units make it through the Allied flack.  Next are only 2 Axis player bombing die rolls (due to the Do 17Z air units flying at extended range to reach the Target hex), looking for 6’s only: and a 6 shows up for a Hit!  And so the Allied East Med NTP and the 3-8 Inf X 5 (NZ) are sunk, and the ground unit is placed in the Balkan Command Replacement Pool, fetching no special NZ inf RPs.  The two surviving Ger LW Do 17Z air units return to their original base inoperative.
  3. The Br 1-8 Marine Cmdo X Layf, beginning the turn at Hagios Nikolaos (19A:0203), sails first eastwards and then southeastwards 9 hexes at night to all-sea hex 19A:0905.  At the next all-sea hex 19A:1005 (the first daylight hex) the three Ger LW Ju 88A1  3B5  3-5/26 air units based at 20A:2331 (on the Dodecanese island of Rodi) roll for Contact on the Success Table.  The modifiers are +3 for calm seas and -1 for the 8 hex range, for a +2 modifier.  The Success Table die roll is a 6: for a Success even without the +2 modifier.  Then the Allied player has 3 two factor Antiaircraft Fire Table dice rolls (no modifiers) for the Allied NTP flack factor and comes up with three Misses.  Then the Axis player does 9 bombing die rolls, looking for 6’s only: and lo and behold there are no 6’s, all Misses.  But at the very next all-sea hex at 19A:1106, the Ger LW Ju 87B  2D3  4-1/8 air unit based at Scarpanto (19A:0701) rolls for Contact on the Success Table.  The modifiers are +3 for calm seas and -1 for the 7 hex range, for a +2 modifier.  The Success Table die roll is a 3, modified to a 5: Success.  The Allied player’s 2 factor Antiaircraft Fire Table dice roll fails to deter the LW dive bomber air unit.  Using the Bombing Table, the Axis player rolls 4 dice, looking for 5’s or 6’s, due to the D type’s +1 modifier.  The result is a Hit, and the East Med NTP is sunk transporting the primo Br 1-8 Marine Cmdo X Layf, which is placed in the Balkan Command Replacement Pool.
  4. The Br 2-8 Inf X 14, beginning the turn at Rethymnon (18A:4603), sails eastwards and then southeastwards at night to all-sea hex 19A:0503.  At the next all-sea hex at 19A:0602 (the first daylight hex of sea transport), the two Ger LW Ju 87B  2D3  4-1/8 air units based at the Aegean isle of Melos (15B:1610) roll for Contact on the Success Table.  The modifiers are +3 for calm seas and -2 for the 11 hex range, for a +1 modifier.  The Success Table die roll is a 5, modified to a 6: Success.  The Allied 2 flack factor flack shot fails to deter the Ju 87B air units’ dive bombing attack.  But the Axis player’s two bombing die rolls, depleted due the extended range air attack, are snake eyes: two Misses.  And so the Stukas return to their airfield at Melos.  But doggedly, at the next all-sea hex at 19A:0703 the Ger LW Me 110D  5HF5  4-2/12 air unit at Scarpanto rolls for Contact on the Success Table, coming after the British.  The modifiers are +3 for calm seas and -0 for the two hex range, and the Axis player easily rolls a Success on the table.  The Allied player rolls high on his 2 flack factor NTP flack shot, for a miss.  Then the Axis player rolls 4 dice on the Bombing Table, looking for 6’s only, and comes up with 4 Misses; and so the Me 110D air units returns to Scarpanto, basing there inoperative.  After this, the Axis player decides to let the Allied East Med NTP carrying the Br 2-8 Inf X 14 go its way, and so it proceeds to Haifa, in Palestine, where it disembarks the ground unit, with 5 MPs remaining.
  5. The 2-8 Inf X 19 (Aus), beginning the turn at Suda Bay, sails eastwards at night to all-sea hex 19A:0502.  At the next all-sea hex at 19A:0602 (the first daylight hex of the sea transport), the Ger LW Ju 87R  2D3  4-1/13 air unit based at Scarpanto rolls for Contact on the Success Table, with a +3 modifier.  The Success Table die roll is a Success; but the Allied player successfully rolls a 4 on the 2 column of the Antiaircraft Fire Table, and Returns the Ju 87R D type air unit back to the Scarpanto airfield.  Afterwards the Axis player allows the East Med NTP transporting the 2-8 Inf X 19 (Aus) to proceed to Alexandria, where it disembarks its cargo.
  6. The 2-8 Inf X 6 (NZ), beginning the turn at Suda Bay, sails eastwards at night to all-sea hex 19A:0502.  It then proceeds to 19A;0602, the first daylight hex of its sea transport aboard an East Med NTP.  By now the Axis player has had his fill of chasing the evacuating Allied forces at Crete.  He could certainly roll for Naval Patrol Contact using the It SM 79-2  2B3  3-2/V/20 air unit based at Derna (18A:4116), but it would have to fly the air mission at extended range and suffers a -1 modifier on the Antiaircraft Fire Table, and is loath to losing this unit at this time; and so opts to end the Axis barrel shoot of the fleeing Allied forces at Crete.  Accordingly, the NTP carrying the NZ inf X continues to Alexandria, where it disembarks its cargo.
  7. Next the 0-1-4 Cons X 43 RPC (Col) beginning the turn at Suda Bay, embarks on an East Med NTP and voyages to Alexandria, where it disembarks and is railed to El Alamein (19A:2119), where it ends the turn.
  8. Finally, the Aus and NZ special RPs (.5 each), stored at the Suda Bay hex, are embarked on an East Med NTP and sail to Alexandria, where they are disembarked and stored at that hex.
Jun I 41 Allied end of the naval movement step of the Movement Phase dispositions

Jun I 41 Allied end of the naval movement step of the Movement Phase dispositions

In the Movement Phase the Allied Player invades the Vichy French Levant.  Per WW Rule 41B1b-Special Conditions, under Levant Status, the Vichy French Levant “becomes part of the Allied Middle East Command.”  This stipulation is evidently used in WW Middle East (ME) Campaigns, per WW Rule 41B4b.

In the Combat Phase the Allied player attacks Vichy French Levant ground units at three Levant hexes just north of the Palestinian  borderline.  A total of 10.5 Allied REs of ground units participate in the attacks.  At the end of the Combat Phase the step of attack supply at Haifa is expended, which was railed from Alexandria to there earlier in the Movement Phase.

Jun I 41 Allied end of the Combat Phase dispositions: eastern Egypt, Palestine, Cyprus

Jun I 41 Allied end of the Combat Phase dispositions: eastern Egypt, Palestine, Cyprus

The first Allied attack is at 20A:4607, containing the Vichy French 1-8 Cav III 2 MS (Afr) and the C-8 Cav III Ligne (TS).  This Vichy stack is attacked by the 3-8* Inf X 1 FL (FF) and the 2-8* Inf X 7 (Ind) from hex 20A:4708, just inside Syria, and also the 1-8 AT II 65, stacked with the 7-8 Inf XX 6 (Aus), not participating in this particular attack, from the adjacent Safad hex (20A:4609), still in Palestine.  Although the anti-tank II is supported by the Aus inf XX, it is the single Allied ground unit designated not in attack supply, and so attacks with a modified strength of .5.  The Allied player sends the Br Blen 4 air unit on the GS air mission to the hex, which began at 19A:1418, in Egypt, but staged to the Cairo partial city hex, in the Delta zone.  The Blen 4 air unit is escorted by the Br Hurri 1 F type air unit, based at Haifa, but the Vichy French D 520 F type air unit based at Damas intercepts at the target hex and successfully bypasses the Hurri 1 air unit, which rolls a (-).  The French D 520 air unit subsequently Kills the Blen 4 B type air unit in air combat.  Before the combat die roll the TS cav III Ligne is dispersed per the cohesion die roll and placed in the Sud-Syrie territory box.  The Allies attack with 5.5 combat factors against the Vichy French .5 defense factor, and the combat die roll is a 3, modified to a 2 for the rough terrain: good for a DE at the 9 to 1, -1 Combat odds.  After combat the 3-8* Inf X 1 FL (FF) and the Br 1-8 AT II 65 both advance into hex 20A:4607.

Jun I 41 Allied Combat Phase action: First Attack in the French Levant

Jun I 41 Allied Combat Phase action: First Attack in the French Levant

The second Allied attack is at 20A:4508, containing the Vichy French 2-6* Inf III 29 TA (Afr).  This Vichy unit is attacked by the Allied stack at Safad (20A:4608), across the border still inside Palestine. Attacking are the 7-8 Inf XX 7 (Aus), the 2-1-6 Tnk II 4 RT, the 2-8 Inf X 14, and the 1-8 Cav 5.  The Allies attack with a total of 12 combat factors to the Vichy French 2 defense factors, at a 6 to 1, -1 for the rough terrain; unfortunately for the Allies they are just over the 1/10 ratio needed for the +1 AECA modifier.  The Allied player rolls a 2, which modifies to a 1: DR.  And so the Vichy 2-6* Inf III 29 TA (Afr) retreats northwards to 20A:4407, and the Allied player advances after Combat into hex 20A:4508 the 7-8 Inf XX 7 (Aus) and the 2-1-6 Tnk II 4 RT.

Jun I 41 Allied Combat Phase action: the Second Attack in the Vichy French Levant

Jun I 41 Allied Combat Phase action: the Second Attack in the Vichy French Levant

The third Allied attack is at Sour, at Lebanese clear terrain coast hex 20A:4509, containing the Vichy French 2-8* Inf III 22 TA.  This French unit is attacked from southwards hex 20A:4609, just inside Palestine, containing the 2-8 Eng X 1 (Aus), the 1-8 Art II 1 (Aus), and the 3-8* Mtn X Carp (Pol).  Two Br Blen 4 B types and the Br A-22 A type air units fly the GS air mission to the target hex.  The two Blen 4 air units began the turn at 19A:1418, in Egypt, and staged to the Cairo partial city hex.  The A-22 air unit began the turn at Matruh and staged to Mansura, in the Delta zone.  The Allies attack with a total of 10 attack factors to the Vichy French 2 defense factors for a straight up 5 to 1 and roll another 3: DR, which in this case is good enough for a DE, due to the Aus inf XX’s encroaching ZOC.  And so the Vichy French ground unit is eliminated.  At the end of the C. Phase one of the Blen 4 air units rebases at Tel Aviv, along with the A-22 air unit; the other Blen 4 air unit rebases at Alexandria.

Jun I 41 Allied Combat Phase action: the Third Attack in the Vichy French Levant

Jun I 41 Allied Combat Phase action: the Third Attack in the Vichy French Levant

Late in the E. Phase the Br Well 1C NB type air unit based at Matruh flies a strat port bombing air mission to the Axis-owned Porto Bardiya hex, just inside Libya, and scores a hit, jacking the Port Damage hit marker there to a 3.  Afterwards it returns to base at Matruh.

Near the end of the E. Phase the Allied player destroys the step of attack supply at the Suda Bay hex, on Crete.

Near the end of the E. Phase the Ger LW Me 109E  7F5 type air unit based in Sicily air transfers to the Axis temporary airfield at 18A:4718, SW of Allied-held Tobruch.  The operative SAAF Hurri 5F5 type air unit based at adjacent Tobruch declines to patrol or intercept, opting to fight another day.  Then the Br Glad air unit based at Haifa flies the air transfer mission to the reference city airbase at Nicosia, on Cyprus.  At the end of the E. Phase the two SE Command Axis air units on CAP missions over Crete and Scarpanto hexes return to their respective bases.

At the end of the turn Allies have the following accumulated replacements: 10.5 Br inf, 2.5 Br arm, 0 Br ARPs, 3.5 Aus, and 3.5 NZ RPs. All items are stored at the Alexandria hex.

Commentary

In the May II 41 Allied Turn EA game report, at the Special Assault on Crete Segment May II 41 Allied turn Set-up, under the Crete heading, some of the initial 1941 ME/ER-II/Crete Scenario draft rules provisions were laid out regarding playing the Crete segment.  In conformance with the Assault on Crete Scenario Allied OB stipulations found in the WW OB booklet, on p. 7, the three at-start Greek static Xs are placed “one unit in each standard port [hex] on the island of Crete.”  Here is the revised updated text of the Scenario’s draft rules for the three at-start Greek static Xs and the Br 0-2-0 Hv AA X NMBDO (RM) unit, all at Crete:   “These three Greek static Xs must remain in their Crete standard port hexes until either a particular Greek static X moves out of its standard port hex due to an Enemy Reaction movement (WW Rule 33B) or if the particular Greek static X is pushed/moved out of its standard port hex due to movement in a C. Phase.  Thereafter it may move as it pleases.”  Furthermore, “the 0-2-0 Hv AA X NMBDO (RM) must remain in the Suda Bay hex 18A:4503/15B:2113, as it cannot move or be sea transported out.  It is eliminated if required to move out of the hex due to combat.  It may be disbanded in an Allied Initial Phase, but this gains the Axis VPs, per the WW Common Victory Chart.”  And finally, “if there are no British forces (per WW Rule 3B2) on Crete in an Axis Initial Phase, then any remaining Greek static Xs surrender at the very beginning of step 4, thereby enabling the Axis to then cease operations in the Balkans, per WW Rule 3E5b.”  What do you think?

The above rules text appears to be the only practicable way to enable the Axis player to execute a historical cessation of operations in the Balkans in either the WW Assault on Crete Scenario or the 1941 ME/ER-II/Crete Scenario, on the “historical” Jun I 41 Axis turn, per WW Rule 3E5a.  This Europa war gamer was so sure of this that he made an alternate text disbanding the Br 0-2-0 hv AA X at Crete on this Jun I 41 Allied turn, along with the pictures, but later it was decided to make things a little tough for both sides by delaying the fall of Crete a turn by keeping the Br 0-2-0 Hv AA X NMBDO (RM) at the Suda Bay hex, along with the three Greek static Xs also on the island.  I say “tough for both sides” because the Allied player wants the provisions of WW Rule 3E5b kicked in as soon as possible, too, so he can sooner rebuild the Allied ground units currently in the Balkan Command Replacement Pool.  In Scenario game terms the Axis player wants the same WW Rule provisions kicked in so he can sooner do the Ger LW air unit conversions and transfers back to the Western Desert.

A careful look given at this turn’s Allied invasion of the Vichy French Levant certainly reveals both the far greater than historical amount of Allied forces being used this turn in their initial assault on the Vichy French colony and the corresponding patent weakness of the Western Desert Force, now just a thin weak line beginning at Matruh, going one hex south to Siwa road hex 19A:1219, and then abruptly dog-legging SE to the Qattara Depression, ending at 19A:1621.  This given is no accident, and we need to understand that the enabler of this convenient Allied strategic trick is WW Advanced Rule 14Ag-Road Construction, aka the Tobruch Bypass proviso, also found in Watson’s ER-II Europa battle scenario.  Currently the road element of the Axis supply line back to Tripoli, Libya (18A:0121) ends at coast road hex 18A:4718, SW of Allied-controlled Tobruch (18A:4817).  Overland it can go eastwards 7 hexes to Halfaya Pass (19A:0419)-19A:0420-19A:0421, and this pretty much stops the Axis eastwards advance dead in its tracks at Tobruch, for the time being.  So far I believe this to be a fitting historical Axis chain-hobble at this particular Jun I 41 game turn date.  What do you think?

Another “given” in the several Europa Middle East Scenario games is the Variable Iraqi Coup Collapse Table’s +5 modifier “if this is the first turn (only) that a supported Allied unit is adjacent to an Iraqi-owned Baghdad” (see the Wavell’s War Errata-28 October 2005 addendum).  So far I believe this to be a wise rule, but it’s tempting to fiddle with it.  What do you think?

Finally, in the 1941 ME/ER-II/Crete Scenario there could be some tweaking done to the operational areas of the Axis SE Command forces included in its special Assault on Crete segment, which currently operate exclusively on Map 15B, Crete, the Dodecanese, and the Aegean/Adriatic Sea hexes.  Thus for now at least it appears we virtually comply with WW Rules 3E4, 3E2, and 3E1, except that we do also include the Mediterranean Sea hexes on maps 18A & 19A in range of the SE Command Axis Naval Patrol and maybe a few possible directly related air missions, ie., escort of the SE Command Naval Patrol air missions.  In the Scenario the SE Command operational area should probably also include Cyprus, and the current Allied turn is somewhat set up for this potential threat.  Also, Axis air units might ought to be allowed to do certain bombing air missions at target hexes in Libya, Egypt, Palestine, and the Vichy French Levant, if the Axis air units return to base in the SE Command.  But the WW Balkan Victory Chart Axis Victory Point Schedule is too generous to the Axis player in waiting until the Jul II 41 Axis Initial Phase before he begins to lose -5 VPs per Axis turn if he “has not ceased operations in the Balkans,” at least in the context of the 1941 ME/ER-II/Crete Scenario.  Setting aside for now the careful explanations, this VP penalty may be suitable/applicable for WW Desert and the Balkan or Balkan Campaign Scenarios using essentially the WW rules as written.  But I think in the new Scenario, with the provisions mentioned above in the commentary, the demands of Barbarossa can come again into the fore of Axis June 1941 grand strategy, just as apparently historical, and in the new Scenario a telling VP penalty could be implemented beginning even on the Jun I (historical) turn, or the Jun II 41 turn at the latest, compelling the Axis player to send forthwith practically everything in his command to the Soviet border, because evidently Victory in the world war will be decided on the steppes of Russia.

May II 41 Axis Turn

End of Turn

Mainland Europe off-map holding box

Italian inf Replacement Points at the end of the I. Phase and the turn; no builds this turn.
4 Ger ARPs at the start of the turn, – 2 ARPs transferred to the SE Command, where they are immediately expended = 2 Ger ARPs at the end of the I. Phase and the turn.
At step 14 in the I. Phase the Axis player transfers 2 Med/NA Command Ger ARPs to the SE Command (see WW Rule 25C4-ARP Transfer), where they are used that same step to rebuild the two Ger LW air units in the Aborted Air Units Box of the SE Command Replacement Pool.  The rebuilt Ger LW Me 110D  5HF5  4-2/12 and the Ger LW Ju 87R  2D3  4-1/13 air units are placed at the 3-cap permanent airfield at Scarpanto (19A:0701) in the Dodecanese.
3 It ARPs at the start of the turn, -1 for rebuilding the It Ju 87B D type air unit starting in the Aborted Air Units Box of the Med/NA Replacement Pool = 2 It ARPs remaining at the end of the I. Phase and the turn.  The rebuilt It Ju 87B air unit is placed at 18A:0603, in Sicily.

WW 1941 ME/ER-LL/Crete Scenario May II 41 Axis end of the Initial Phase dispositions: off-map display details

May II 41 Axis end of the Initial Phase dispositions: off-map display details

In Sicily [end of turn]

Licata (18A:0102) [point city/minor port]:
3-cap permanent airfield
SM 79-1          2B3     1-5/22 [inop; began turn at Misurata, in Libya; did Malta Status strat bombing air mission at the beginning of the M. Phase; Miss; returned to base here]

Coast hex 18A:0403:
3-cap permanent airfield
Ca 309             2B1     1/L/9 [inop.; began turn here; did Malta Status tac bombing air mission at the beginning of the M. Phase; Miss; returned to base here]
Cr 42                3F3     0/9 [inop.; began turn here; did airfield bombing air mission at Valletta; added its tac factor w/ that of the G 50 air unit, also on the airfield bombing air mission; Hit; returned to base here]

Coast hex 18A:0603:
3-cap permanent airfield
G 50                3F3      0/9 [inop.; began turn here; did airfield bombing air mission at Valletta; added its tac factor w/ that of the Cr 42 air unit, also on the airfield bombing air mission; Hit (same one as above); returned to base here]
Me 109E         7F5      1/7 [inop.; began turn here; escorted multi-mission air op to Valletta hex consisting of the G 50 and CR 42 air units on the airfield bombing air mission & the Ju 87B air unit on the Malta Status bombing air mission; returned to base here]
Ju 87B      2D3     4-1/8 [inop.; Italian; ARP step 14 I. Phase rebuild; placed here; did Malta Status tac bombing air mission at the beginning of the M. Phase; Hit; returned to base here]

Syracusa (18A:0702) [reference city/minor port]:
3-cap permanent airfield

Augusta (18A:0701) [point city/minor port]:
3-cap permanent airfield

May II 41 Axis EOT dispositions: Libya, Sicily, Malta, and Crete

May II 41 Axis EOT dispositions: Libya, Sicily, Malta, and Crete

Malta

Malta Status:  At the beginning of the turn 9.  It remains the same at the start of the naval movement segment of the Movement Phase because there were no Malta Status hits achieved at the very beginning of the Phase.
Valetta hex flack:  4 (3 intrinsic + only 1 for the 0-1-8 hv AA II’s 2 flack factor, now halved for being Red U-2)

Libya [end of turn]

Tripolitania Garrison Box:
0-1-6* Inf III               280 GaF
0-1-6* Inf III               290 GaF
0-1-6* Inf III               340 GaF
0-1-6* Inf III               350 GaF
0-2-6* Inf III               330 GaF

Tripoli (18A:0121) [clear terrain dot city/major port hex]:
Axis Supply Terminal marker
fort marker
3 steps of attack supply [never moved]
1 resource point
0 pos flk unit   AA=3 [Italian]

18A:0122 [Castel Benito; clear terrain secondary rail line hex, S of Tripoli]:
3-cap permanent airfield

18A:0924: [clear terrain road hex]:
one step of attack supply [began turn at Homs; in the E. Phase it spent 7 SMPs moving along the road to here]

Misurata (18A:1022) [clear terrain point city coast road hex]:
1-cap temporary airfield

Sirte (18A:1727) [clear terrain point city coast road hex]:
fort marker
3-cap permanent airfield
1 resource point

18A:2227 [sand coast road hex]:
1-10 Mot Hv AA II                I/18 (Ger LW) [turn reinf; disembarked @ Homs, admin moved along coast road to Buerat el Hsum (18A:1226); exploited to here]

18A:2730 [clear terrain coast road hex]:
3-cap permanent airfield

El Agheila (18A:2930) [clear terrain point city coast road hex]:
1-cap permanent airstrip

Agedabia (18A:3327) [clear terrain point city road junction hex]:
1-cap permanent airstrip

18A:3622 [stony desert road hex]:
3-6 Inf XX                               25 Bol [reassembled here from its supported components at the end of the M. Phase]
1-6* Inf III                    A [began turn at 18A:3631; admin moved here; a 3-6 Inf XX 25 Bol breakdown]
1-6* Inf III                    A [began turn at Ain el Gazala; admin moved to here; a 3-6 Inf XX 25 Bol breakdown]

Bengasi (18A:3121) [clear terrain reference city/major port transportation line junction hex]:
3-cap permanent airfield
12 hits on the port
4 pos flk          AA=1              [began turn here; never moved]
one step of attack supply [began turn here; never moved]

May II 41 Axis EOT dispositions: eastern Libya, western Egypt, Greece, and the Aegean

May II 41 Axis EOT dispositions: eastern Libya, western Egypt, Greece, and the Aegean

Soluch (18A:3222) [clear terrain point city secondary rail terminus hex]:
3-cap permanent airfield

18A:3617 [rough terrain road hex]:
3-cap permanent airfield

18A:3618 [Maraua; rough terrain road hex]:
3-cap permanent airfield

18A:3722 [stony desert road hex]:
3-4-8 Art III                            221 (Ger) [began turn at 18A:2629; admin moved 16 hexes along the road to here]

Derna (18A:4116) [rough terrain point city/minor port coast road hex]:
3-cap permanent airfield
6 Inf XX HQ                          B [began turn at 18A:4318 as part of the  3-6 Inf XX 27 Brs; the inf XX breaks down into its unsupported elements at the beginning of the M. Phase; the inf HQ unit moves to Derna]
1-6 Inf III                               B [began turn at 18A:4318 as part of the 3-6 Inf XX 27 Brs; the inf XX breaks down into its unsupported elements at the beginning of the M. Phase; this inf III breakdown units moves into Derna]
0-6 Lt AA II   AA=1              38 [never moved]
SM 79-2          2B3      3-4/V/20 [operative; began turn here; never moved]
Ju 87B             2D3     4-1/8 (LW) [operative; began turn here; never moved]
Ju 87B             2D3     4-1/8 (LW) [operative; began turn here; never moved]

18A:4318 [stony desert road hex]:
1-6 Inf III                               B [began turn at 18A:4188 as part of the 3-6 Inf XX 27 Brs; the inf XX breaks down into its unsupported elements at the beginning of the M. Phase; this inf III breakdown unit remains here]
one step of attack supply [began turn at 18A:3228; late in the E. Phase it spends 16 SMPs moving along the road to here]

Ain el Gazala (18A:4518) [clear terrain point city coast road hex]:
1-cap temporary airfield
0-6 Cons III                            5 A [began turn at adjacent hex 18A:4417; regular moved one hex to here and spent 5 MPs building the 1-cap temporary airfield, +1 MP towards the 2nd cap build]
CR 42              3F3      0/9 [inop.; began turn at 18A:3617; air transferred to here late in the E. Phase]

18A:4618 [clear terrain coast road hex]:
3-6 Inf XX                               55 Sav [began turn at 18A:3622; admin moved 11 hexes along road to here]

18A:4718 [clear terrain coast road hex; SW of Tobruch]:
2-cap temporary airfield
5-8 Lt Arm XX                      132 Ar [began turn at 18A:4818; in M. Phase moved to 18A:4819; exploited to here]
3-10 Mot Inf III                     115 (Ger) [began turn at 18A:2227; admin moved 20 hexes to 18A:3821; exploited to here]
0-6 Cons III                            10 A [never moved; spent 6 MPs here building 2-cap temporary airfield (1 MP was expended the previous turn beginning a 1-cap temp airfield) + 1 MP for the 3rd cap build]
1-6 Hv AA II                           29 [began turn at Derna; regular moved to here]
3-4-6 Art III                           5 A [began turn at 18A:4216; regular moved to here]
1-8 Mot Art III                       2 AC [began turn at 18A:4718; in M. Phase moved to 18A:5018; exploited back to here]
MC 200          3F4     1/8 [inop.; began turn at 18A:3617; air transferred to here late in the E. Phase]
one step of attack supply [never moved]

18A:4818 [clear terrain road hex; 1 hex S of Tobruch]:
9-10 Pz XX                             15 (Ger) [began turn at 18A:4718; in M. Phase moved to 19A:0319; exploited back to here]
1-8 Mot Art III                       1 AC [began turn at 18A:4818; in M. Phase moved to 19A:0218; exploited back to here]
2-3-6 Art III                           24 C [began turn at 18A:4618; regular moved to here]

18A:4918 [clear terrain coast road hex; SE of Tobruch]:
8-7-10* Pz XX                       5 Le (Ger) [began turn at 18A:4818; in M. Phase moved to Sidi Barrani (19A:0818); exploited to here]
1-10 Mot Hv AA II                I/33 (Ger LW) [began turn at 18A:4818; in M. Phase moved to 19A:0319; exploited to here]
1-10 Mot AT II                       605 (Ger) [began turn at 18A:4818; in M. Phase moved to 19A:0319; exploited to here]
3-2-8 Art III                          16C [began turn at 18A:4818; regular moved to here]
1-8 Mot Art III                      3 AC [began turn at 18A:4712; in M. Phase moved to 19A:0219; exploited to here]

18A:4819 [clear terrain road hex]:
3-6 Inf XX                              17 Pav [began turn at 18A:4718; regular moved to here]

18A:4920 [clear terrain road hex]:
5-8 Inf XX                              102 Trn [inf XX reassembled at the end of the E. Phase from its supported breakdown components]
1-8* Inf III                             61 [began turn at 18A:4819; supported breakdown of 5-8 Inf XX 102 Trn; moved to here]
1-8* Inf III                             62 [began turn at 18A:4819; supported breakdown of 5-8 Inf XX 102 Trn; moved to here]
2-10* Mot Inf III                   7 B [began turn at 18A:4819; supported breakdown of 5-8 Inf XX 102 Trn; in M. Phase it regular moved along the Giarabub road to 19A:0326, gaining hex control; in the E. Phase it entered the Oasi di Giarabub hex (19A:0327), capturing the point city, and then double backed along the road to here]

May II 41 Axis EOT dispositions: the eastern Mediterranean Sea basin

May II 41 Axis EOT dispositions: the eastern Mediterranean Sea basin

Med/NA Replacement Pool

1 x 2-6 Inf XX                         60 Sbr
1 x 2-10 Mot Inf III                10 B
1 x 2-1-8 Lt Tnk III                3
2 x 1-8 Lt Tnk X                     1,2
5 x 1-6 Tnk II                          1, 3, 5, 6, 21
1 x Para Inf III                        Tonini
3 x 0-1-6* Inf III                    300 GaF, 310 GaF, 320 GaF
1 x 3-4-6 Art III                      24 dM
3 x 2-3-6 Art III                      10 C, 20 C, 21 C
1 x 1-6 Art III                          23 C
4 x 0 pos flk unit   AA=1       [Italian]
Med/NA Aborted Air Units Box:
CR 42        3F3      0/9 [here since the start of the new Scenario; per ER-II]
SM 79-1    2B3     1-5/22 [in the Med/NA Replacement Pool since the start of the new Scenario; per ER-II]
BR 20M     3NB4  2-5/24 [aborted in GS air mission over the Tobruch hex on the May I 41 Axis C. Phase]

May II 41 Axis EOT dispositions: off-map display details

May II 41 Axis EOT dispositions: off-map display details

Axis Near East Command

In Iraq:
In the 1941 ME/ER-II/Crete Scenario, the pro-Axis Iraqi coup occurs in the Apr I 41 Axis initial phase.
Per the WW Master Sequence of Play, at step 2 of the Axis Initial Phase the Axis player does the Fawzi al Qawukji action die roll, per WW Optional Rule 39E4, and comes up with a 4: “Fawzi does not change mode and moves randomly during the upcoming Movement Phase.”

Per the WW Master Sequence of Play, at step 4 of the Axis Initial Phase the Allied player for the third time checks for an Iraqi Coup Collapse by a dice roll done using the Variable Iraqi Coup Collapse Table to determine results. There is a +1 Modifier for the Allied-owned dot city of Basra, +1 if a rail connection (per Rule 7A1) cannot be traced from an Axis-owned Baghdad to an Axis-owned dot city in Iraq, +5 first turn (only) that a supported Allied unit is adjacent to an Iraqi-owned Baghdad, and a -1 if an Axis air unit is in Iraq, which tallies to +6 die roll modifier. The dice roll is 9, modified to a 15: Coup Collapse!

All Iraqi units (air, ground, the Capital marker, and the 4 Iraq-specific gsp’s) are removed from the game maps and the Iraq Replacement Pool. All Iraqi hexes become Allied controlled except the Mosul hex (21A:3509), because of the Ger LW Mxd A type air unit there at the start of the turn. The Allies now have a railcap of 3 in Iraq.  Technically the Axis still have control of the Mosul rail marshaling yard.  Finally, the Fawzi (Bandit) guerrilla unit is still in play “until at least 12 turns since the Iraqi Coup has collapsed” and “the Levant has surrendered to … the Allies,” per WW Optional Rule 39E4.  In our EA game report this would likely be until at least the Initial Phase of the Dec II 41 Axis turn, if allowing maybe three turns for the surrender of Vichy Levant and “12 turns” = game turns.

Mosul (21A:3509) [clear terrain dot city transportation line junction hex; beginning of movement phase; still Axis controlled]:
Mxd    2A3     1-1/16  (Ger LW) [Axis Conditional Reinforcement]
Late in the E. Phase this air unit does a 4X air transfer mission to here from the 3-cap permanent airfield at Rodi (20A:2230)]

21A:5121 [ravines hex]:
Fawzi Guerrilla Unit (Bandit) [Fawsi unit in guerrilla mode; began turn at 21A:5122; regular moved to here per random movement die rolls]

22A:3133 [stony desert hex]:
Fawzi Guerrilla Unit (Bandit) [dummy unit in guerrilla mode; began turn at 22A:3232; regular moved to here per random movement die rolls]

WW 1941 ME/ER-II/Crete Scenario May II 41 Axis just before step of of the Initial Phase dispositions: just before the Variable Iraqi Coup Collapse dice roll; Fawzi al Qawukji action die roll (at step 2) was a 4: Fawzi does not change mode and moves randomly during the upcoming Movement Phase.

WW 1941 ME/ER-II/Crete Scenario May II 41 Axis Initial Phase dispositions

Vichy Levant on the May II 41 Axis turn:
At step 5 of the Initial Phase the Axis player again pressures Vichy France to grant Axis privileges in Vichy Levant, despite the collapse of the Iraqi Coup Golden Square junta a little earlier in the Phase.  This is only the second time in the EA reported game the Axis has attempted this.  The last time was in the Apr II 41 Axis Initial Phase.  However the Axis player has already gathered a modest Near East intervention force in the region (via WW Rule 38J6) and, the recent Iraqi coup collapse notwithstanding, nevertheless persists in pursuing a broader policy of interference with Allied strategy in the region while he can.  Accordingly he rolls on the Vichy Levant Table and the dice comes up 3:  Full privileges!
In search of a plausible Axis force pool for some kind of intervention into the Vichy Levant, the 1941 ME/ER-II/Crete Scenario designer notices those German forces in F. Watson’s “Syria, Operation Exporter: June-July 1941” Europa Battle Scenario, published in TEM#81.  Those German forces appear to be the same as those indicated under the heading: Optional Axis Near East Forces: Mar I – Aug I 1941, found on p. 27 of the WW OB booklet.  Although stipulated in a sub-heading as Axis Intervention in Iraq forces, the war gamer takes them into tentative consideration for possible use in a Vichy Levant intervention scheme.  This is excepting the Ger 2-6 Inf III SV 288, which to his understanding is a specially recruited Nazi German unit at least partly comprised of European Moslems from the Balkan region, and therefore perhaps not suitable for an intervention force into Vichy Syria for the purpose of maintaining Vichy French control over the colony.  These said German LW (only) forces from the “Syria” Europa battle scenario Axis OB would be in addition to the available “Full” privileges forces from the WitD Axis OB booklet.

Axis Southeast Command

Special Assault on Crete Segment May II 41 Axis Dispositions

On Crete:
18A:4304/15B:2115 [rough terrain coast hex; SW of Khania]:
1-5 Glider II                          1 St (Ger LW) [began turn at Kalamai; did air drop mission; disrupted; remained here after combat]
2-5 Para III                          1 St (Ger LW) [began at 15B:0811; performed air drop mission; remained here after combat]

Khania (18A:4403/15B:2115) [rough terrain reference city/standard port road terminus coast hex]:
2-5 Para III                           7/1 (Ger LW) [began turn at Athenai; performed air drop mission @ 18A:4304; entered Khania after combat]
2-5 Para III                           7/2 (Ger LW) [began turn at Athenai; performed air drop mission @ 18A:4304; entered Khania after combat]
2-5 Para III                           7/3 (Ger LW) [began turn at Athenai; performed air drop mission @ 18A:4304; entered Khania after combat]
1-6 Marine Cmdo II            Gr/SM [began turn at Naupulion, in Greece; in M. Phase did amphibious landing sp op at Khania; landed disrupted]
3-8 Mtn III                           A (Ger) [began turn at Athenai; unsupported component of the Ger 7-8 Mtn XX 5; broke down in M. Phase; air transported to Khania late in the E. Phase]
2-6 Eng III                           685 (Ger) [began turn at Athenai; air transported to Khania late in the E. Phase]
one gsp [generated in the I. Phase; a 1941 ME/ER-II/Crete Scenario OB Axis Intervention in Iraq Conditional Reinforcement beginning the turn in the I. Phase at the port of Rodi; air transported to here late in the E. Phase by the Ger LW Ju 52 Conditional Reinforcement based at the 3-cap permanent airfield at Rodi]
Me 110C      5HF5   1/12 (Ger LW) [inop.; began turn at 15B:1415; in I. Phase did CAP air mission over Khania; returned to base here at the end of the E. Phase]

At Axis-controlled Aegean Islands:
On Samos:
Samos (20A:1432/15B:1400) [rough terrain point city minor port coast hex]:
6 Inf XX HQ                            C [began turn here assembled w/ the 4-6 Inf XX 6 Cno.  The inf XX breaks down at the beginning of the M. Phase; the inf XX HQ unit remains here for the rest of the turn.]
1-6 Inf III                                  C [began turn here assembled w/ the 4-6 Inf XX 6 Cno.  The inf XX breaks down at the beginning of the M. Phase.  This inf III breakdown had an amphibious sp op planned for the Khania hex, on Crete.  In the M. Phase the Aegean ANTP sea transporting it rolled a Return to Port on the Shipping Results Table after rolling a Contact result on the Naval Table.]

On Rodi:
Rodi (20A:2230) [clear terrain major port point city coast hex]:
3-cap-permanent airfield
3-4-6 Inf XX                           50 Reg [Dodecanese Garrison; never moved]
1-2-5 Art X                              35 [Dodecanese Garrison; never moved]
1-2-5 Art X                              36 [Dodecanese Garrison; never moved]
1-0-6 Lt Tnk II                       312 [Dodecanese Garrison; never moved]
0-6 Lt AA II        AA=1          Rodi [Dodecanese Garrison; never moved]
Mxd F   2F2      0/8 [operative; began turn here; Dodecanese Garrison; never moved]     
Mxd      2A3     1-1/16 (Ger LW) [inop.; Axis Conditional Reinf; began turn at Mosul, in Iraq; Red U-1; did 4X air transfer mission from Mosul to here in the E. Phase, after Iraqi Coup Collapse dice roll result done in I. Phase]
Ju 52    1T2       0/20 (Ger LW) [inop.; Axis Conditional Reinf; began turn here; late in the E. Phase air transported the gsp here at Rodi to Khania, on Crete; returned to base here]
I have tentatively allowed this Axis Conditional Reinforcement, originally intended exclusively as an Axis intervention in Iraq force, but now currently unemployed since the recent Iraqi coup collapse, to air transport to Crete the special new Scenario reinforcement gsp originally intended for LW air unit use in Coup Iraq.  This particular Ju 52 air unit should definitely not be allowed to perform any airdrop air missions (except airdropping gsp’s), nor should it be diverted to the Western Desert.  But I am currently considering allowing the original Axis Conditional [LW] Reinforcements intended for Iraq to be available as part of some kind of Axis/German intervention into Vichy Levant scheme if the Iraqi coup has collapsed.  But it, along with its Axis Conditional Reinforcement partner, the LW Mxd A type air unit, may well be soon withdrawn from play, per WW Optional Rule 38J6-Axis Intervention in Iraq.
MC 200     3F4     1/8 [inop.; began turn at 15B:0811; air transferred to here late in the E. Phase]

20A:2331: [rough terrain coast hex]
3-cap permanent airfield
1-6 Hv AA III       AA=2         Rodi [Dodecanese Garrison; never moved]
Mxd B        1B2     1-2/21 [inop; began turn here; Dodecanese Garrison; did GS air mission to Khania; returned to base here]
Ju 88A1     3B5     3-5/26 (Ger LW) [inop.; began turn @ 15B:0914; did GS air mission to Khania; returned to base here]
Ju 88A1     3B5     3-5/26 (Ger LW) [inop.; began turn @ 15B:0914; did GS air mission to Khania; returned to base here]
Ju 88A1     3B5     3-5/26 (Ger LW) [inop.; began turn @ 15B:0914; did GS air mission to Khania; returned to base here]

On Scarpanto:
Scarpanto (19A:0701): [rough terrain minor port point city hex]
3-cap permanent airfield
0-1-6 Lt AA II       AA=1        Scar [Dodecanese garrison; never moved]
Me 110D    5HF5   4-2/12 (Ger LW) [inop.; began turn here; did airfield bombing air mission to Suda Bay; Miss; returned to base here]
Ju 87R        2D3     4-1/13 (Ger LW) [inop.; began turn here; did GS air mission to Khania; returned to base here]
Ju 87B        2D3     4-1/8 (Ger LW) [inop.; began turn here; did extended range airfield bombing air mission to Suda Bay; Hit; returned to base here]

On Melos (15B:1610):
Melos (15B:1610) [clear terrain point city minor port Aegean islet hex]:
3-cap permanent airfield
Me 109E     7F5      1/7 (Ger LW) [inop.; began turn here; did GS air mission to Khania; returned to base here]
Ju 87B        2D3     4-1/8 (Ger LW) [inop.; began turn here; did GS air mission to Khania; returned to base here]
Ju 87B        2D3      4-1/8 (Ger LW) [inop.; began turn here; did GS air mission to Khania; returned to base here]

Mainland Greece:
15B:1415 [southeastern Peloponnese coastline]:
3-cap temporary airfield
5 pos flk            AA=1             (Ger LW) [began turn here; never moved]
Me 109 E    7F5      1/7 (Ger LW) [inop.; began turn here; did GS air mission to Khania; returned to base here]
He 111H      4B4     2-7/S/22 (Ger LW) [inop.; began turn here; did GS air mission to Khania; returned to base here]
G 50 bis     3F3     0/10 [inop.; began turn at 15B:0711; air transferred to here late in the E. Phase]

Kalamai (15B:1118) [reference city/standard port]:
2 x 5 pos flk        AA=2          (Ger LW) [began turn here; never moved]
Ju 52           1T2     0/20 (Ger LW) [inop.; began turn here; did air drop mission of the LW glider II; returned to base here]

15B:0914 [eastern Peloponnese coastline; E of Nauplion, SE of Korinthos]:
3-cap temporary airfield
2 x 5 pos flk       AA=2          (Ger LW) [began turn here; never moved]
Do 17Z        3B4     3-4/13 (Ger LW) [inop.; began turn @ 15B:0813; did GS air mission to Khania; returned to base here]
Do 17Z        3B4     3-4/13 (Ger LW) [inop.; began turn @ 15B:0813; did GS air mission to Khania; returned to base here]
Do 17Z        3B4     3-4/13 (Ger LW) [inop.; began turn @ 15B:0813; did GS air mission to Khania; returned to base here]

Athenai (15B:0911) [great port/full hex city coast hex]:
2 x 5 pos flk       AA=2          (Ger LW) [began turn here; never moved]
6 Para XX HQ                      7 (Ger LW) [began turn here as part of the Ger LW 7-6 Para XX 7; the XX broke down into its unsupported components at the beginning of the M. Phase; the HQ unit remained here]
7-8 Mtn XX                           6 (Ger) [began turn here; never moved]
2-6 Eng III                            690 [any] (Ger) [began turn here; never moved]
1-8 Ski II                                MC [began turn here; never moved]
3 x Ju 52    1T2     0/20 (Ger LW) [all inop.; all began turn here; in the M. Phase one performed the air drop mission and returned to base here; later the other two performed air transport missions in the E. Phase of the 3-8 Mtn III A & the 2-6 Eng III 685, both returned to base here]
Z 506B       2B3    2-4/F/22 [operative; began turn here; never moved]

Laurion (15B:1111) [clear terrain point city/minor port secondary rail terminus coast hex]:
8 Mtn XX HQ                       A (Ger) [began turn at Athenai as part of the Ger 7-8 Mtn XX 5; the XX broke down into its unsupported components in the M. Phase; the HQ unit moved to here]

15B:0813 [E of Korinthos]:
3-cap temporary airfield
5 pos flk          AA=1              (Ger LW) [began turn here; never moved]
3-8 Mtn III                            A (Ger) [began turn at Athenai as part of the Ger 7-8 Mtn XX 5; broke down in the M. Phase; this unsupported component then moved to here; the other unsupported mtn III was air transported to Khania, on Crete, late in the E. Phase]

15B:0711 [2 hexes NW of Athenai]:
3-cap temporary airfield
5 pos flk           AA=1             (Ger LW) [began turn here; never moved]
Ju 52          1T2     0/20 (Ger LW) [inop.; began turn here; staged to Athenai; performed the air drop mission; returned to base here]
Ju 52          1T2     0/20 (Ger LW) [inop.; began turn here; staged to Athenai; performed the air drop mission; returned to base here]

15B:0811 [clear terrain secondary rail line coast hex, NW of Athena]:
3-cap permanent airfield
5 pos flk            AA=1            (Ger LW) [began turn here; never moved]
Ju 52          1T2     0/20 (Ger LW) [inop.; began turn here; performed air drop mission; returned to base here]
Ju 52          1T2     0/20 (Ger LW) [inop.; began turn here; performed air drop mission; returned to base here]

Levadia (15B:0612) [clear terrain point city major rail line hex]:
3-cap temporary airfield
3 x Ju 52 1T2 0/20 (Ger LW) [all inop.; all began turn here; all staged to Athenai; all performed the air drop mission; all returned to base here]

SE Command Replacement Pool

2-6 Inf III                               C [This breakdown unit is derived from the 4-6 Inf XX 6 Cno, which began the turn at Samos (20A:1432/15B:1400).  At the beginning of the M. Phase it broke down into the unsupported components of inf XX “C.”  This inf III breakdown had an amphibious sp op planned for the Khania hex, on Crete.  The Aegean ANTP sea transporting it was sunk by an Eliminated die roll on the Shipping Results Table after a Contact dice roll on the Naval Table]
Eliminated Air Units Box:
DFS230      0GT-1 -/T (Ger LW) [did air drop mission of the LW glider II in the M. Phase; afterwards placed here per WW Rule 23F]

WW 1941 ME/ER-LL/Crete Scenario May II 41 Axis end of the Initial Phase dispositions: off-map display details

May II 41 Axis end of the Initial Phase dispositions: off-map display details

Allied Non-Phasing Air Activity Late in the Axis Exploitation Phase
Late in the E. Phase the Hurri 1 F type air unit at the Habbaniya 3-cap permanent airfield (22A:2828) flies a non-phasing air transfer air mission to the Haifa hex (20A:4710), in Palestine.
Late in the E. Phase the Bombay T type air unit at the Habbaniya 3-cap permanent airfield flies a non-phasing air transfer air mission to the Rutbah hex (21A:5023) 1-cap permanent airstrip, in western Iraq.

Turn Activity:

At step 16 of the I. Phase the Allied player converts one of the two steps of attack supply at Tobruch into 12 new gsp’s, per Rule 12C4b-GSP’s from Steps of Attack Supply.  At step 24 in the Initial Phase the 12 old gsp’s at Tobruch that were generated from a converted step of attack supply in the May I Axis Initial Phase are removed from the map.

At step 22 of the I. Phase the Me 110C F type air unit based at the 3-cap permanent airfield at 15B:1415, on the southeastern Peloponnese coastline, flies the CAP air mission over the Suda Bay hex.  The Hurri 1 F type air unit based in the Suda Bay hex would have liked to have performed a non-phasing CAP air mission in the I. Phase first, in order to get safely off the ground for the duration of the Axis turn, but was pre-empted by the phasing Axis player per Rule 16D-Air Operation Sequence, and so remains based at the Suda Bay airfield, operative.  However, in the M. Phase the Me 110C air unit on the CAP air mission over Suda Bay declines to perform the patrol air mission against the Br Hurri 1 air unit based there when it subsequently flies the scramble air mission to Khania.  At the end of the E. Phase the Me 110C air unit returns to base at Khania, on Crete.
At step 22 of the I. Phase the SAAF Hurri 1 F type air unit based at Tobruch flies a non-phasing CAP air mission over the Tobruch hex.  It returns to base at Tobruch at the end of the E. Phase.

WW 1941 ME/ER-II/Crete Scenario May II 41 Axis beginning of the Movement Phase

May II 41 Axis beginning of the Movement Phase

Early in the M. Phase, prior to the naval movement step, the Axis player flies a series of air missions against the Valletta hex, on Malta.  The first air op consists of the CR 42 and G 50 F type air units, based in Sicily, flying the airbase bombing air mission. Accompanying them to the Valletta Target Hex is the It Ju 87B D type air unit flying the Malta Status air mission.  The three Axis air units are escorted by the Me 109E F type air unit.  The Hurri 2 F type air unit based at the Valletta 3-cap permanent airfield flies the intercept air mission and is aborted in air combat by the escorting Me 109E air unit.  In the air combat the Hurri 2 air unit rolls a miss (-) against the Me 109E air unit.  In the mission resolution step the two Italian F type air units combine their tac factors of 1 for a total of 2, and roll a 5 for a Hit.  The It Ju 87B air unit rolls a Miss and returns to base at 18A:0603, along with the G 50 and the Me 109E air units.  All these bombing air units make it through the Valletta flack, which is reduced by the Red U-2 supply status.  Next the SM 79-1 air unit based at Misurata, in Libya, flies the Malta Status air mission.  It rolls a Miss and then bases at Licata, in Sicily.  Finally the Ca 309 air unit based at Sicily flies the Malta Status air mission, rolls a Miss, and returns to base at 18A:0403, in Sicily, along with the inoperative CR 42 air unit.

WW 1941 ME/ER-II/Crete Scenario May II 41 Axis beginning of the Movement Phase

May II 41 Axis air raid on the Suda Bay hex

Then the Axis player sends an air op to the Suda Bay Target Hex (18A:4503) at Crete, consisting of the Ju 87B D type air unit (on an extended range tac bombing air mission) and the Me 110D air unit (on a bombing air mission), both based at the 3-cap permanent airfield at Scarpanto (19A:0701), in the Dodecanese.  The Br Hurri 1 F type air unit based at the 3-cap temporary airfield at Suda Bay flies the scramble air mission to the Khania reference city airbase at adjacent hex 18A:4403.  The ME 110C F type air unit flying the CAP air mission over the Suda Bay hex declines to seek combat by switching to the patrol air mission against the scrambling Hurri 1 air unit, quite content that the pesky Allied fighter unit will finally be inoperative on the ground prior to the big LW paradrop attack on Crete.  The two Axis bombers make it through the Allied 4 factor flack shot at Suda Bay and the Ju 87B D type air unit, flying at extended range, manages to roll a 5, modified to a 6 due to the D type, for a Hit on the Allied temporary airfield in the hex.  They both return to base at Scarpanto.

WW 1941 ME/ER-II/Crete Scenario May II 41 Axis early Movement Phase dispositions

May II 41 Axis early Movement Phase dispositions

Next the Axis player executes his Special Operations on Crete.  Both airborne and amphibious landings have been planned in advance.  The text of the planned in advance airdrop landing is as follows:
“The single Target Hex of the May II 41 Axis turn airborne landing is 18A:4304/15B:2115. on Crete.  The following LW air-droppable units to be dropped in that Target Hex are the 1-5 Glider II I/St, the 2-5 Para III 1 St, and the three 7th Para XX Para IIIs:  7/1, 7/2, and 7/3.”
The text of the planned in advance amphibious landing is as follows:
“The single Target Hex of the May II 41 Axis turn amphibious landing is Khania, (18A:4403/15B:2114), on Crete.  The following Italian units to be amphibious landed in that Target Hex are the  two unsupported inf breakdowns of the 4-6 Inf XX 6 Cno, which would be a 1-6 inf III and a 2-6 inf III, and the 1-6 Marine Cmdo II Gr/SM.”

WW ME/ER-II/Crete Scenario May II 41 Axis beginning of the Movement Phase

May II 41 Axis beginning of the Movement Phase

This would be at the beginning of the naval movement step of the Axis Movement Phase; but the Axis player does all the paradrop operations first, afterwards he does the amphibious operations.  The airborne landing special ops are done one ground unit at a time, with the 1-5 glider II being first.  It drops at the 18A:4304 Target Hex, and rolls low on the Disruption Table: Disrupted.  But the four remaining 2-5 para IIIs all roll high on the Disruption Table and land undisrupted: No Effect.  So far the Allied player declines to check for Enemy Reaction.

After all the LW airborne landings come the Italian amphibious landing special ops, with the two unsupported inf III breakdowns attempting first, each embarked in an Aegean ANTP (for Aegean ANTPs see WW Rule 31A1-Axis [NTPs/ANTPs]).  Bad news comes early this time, and the two Naval Table dice rolls result in Contact for the Axis cargo.  Using the Tight Naval Interdiction Zone column of the Shipping Results Table, the 1-6 Inf III C is Returned to Samos and then the 2-6 Inf III C is Eliminated, along with its Axis Aegean ANTP.  The 1-6 Marine Cmdo II Gr/SM, also embarked in an Aegean ANTP, also rolls a Contact on the Naval Table, but by a miracle rolls a 6 on the Shipping Results Table: No Effect.  Finally, at this particular time, after all the numerous Axis special op ground units have performed their landings, the Allied player then speaks up and wants to do a Reaction attempt.  Note that although Rule 33B-Enemy Reaction says that the enemy Reaction attempt is done “immediately after any unit makes a special operation landing in the [particular Target] hex,” the WW Master Sequence of Play Summary-Back, evidently says to do the Reaction Attempt Resolution after the Disruption Table die roll of the amphibiously landing unit.  I’m currently assuming that the Master Sequence of play is the correct interpretation of a completed special operation “landing,” and that the enemy Reaction die roll comes after the Disruption Table roll.  In our case here, the 1-6 Marine Cmdo II Gr/SM manages to roll a Disrupted upon landing amphibiously, per the Disruption Table.  Next, the Allied player rolls high on the Success Table, for a Success.  Now, in other games the Allied player might elect to move into the Khania hex the relatively powerful NZ 3-8 Inf X 5 from the adjacent Suda Bay hex; but in this game the Allies do otherwise and instead retreat the Aus 2-8 Inf X 19 from Khania to Suda Bay.  Why, in this case?  Because although earlier the Allied player held fast his ground units at Khania when he couldn’t stop what the Axis player had already started, and had printed combat factor parity with the available LW paratroop units anyway, in case of the EX, now he punks out for upping the ante in the high stakes Wild West poker game in play at Crete, and in effect “folds” to cut his potentially high Combat losses.  In the final analysis he sees the battle for Crete as primarily a diversion, and not a necessary fight to the death showdown for some kind of prize stake in the world war.

WW 1941 ME/ER-II/Crete Scenario May II 41 Axis near the end of the naval movement step

May II 41 Axis near the end of the naval movement step of the Movement Phase

In the M. Phase the Axis player builds a 1-cap temporary airfield at Ain al Gazala (18A:4518) and increases the capacity of the 1-cap temporary airfield at 18A:4718 to 2.  Late in the E. Phase the CR 42 air unit based at 18A:3617 air transfers to the temp airfield at Gazala.  The MC 200 air unit also based at 18A:3617 air transfers to the temp airfield at 18A:4718, adjacent to Tobruch.

At Tobruch the Allies definitely have 17 defense factors in the improved fortress hex.  By my count here at the game board the Axis could muster from 29 1/2 up to maybe 30 1/4 factored ground unit attack factor points against the improved fortress hex, with the 29 1/2 being the preferred count.  This is the factored figure after halving the available non-heavy AA and non-artillery ground unit combat factors.  Both of the only available steps of attack supply in the zone would have to be expended, and if the Axis player throws into the attack the absolute maximum 30 1/4 factored ground unit attack factors, not quite all have full attack supply.  To get a raunchy 2 to 1, -1 attack again, with an EX or HX being the best die roll outcomes (with a 5 or 6, respectively),  the Axis player would need to successfully deliver to the target hex the needed additional amount of halved GS tac factors (due to the improved fortress), after the Antiaircraft Fire Table dice rolls; and this is where the rub is.  The available Axis air units for GS in the projected attack would be the 2 LW Ju 87B D type air units and the It SM-79-2 B type air unit, all based at Derna, and also the It SM 79-1 B type air unit, based at far-off Misurata (which would first stage to Bengasi).  If either of the two LW Ju 87 B air units fail to make it through Tobruch’s 3 factors of flack, the Attack odds slip down to an even worse 3 to 2, -1, with an EX being the best result, with a roll of 6.  So the cardboard Rommel decides to postpone a second attack of Tobruch and instead opts to maneuver in the zone.  But in so maneuvering, he threatens the flimsy and drained Allied Western Desert Force now propped at Matruh, and thereby compels the Allied player to instigate sooner the evacuation of the Allied forces on Crete and to even seek the voluntary cessation of Axis/German operations in the Balkans, per WW Rule 3Eb, and thereby instigate sooner the transfer of the Allied units in the Balkan Command Replacement Pool to the Middle East Replacement Pool, so he can more readily get to them.  These peculiar considerations will likely cause some interesting tactics and procedures on Crete the next Allied turn.  My opinion tonight is that if the Allies completely evacuate Crete and leave behind only the Greek static Xs, then in the following Axis turn they surrender to the Axis at step 4 on the Initial Phase, allowing the Axis player to then cease operations in the Balkans, per WW Rule 3E5b.

WW 1941 ME/ER-II/Crete Scenario May II 41 Axis end of Movement Phase dispostions: eastern Libya, western Egypt, Crete, and southern zone of the Aegean Sea

May II 41 Axis end of Movement Phase dispostions: eastern Libya, western Egypt and Crete,

In his Combat Phase the Axis player sends to the Khania target hex on the Ground Support air mission every available Axis air unit in range in the Aegean Sea region.  He takes no chances with the Allied flack shot due to the single positional flack unit (AA=1) in the hex.  Back at Alexandria, while awaiting the outcome of the battle for Khania, Wavell mulls whether he should have left the British 0-8 lt AA II in the Khania hex in his previous turn, thereby jacking the AA factor to 2.  By luck of the Anticraft Fire Table dice rolls every Axis air unit on the GS air mission makes it to the Target Hex.  The Axis player carefully tallies his attack factor total, accounting for the two disrupted ground units and the provisions of both WW Rule 20G2b-GS and Optional Rule 20G4-Air Support Limits, and arrives at an attack strength of 25 5/8, to an Allied defense strength of 3 1/2, good for a 7 to 1, -1.  The die roll is a 3, factored to a 2:  DH!  And so the Allied player eliminates one of the two NZ 2-8 inf Xs (the 4th) and the remaining Aus 2-8 Inf X (the 16th) and retreats the Greek 1-4 static X (Khania) and the surviving NZ inf X (the 6th) into the adjacent Suda Bay hex.  The Axis player promptly enters the Khania hex with some of his attacking ground units after combat.  As for the inoperative Br Hurri 1 air unit based at the Khania airbase, it manages to successfully escape the captured airfield and is placed in the Aborted Air Units Box (per WW Rule 17B) of the Balkan Replacement Pool, for the second time.

May II 41 Axis Combat Phase detail

May II 41 Axis Combat Phase detail

Near the end of the E. Phase both sides do a series of air unit transfer missions.  See the above text or the accompanying pictures for these various air unit movements.  Using the two remaining operative Ger LW Ju 52 T type air units based at Athenai, the Axis air transports a Ger 2-6 eng III and a Ger mtn III in the full city hex to Khania, to beef it up.  The two transport air units return to base at Athenai.  At the end of the E. Phase both sides land their F type air units performing the CAP air mission.

Axis end of turn accumulated Axis Med/NA Command replacements: 2 Ger ARPs, 2 Italian ARPs; 3 Italian inf RPs.  The ARPs and replacement points are stored in the mainland Europa off-map holding box.

Axis end of turn accumulated Allied Balkan Command replacements:  .5 Aus (special) inf RPs; .5 NZ (special) inf RPs.  The replacement points are stored at the Suda Bay hex, on Crete.  They were generated as a result of this turn’s Allied Combat losses.

May II 41 near the end of the Exploitation Phase detail

May II 41 near the end of the Exploitation Phase detail

Commentary

The Europa war gamer admits that the research done and design for the special Assault on Crete segment of the 1941 ME/ER-II/Crete Scenario has been very interesting; but he takes full responsibility for all shortcomings, errors, failures, and frailties of the Merkur component of the new Scenario, as done so far.  For example, some Europa players may rattle the chain-hobble done to the three Greek 1-4 static Xs at Crete, in restricting them to the three standard ports on the island prior to the execution of the Axis special operations at Crete.  Certainly these three Greek static Xs could be placed at hexes 18A:4303, 4304, and 4404, surrounding the Khania hex.  This just might be a killer Allied defense against the Luftwaffe paratroopers, done on the cheap with the handy and expendable Greek cannon fodder, which are likely good as gone anyway, per WW Rule 3E5b.  But quotes can probably be produced from both the British Playfair’s history and the Australian official history (Vol. 2) to argue that these three static Xs, composed of older militia recruits, poorly equipped, encumbered with a primitive and local community logistics basis, and demoralized by the very recent Greek collapse that had taken place on the mainland, were in no mood or organization to be the front line defenders for the evacuated Allied Creteforce against the fresh Nazi German aggressors, at least prior to the actual arrival of the normally rousing specter of battle.  In any event, the Allied player can always use the available British and Commonwealth forces for the cannon fodder at Crete needed for that higher level of defense, using either those units from the at-start Allied OB of the special Assault on Crete segment or those available in the Middle East Command and transported to Crete earlier on perhaps the May I 41 Allied turn.

Interestingly, both the above-mentioned sources, including the more recent (1993) Wavell in the Middle East, 1939-1941, by Harold E. Raugh, Jr., indicate that at first (eg., upon the Allied withdrawal from mainland Greece) there was no objection or hesitation from either London, Freyberg (the Allied commander at Crete in the 1941 assault epoch), or Wavell regarding the concept of defending Crete after quitting mainland Greece.  After all, the British fleet could protect the Crete shoreline from Axis amphibious assault.  Raugh’s more recent book indicates how Ultra kept both Wavell and Freyberg informed about the German paradrop plans in store for Crete, including several postponements.  Raugh says “Wavell, who had received indications via Ultra …[on Apr 26th, in the midst of the evacuation from mainland Greece]… that Crete would be the object of a German airborne assault, possibly as an intermediate objective for an Axis seizure of Cyprus, Syria, or Iraq, directed that Crete be denied to the enemy.” [P. 208]  However, all three sources indicate that upon the clearer realization of the powerful force projection capability of the available German paratroop forces, a growing sense of crisis began to take shape at the Allied top level, which manifested itself in a wish for reinforcements.  But when the actual airborne landings occurred, the fruit of these earlier growing apprehensions was an immediate and resolute decision to evacuate the Creteforce, and not squander it in some futile stand on the island.

Raugh says that Churchill, sensing that the debacle in Crete might be interpreted at home as a second Norway, quickly sacked Longmore, the British Air Chief in the Middle East, as a scapegoat, in order “to disassociate himself from the failure to hold Crete.”  Wavell came later.  But in his book he appears to be a partisan defender of the military commanding profession against all politicians in any event in war.  This is said sincerely without any kind of implied judgement, as in the final analysis the issue of war responsibility is complex and each individual historical case is different, but some authors/historians are always the same.

In scrutinizing the earlier May I 41 Axis turn and the present May II 41 Axis turn, we see on the game board perhaps the outlines of one of those authentic crossroads in the history of the world war.  By that I mean that in Europa war game terms, on the earlier May I 41 Axis turn, it is quite possible that the Axis player could have rolled a 6 (modified to a 5) in his 2 to 1, -1 attack at Tobruch, for a HX, and have captured the then unimproved Allied fortress, thus causing a staggering amount of Allied losses.  Then, in the Initial Phase of the current May II 41 Axis turn the Axis player could have rolled a No Collapse on the Variable Iraqi Coup Collapse Table, thereby likely giving at least two additional months of life to the pro-Axis Coup Iraqi regime.  This apparently is not at all an impossible combination of wartime events, at least in Europa game play, and would certainly set up an entirely new but perhaps plausible wartime situation for the powerful Axis aggression to play itself out with in the second half of 1941.  It would be tempting to put a bookmark in the current EA game reporting of the 1941 ME/ER-II/Crete Scenario and come back later to play through a couple of turns of this ominous alternate outcome of this segment of the war game, say after we complete the Syrian campaign.  But hopefully by then we will all be aboard a Ju 52 transport bound for military bases very close to either the German/Soviet or Romanian/Soviet border, from where we plunge into the new game board realities of Total War.

Hello, Goodbye

I was adding some new posts on the Africa campaign replay of Todd Jahnkes ongoing DJ05-monster game recently. The Africa postings basically constitute a full game report by themselves, yet they are only one single post from a truly epic game. Putting these online reminded me – together with some helpful comments by readers – that there is still a lot to fix in the War Archive in terms of game reports lost and disconnected.

No Total War showed up on my doorstep, and thats not because I moved (a second time since I pre-ordered TW more than a decade ago). Rather, without comment, excuse or even any information, the shipping of TW has obviously been postponed again. Everyone has his own endurance if it comes to loyalty. To me, this means finally saying goodbye to Europa, since I think it might be more worthwhile to concentrate on another seemingly endless pet project of mine: The TO/E database.

So in short, here are my three very first Generalstab-related new years resolutions:

  1.  Fix the Kriegsarchiv and get the missing game reports back online.
  2. Sell all Europa-games plus the magazines in my basement.
  3.  Re-Install the develoment-platform and launch an alpha version of the TO/E database.

A happy New Year to everyone!

Replay of the Africa Theater, JUL – SEP 1915

JUL I and II, 1915

North Africa

Italian forces continued their aggression in July. To buff their army’s strength, colonial officials replaced the colonial light regiment, albeit in unsupported form. The leading Italian rifle brigade seized an undefended Sirte. The metropolitan light regiment slipped further east along the coast, toward Sirte and a range of oases that it could raid regularly to further reduce Sanussi manpower inflows.

That reduction would be useful because in July 1916 the Sanussi accrued probably the most manpower they could, 4.5 points, due to control of many tribal areas in the Sahel as well as almost every oasis in the Sahara outside Rio de Oro. The Sanussi, however, suffered somewhat from having a camel unit in the replacement pool and being unable to replace it due to the limitation of having no more than one camel unit in play per friendly-owned camel recruitment hex. The Sanussi did replace 1-6 and 1-2-6 irregular brigades from the eliminated while isolated pool, for five points of manpower. Further Sanussi expansion promised little more gain, but they nonetheless continued their outward creep into Chad and to within movement range of Senegal.

African natives continued to rebel more strongly as the war passed, with the lone tribe in Portuguese Guinea both rebelled and immediately expanded to level-2 in July.

Central Africa

French forces started the end of the Cameroon Campaign in July by upgrading a colonial mountain brigade from 2-3-6 to 3*-4-6, landing it in Victoria, and overrunning the German battalion defending Duala.

German loss: 1*-2-7 jaeger battalion and the Cameroon supply network

The French then mostly boarded ships and moved to the southern Cameroonian port of Kribi, from which they could more easily overrun or attack the Germans south of the major river in August.

British forces continued the conquest by attacking Bertua at the far eastern end of the German position. Maximum odds and a long-prepared tactical plan resulted in complete victory for the British.

Entente loss: SP

German loss: 1*-2-7 jaeger battalion and SP

The British then shifted their logistical support to come through Duala via a division of native porters, so that their campaign could continue in August.

In response to defeats on both ends of their line, with no supply network, German forces in Cameroon resigned themselves to eventual defeat. The jaeger battalions, two and a half regiments worth, assembled in Jaunde with three supply points and 30 newly-created general supply points. The construction regiment, unable to reach Jaunde, marched away southeastward to cause any trouble it could. Behind it, the garrison of Jaunde looked forward to a 15 month siege and a dramatically better than historical performance.

South Africa

While clustering for protection the Portuguese nonetheless continued to oppress the nearest rebel tribe and finally reduced it from level-2 to level-1.

South African forces, awaiting the October invasion, edged northward to better overawe the natives.

Free of Portuguese and Boer influence for the first time, the Mbunda tribe in southeastern Angola promptly increased its rebellion from level-3 to level-4 and fielded the first African unit on the DJ05 map. It naturally moved westward to influence a neighboring tribe to follow in the Mbunda footsteps.

German forces shifted northward and slid past the seaward Portuguese “flank” to position for an attack across easier terrain in August.

East Africa

Inspection of the replacement cost chart indicated that German units are cheaper by about half than their strength would indicate. That being the case, the Germans in East Africa promptly replaced 2-4-7 machinegun battalion and upgraded a 1-2-7 to 2-4-7 strength. Those two units, entrenched on the main invasion route from Mombasa and supported by the lone German artillery unit, then freed all the jaeger riflemen to protect the other invasion routes into central Tanganyika with truly formidable strength. British forces in Mombasa could only watch in dismay and pray the Germans would not roll the dice and attempt to win the campaign in one fell swoop.

AUG I and II, 1915

North Africa

Italian forces continued their aggression against the Sanussi in August as their units achieved the appropriate arrangement, in coastal strongholds, from which to raid outward in the future. The Italians aimed to either tie down additional Sanussi forces to hold the oases near the coast or to deny the manpower from communities there to Sanussi recruiters.

Two British colonial regiments, a British irregular brigade, and a French light battalion departed the Cameroon Campaign to contest Chad with the Sanussi.

Sanussi forces continued their growth and aggression too. Near Senegal, Sanussi quartermasters distributed batteries of modern German mountain guns to three brigades of previously unreliable, now enthusiastic camel cavalry (1-0-7C to 1*-7C upgrades). After moving into a central position in August, the Sanussi facing Senegal could either drive to the Atlantic coast and attack a French garrison near Rio de Oro, or attack a part of the French frontier defense in Senegal proper in September. Meanwhile, northeast of Lake Chad, where British irregulars from Cameroon had gone to raid Sanussi-loyal oases, the Sanussi dispersed the band after light combat. The British were pleased because the Sanussi paid for the victory and the British wanted to re-recruit the band in East Africa.

Entente “loss:” 1-6 irregular cavalry brigade

Sanussi loss: SP

Central Africa

German forces in Cameroon consumed four general supply points in the Entente initial phase and three in the Central Powers’ initial phase.

British and French forces hermetically sealed the German force in Central Cameroon into its one-hex pocket, preparatory to placing them under siege in September. The British could not achieve an attack with plausible odds (1:1 with -1 modifier would be achievable but lunacy) and the French would not risk irreplaceable units for uncertain gain in a 3:1 attack to probably exterminate the Germans the quick way. The remaining French units in western Cameroon moved back to the coast and began taking ship to Mombasa, where the first five units arrived before September.

A stray French unit from southeastern Cameroon and the garrison regiment of Gabon combined to isolate the stray German construction regiment, so that it could not draw supplies late in the month and immediately surrendered.

German loss: 0-1-5 construction regiment, isolated

South Africa

Portuguese forces in central Angola converted a supply point into general supplies, to offset the effect of the Germans having disassembled both the local supply network and the two eastern Portuguese stacks’ link to any port.

South African and British colonial forces continued to wait in northern Namibia for the word from London to invade Angola.

In Angola, the Germans massed and attacked the Portuguese garrison of the port city of Benguela. The partially-supported Portuguese force could have drawn German blood, the odds were only 3:1, but superior German morale gave them a decisive victory.

Portuguese loss: 2x SP, 1*-2-5 rifle regiment, 1-2-4 colonial regiment, .33 irrelevant morale points

German loss: SP

The Germans then spread out to cantonments at tribal home hexes in coastal and central Angola.

East Africa

Nothing noteworthy happened on either side.

SEP I and II, 1915

North Africa

Italian light troops began raiding eastward out of Sirte while French camel troops continued raiding southward from Morocco and Algeria, both to minimize Sanussi manpower recruitment.

The French added a light regiment to the pair of camel battalions in garrison in the only port in Mauretania, added an artillery battery to the regiment, and thus rendered place and force safe for another month.

Along the Sahel frontier, British and French garrisons of many coastal colonies moved north to take back ownership of various tribal areas, towns, and an oasis or two, to further minimize Sanussi manpower recruitment.

The Sanussi Brotherhood recruited 3.5 manpower points in September, a large but realistic influx.

An African tribal rebellion in Chad expanded from level-2 to level-3.

Central Africa

The German pocket in Cameroon consumed six total general supply points during the month. In two months, another supply point would need to be converted. With their force of five battalions eating inefficiently, the Germans also replaced a 1-6 jaeger battalion inside the pocket, from accumulated manpower and special replacements. The Entente contented itself with placing the pocket under close siege, in the same hex, and consoled itself with the fact that by the time the pocket surrendered, the units that conducted the siege would no longer have to demobilize for a significant period before re-entering the war. Normally three British colonial regiments demobilize when the Cameroon campaign ends, then return to service for East Africa later.

South Africa

Portuguese forces in central Angola consumed eight general supply points and completed the suppression of a level-1 rebellion back to a peaceful status. Heavier terrain shielded the two remaining Portuguese camps and the occupants hoped to remain safe until the South Africans could save them in October.

A new rebellion appeared in Angola, not surprisingly very near the existing level-4 rebellion, then expanded immediately to level-2 status.

East Africa

A new tribal rebellion broke out in far northeastern Mozambique, level-1, as if to balance that the Portuguese in the far southwest completely suppressed the rebellion that had briefly appeared there.

A large French force completed assembly at Mombasa and a part of the force pushed inland along the railway along the German frontier. The town of Tanga lay open for the 13th month, adjacent to both Mombasa and the German frontier defenses, but tsetse flies defended the town better than any jaeger and even without it the Germans would retain a functional supply network. British administrators further north called-up a brigade of native raiders and started it marching toward Mombasa.

German forces in Tanganyika welcomed yet another jaeger regiment to the defense force and provided it with the standard artillery complement.

Notes and comments to this point

  • French colonial and Army of Africa, and British colonial, manpower is like gold. None of those forces will accumulate 5 points during the whole war in Africa and the French get no foreign manpower at all, making their best units absolutely irreplaceable.
  • Italian, metropolitan and colonial, and Indian, manpower is surprisingly plentiful and all three forces can replace a few units gradually during the war in Africa.
  • Given that German units enjoy superior morale, there is no safe attack against German troops at any odds, but the Entente is able to mass against native and Boer units for assured results in many cases. Being safe slows campaigns but losing units would slow them more.
  • I’ve come to believe that the Sanussi should, at the minimum, place each Italian coastal enclave under siege. That would reduce Italian mischief, which otherwise can get out of hand when the Sanussi attack the French and the Italians get some reinforcements from Europe (per the OB, nothing extra) and replace a couple of units. The Italians in mid-1915 have real strength, relative to a bunch of overstretched irregulars.
  • Aside from the Italians, nobody has any incentive to take the fight to the Sanussi. The French and British might pick off a stray 1-0-7C or 1-6, but they’d be crazy to attack with any chance of an EX result. Even the Italians have bigger fish to fry; if they can hold the 3 cities, they’ve accomplished their mission and no morale point loss against the Sanussi helps with the war in Europe.
  • All that said, I think if I ever play the Sanussi again, I’ll probably invade the Sahara immediately with just a few, weak units – to max the manpower income – but actually attack the Italians on the coast as soon as the interior is cleaned-up and the supported Sanussi can all mass. Take a swipe at a weak port to attract the NGS, just maybe succeed anyway but probably get a bloody nose, then really whack another port on the same turn to get a probable win that could cripple the Italians in Libya and cost them…about 18 morale points in Europe over the course of the war.
    Then I think after a year of rebuilding I’d push a real Sanussi invasion into Algeria somewhere, just in time to let the eastern Berbers have a successful rebellion and cost the French some real units and morale points. Maybe the western Berber could even be dug out of their prisons by a dedicated Sanussi effort.
  • What cheeses me off intensely is the Germans in Namibia being allowed to run and hide in Angola. On the historical schedule in Europe, that completely screws the British, who can’t finish the Namibia campaign for a year past historical. It further ticks me off that the historically damp squib of a Boer Revolt basically can’t go anywhere near that badly for the Boers with any remotely plausible series of rolls…it would take Boer decisions that are deliberately self-destructive to even come close to historical (maybe the Boers voluntarily disband all their units during their first initial phase?). I’m also unhappy about the Germans in Cameroon being able to squat pretty safely on a pile of GSPs for half the war, though in that case the Entente at least gets some benefit from not ending the campaign. All those British and German morale points matter and the rules shove them away from historical results, which can only be achieved if the CP player wants to do badly.
  • I fear East Africa will go the same way, but there are more variables there and it may not. And, of course, the Entente has a huge ability to shift units between theaters where that didn’t happen historically, so the Entente should be able to at least start the various campaigns earlier than historical. I may have gone wrong in some of those decisions (a French amphibioius invasion of Namibia in about October 1914 might’ve been just the ticket, retrospectively, rather than hammering the Berbers).

Replay of the Africa Theater, JAN 15 – JUN 1915

Note: While playing the May 1916 turn of the Africa Theater, as part of DJ05, we discovered a modestly huge error: there is no minimum movement in Africa and we had been minimum moving freely. Under the rules, if a unit lacks the MP to enter a hex, it may not enter a hex even if that one hex movement would be the only hex it moved or fashion in which it spent MP during the phase. This certainly mattered to our results. Given both of our unhappiness with some operational decisions, neither of us felt as though resetting the theater would be a bad decision, so we reset the theater. On later review, we did not stop making operational errors in the second playing either.

JAN I and II, 1915

No African rebellions spread or increased in intensity during this bi-monthly period.

North Africa

Entente forces passed the first month of 1915 defensively in northern Africa. Italian forces welcomed their mounted rifle comrades back from the isolated replacement pool but otherwise made no noteworthy moves. French forces cursed mud in Morocco and waited for dry weather and a less costly, more certain victory. In Western Sahara, French forces evacuated Timbuktu by the magic of river transportation and took up positions more than half way to Dakar.

Sanussi forces continued to expand west and southwest, their scouting forces moving to positions all around the periphery of the Sahara from which they could raid into northern Algeria or Morocco, Spanish Rio de Oro, or the northern edges of the colonies along the northern Gulf of Guinea. Only in the far west, toward Dakar, did Sanussi expansion continue across the desert with prospect of further easy advance to come. Main force Sanussi units deployed widely across all fronts, easily able to defend the new empire from attacks by local Entente forces but not massed for any significant attacks.

Central Africa

British and French forces continued to build-up against Cameroon in January. A French battalion invaded Cameroon from the southeast to take the far eastern city of Karnot. An irregular labor division worked its way across southern Nigeria toward the northeastern prong of the invasion of Cameroon, where it would extend the Entente supply line. Supply points continued to flow into Nigeria by ship and into Cameroon by river boat and native porter. At the front, Entente and German remained locked in positions of best advantage to maintain the pressure or the supply network, respectively.

Southern Africa

South Africa’s defense forces made considerable progress toward suppressing the rebellion and conquering Namibia at the start of 1915. Loyal Boer trainees refilled the ranks of the first of nine eliminated loyal Boer brigades and moved into a provincial garrison. After the lone Boer unit adjacent to Johannesburg surrendered, freed-up loyal field force units completely encircled the five rebel units west of Johannesburg. Colonial British units in Rhodesia and Bechuanaland positioned themselves in the south of their colonies to best hinder any potential Boer or German move eastward across the middle of the continent.

British loss: 2 morale points for enemy-owned city in South Africa

Boer rebels mourned and rejoiced in unequal measure after New Year’s Day. Three of six units in the pocket around Mafeking surrendered during their initial phase due to being U-2 and isolated. The die-hard remainder of those units funneled into upgrading a construction regiment to a brigade (note: this may have been a rules error, upgrading in ZOC). Simultaneously, a supply point appeared in Mafeking and the Boers immediately broke it into general supply to sustain themselves for probably three months or more. The three hex pocket, being a supported brigade, an unsupported brigade, and a rifle regiment with a stray fractional manpower point, then waited, temporarily well fed, to see what the loyalists would do about the situation. Meanwhile, near the Okavango, the main Boer force remained at U-2 and unable to move. German forces provided no help to the Boers, being unable to break the siege in the south or get supplies to the force in the north in time to save the rebellion.

FEB I and II, 1915

Mud again oppressed the prospects of battle, but both sides took notable actions in February 1915. French administrators recruited an irregular unit to replace the Marins garrison of Upper Senegal Niger (North), which joined the remaining regular units in the retreat toward Dakar. Italian forces edged outward from their coastal cities, unimpressed by Sanussia forces remaining within reach of the coastal region, and ended the month holding not only three cities but also three oases near them. Sanussi forces from the Sahel edged southward, seizing several African tribal homelands and indoctrinating them to be another source of Brotherhood manpower. In Upper Senegal, main force Sanussi units came up and easily destroyed the French garrison.

Entente loss: French 0-1-6 irregular brigade

Sanussi loss: nothing

Central Africa

British and French forces continued to rationalize their pressure points and build-up for the main attack in Cameroon. Minimal Entente forces held defensible terrain in the southwest, northwest, and north, which forced the Germans to face off with them along the supply network road. The lone French battalion from the southeast continued to swim and chop forward through horrendous terrain toward Dzem. The main Entente advance, from the northeast, continued to receive reinforcements in expectation of attacking or overrunning something in the middle of the year, but again holding German forces pinned in front of it to maintain their supply network.

Southern and Eastern Africa

Mud continued to freeze Portuguese operations in Angola, whereas mud and insufficient forces combined to freeze every sides’ operations in Eastern Africa.

Mud protected everyone in South Africa and Namibia too; in the only notable action, a loyalist force positioned itself to overrun one hex of the rebel pocket.

MAR I and II, 1915

North Africa

The return of clear weather mattered not at all in Libya, Tunisia, or Algeria, but French forces in Morocco finally continued their offensive against the Berbers in March. At Taza, French forces massed 25 strength against 4 defense and both Berbers attempted to retreat before combat: both failed. Rough terrain and Berber home field advantage balanced adverse terrain expertise and superior morale for an DH result.

Entente losses: SP

Berber losses: 1-2-6 irregular brigade

The second Berber retreated into Spanish Morocco with both Berber supply points. The French then exploited to continue their grand plan.

Berber forces replaced two 1-2-6 irregular brigades, evacuated indefensible Er Rachidia, Quarzazate, and 0478 to the South of the Atlases, and clung to their widely separated coastal strongholds and surrounded Khenifra.

Sanussi achievements in March proved the value of incremental improvement. After a Turkish blockade runner landed equipment and ammunition, Sanussi forces upgraded 1-2-6 irregular brigade to 1*-2-6 near Tripoli. The newly aggressive Italians could not be allowed to threaten the Brotherhood’s main ammunition hoard and prime recruiting grounds of Fezzan and Tripolitania. Sanussi recruiters brought an impressive three manpower points into oasis holding pens from which roving emirs could replenish the ranks of any weakened brigades. At the front, Sanussi forces cautiously continued south into Nigeria and Chad and west toward Dakar, but caution and security in the face of significant European regular forces kept both advances minimal.

Central Africa

Clear weather significantly shifted the balance of power in Cameroon too. The French battalion from the southeast finally cut the Germans off from the bit of their supply network that extended to Dzem in that direction. Simultaneously, British forces finally took advantage of months of strength building, supply assembling, supply line extending, and anti-Sanussi garrisoning, to attack the German defenders of Fumban. Adverse terrain expertise balanced the terrain but German morale superiority over the colonial attackers shifted the results away from DR directly onto EX.

Entente losses: SP and 2*-6 British Colonial regiment

German losses: 1-2-6 jaeger battalion

The British could neither advance nor exploit forward due to being at the uttermost end of their supply line, but they did adjust their position for optimal future action.

The Germans replaced their eliminated jaeger battalion and completed forming a construction regiment during the month. Operationally, German forces abandoned Fumban, and consolidated their position in the south. German forces occupied the triangle Duala on the northwest cost, thru Oyem east of Spanish Guinea, thru Bertua in the center of the colony, along the main road and railroad back to Duala. That region, the core of Cameroon, lay exposed to Entente attack from the northeast at Bertua or along the coast at Duala, but otherwise enjoyed the protection of the Sanaga River to its north. The region contained exactly the five connected towns necessary for adequate food and laundry services.

Southern Africa

Portuguese forces in Angola rejoiced at the breaking of dry weather and finally attacked a rebellious tribe. The tribe had been at level-2 rebellion during February but became even more unfriendly during March and the Portuguese attack successfully reduced it from level-3 to level-2, at the cost of an SP, instead of wiping out what had been a level-2 rebellion.

South African forces took advantage of newly dry weather to overrun the rebel Boers in Mafeking. The South Africans then positioned themselves to overrun the remainder of the pocket during April.

German forces welcomed a construction regiment to the defense of Namibia.

Eastern Africa

The Royal Navy finally sunk the SMS Konigsberg during March, but German forces salvaged plenty of equipment from it and duly replaced a 1-2-7 machinegun battalion to stiffen the colony’s defenses.

APR I and II, 1915

North Africa

The cautious Sanussi advance toward Dakar continued but that toward the South largely stopped, so the French attack against the Berbers at Khenifra proved the only noteworthy event of the month. French forces in overwhelming strength spent ammunition lavishly and the Berbers, unable to safely retreat, responded in kind. Superior French morale and terrain expertise mostly counterbalanced Berber home field advantage and the wooded rough terrain so that a French setback was unlikely – and they proved victorious.

Entente losses: 2x SP

Berber losses: SP, 1-2-6 and 1-6 irregular brigades

After victory over the last Berber stronghold away from their coastal enclaves, the French front line against the Berbers amounted to only 11 hexsides, down from 16 at the start of the world war and 19 after the offensive began segmenting the Berber positions. The Berbers, however, remained as militarily strong as they had been and deployed their forces much more compactly, so that offensive action no longer remained unthinkable – though it certainly remained difficult.

Sanussi forces continued to maneuver their way westward as French colonial forces cautiously withdrew ahead of them.

Everywhere Else

Mud weather almost everywhere south of the Sahel turned April into a slow month, though with a few notable events. Colonial administrators finished pushing a third division of native labor onto porter duties into northeastern Cameroon and British and French forces duly advanced to the last positions they could take before exterminating the German supply network. Portuguese forces in Angola attacked a tribe at level-2 rebellion and, despite the mud, reduced it to level-1. South African loyalists reflated another Boer brigade for garrison duty in one of the southern provinces of the Union. Its political support broken, the Boer Revolt collapsed and the movement’s military forces in the field largely surrendered – one brigade went into exile and sloshed fifty miles toward Namibia. South African forces flooded toward Namibia, quickly by rail or slowly by foot and hoof but both with conquest in their hearts.

MAY I and II, 1915

North Africa

As clear weather continued along the Mediterranean Sea coast, Entente forces moved forcefully against natives and Germans alike. Italian forces grabbed the biggest headline of the month with a series of sorties that almost surrounded the Sanussi garrison of Nasirah oasis impressively then badly bungled the resulting battle. The Italian force included cavalry, light troops, and almost all the artillery and rifle units in the colony. The light units negated the Sanussi desert combat advantage and the very common 6:1 attack resulted in the very common EX result due to the very common combat roll of 1.

Entente loss: 3x SP, 1-2-7 light rifle regiment, 2*-6 colonial light rifle regiment, 1/3 morale point

Sanussi loss: SP, 1*-6 and 1*-2-6 irregular brigades while isolated

The Italians then exploited back to Zaura, Tripoli, and a couple of oases.

Further West, seven French light units Morocco by ship or boat for duty in Cameroon, where the first wave went ashore at Victoria.

In the Western Sahara and along the southern fringe of the Sahel, British and French forces took up a neat cordon defense that the Sanussi would be unable to attack usefully at any point due to mud.

Offensively, the Sanussi duly followed-up slowly the French and British, particularly in Niger Military Region – North, where the French withdrew their garrison after losing ownership of all towns and oases.

Defensively, the Sanussi sent three brigades from around the central Sahara into or toward Libya to reinforce the defense of the core oases against the strangely aggressive Italians.

Sanussi forces also recruited 3.5 manpower points, a high, a new unit of camel troops in Timbuktu, received another new unit into the replacement pool from Oudane in the far West. In Libya, to stand-off the bloodied Italians the Sanussi upgraded one each 1-6 and 1-2-6 units into 1*-2-6 strength.

Berber forces replaced 1-2-6 and 1-6 units in West Morocco.

A level-1 rebellion in Chad expanded to level-2 intensity.

Central Africa

A rare battalion of British regulars, scheduled to debark in Mombasa found itself shortstopped at Port Harcourt and sent up the Niger River to join the invasion of Cameroon from the northeast. The men had heard about tsetse flies and seemed happy at the change while they practiced with a newly provided battery of mountain artillery, originally manufactured in 1873 and dug out of some Boer War-era demobilization site for this new conflict.

South Africa

South African recruiters sent enough reformed rebels to the ranks in May to, with the dregs of the existing depots, rebuild two Boer brigades for garrison duty. A colonial light rifle battalion simultaneously absorbed another battery of those old mountain guns. The new Boer brigades completed, again, the Dominion’s provincial garrisons with a picket line along the southern border of Bechuanaland to prevent cavalry raids from the north. The Dominion of South Africa spent May putting forth every effort toward the conquest of Namibia, both at home and at the front.

The South African invasion of Namibia went forward in two prongs to solid initial success. A lone brigade of cavalry advanced along the coast to occupy Luderitzbucht, the southern Namibian port and rail yard, and thereby formed the logistical basis for a subsequent advance into the heart of the colony. Three brigades lunged directly up the rail and road line into that heart to attack the German battalion defending Reheboth. The South Africans achieved 6:1 odds after the Germans failed to retreat before combat, but the Germans could retreat safely so they conserved ammunition and did so after a few skirmishes in an DR result.

Entente loss: SP

German loss: nothing, except the supply network broken

South African forces naturally advanced into the town while others spread out to the East and West to prevent cavalry raids from cutting off the invading army.

While white troops hogged the headlines in central Namibia, a colonial battalion amphibiously assaulted the police station in Swakopmund, the northern port of the German colony, and found it devoid of defenders. While the colonials began rounding up unemployed dock workers a powerful rifle regiment of South Africans came ashore in exploitation to truly defend the place.

The landing craft of the Royal Navy then departed for Mauritius to pick up a newly formed regiment of field artillery.

North of Namibia, the Portuguese army in Angola suddenly took notice of its peril. German troops in Namibia had no compunction about invading a neutral colony and not only lurked in position to do so strongly but also lacked a supply network in Namibia. All those natives, who the Portuguese had been busily suppressing for profit, suddenly looked like actual threats who would gleefully supply German invaders with endless food. The Portuguese thus moved away northward to the mountainous line through the center of the colony where all the area garrisons could work together for mutual defense. A casual attempt to suppress rebels near Huambo failed at 6:1 with a modified 0 combat roll.

For their part, the German defenders of Namibia lacked any good options by mid-May 1915. One supply point formed 30 general supply points, to sustain the small force for some months to come, but the colony was clearly lost. That the exiled Boers overawed a level-3 rebellion in Angola from going to level-4 proved further disheartening. Except for the slow and out-of-position construction regiment and some general supply points too numerous to cart away, German forces then sprinted northward, into Angola and to safety from pursuing Entente forces for the time being.

East Africa

Tanganyika’s defenders replaced 2-1-6 heavy artillery battalion with the proceeds of the annual blockade runner from Germany. The artillery might not ever attack, but it will support various lighter units and increase the defense of the colony by much more than a single point.

Britain’s focus on everything except Uganda finally cost the Empire in May as the previously unhappy level-1 rebellion there became positively disenchanted with events and became a level-2 rebellion.

JUN I and II, 1915

North Africa

After an eventful month that removed a lot of Entente units from the command, the Entente nonetheless continued its aggression in June. Italian forces kept their central threat alive but worked primarily to setup a July move to occupy Sirte, the only Sanussi port. French defensive forces organized more completely to withstand the Berbers and Sanussi in the absence of the best mobile units of the French, now gone to Cameroon, but French camel units took positions on the southern frontier and raided numerous oases, to cut back on Sanussi manpower recruitment. The Sanussi re-took those places, and continued edging toward Senegal, but would continue to lose many frontier oases regularly.

Central Africa

By the end of exploitation, British in the east and French forces facing Duala both stood ready for serious efforts against the static Germans in Cameroon, to take effect upon the onset of clear weather or July, respectively.

South Africa

South African forces continued their frenzy in June. Four brigades of home defense militias demobilized after May’s departure of the last enemy Boer unit from Bechuanaland, so another wave of garrison jockeying consumed much effort in June. In Namibia, surrounding the German construction regiment in movement then overrunning it in exploitation proved scarcely more challenging. That overrun cost Germany its last city in Namibia and thus its replacement pool and half accumulated manpower point. Elsewhere along the front, the South Africans spread widely but strongly along an east to west stretch that would prevent German cavalry raids and somewhat retard native rebellions.

Portuguese forces in Angola prayed the Germans would leave them in peace but nonetheless split into three armed camps based on the three sector garrisons, each well provided with supply points and at least some artillery and so with some hope of bloodying, or even surviving, a German attack. Two camps, adjacent to a rebellious tribal region, combined their efforts and again failed to reduce the angry locals closer to subservience.

German forces continued to consume general supply points while taking ownership of four native tribal areas to provide them with subsistence until the Entente could invade Angola in October. Given the schedule of events and the requirement to consume general supply points first, we removed the German general supply points from play at this time.

In Europe, months earlier, the Entente took the decision to provide all foreign aid to Portugal as early as possible, rather than on a historical schedule, and thus to bring Portugal into the war in October 1915. That decision cost the Entente some equipment for its armies early in the war and eventually brought the Entente the Portuguese Expeditionary Force of two reinforced divisions (which are subject to disbanding upon a Civil War that the rules make very likely, whereas it historically did not happen). What turned out to be much more relevant was that the Germans in Angola would be vulnerable to vengeful South Africans a full five months earlier in DJ05 than they would have been on the historical schedule.

That said, it seems an unintentional quirk in the rules that Germans can invade Portuguese colonies and hide in them, safe from both from pursuing Entente forces and Portuguese reinforcements from Europe.

East Africa

German forces in the East welcomed yet another new jaeger regiment to the front in June and made sure it towed two batteries of guns on its way to garrison Mount Kilimanjaro.

Replay of the Africa Theater, AUG 14 – DEC 14

Note: While playing the May 1916 turn of the Africa Theater, as part of DJ05, we discovered a modestly huge error: there is no minimum movement in Africa and we had been minimum moving freely. Under the rules, if a unit lacks the MP to enter a hex, it may not enter a hex even if that one hex movement would be the only hex it moved or fashion in which it spent MP during the phase. This certainly mattered to our results. Given both of our unhappiness with some operational decisions, neither of us felt as though resetting the theater would be a bad decision, so we reset the theater. On later review, we did not stop making operational errors in the second playing either.

AUG 1914

Libya

If Italy lost control of Tripoli, Homs, or Zaura, Tripolitania’s three cities and three of its four ports, Italy would incur morale penalties and suffer more greatly in the new world war. Therefore, Italian forces responded to political dictate and prioritized security of those three places throughout the war.

A lonely and sacrificial brigade of Italian cavalrymen began the war deployed at Ghadames and survived August there on dates and tepid water. In September, with orders to move, their horses proved so weak that the brigade could not reach the coast before surrendering during the Sanussi initial phase.

Italian loss in September: 2-1-7 heavy cavalry brigade, eliminated isolated; 1.33 morale points

A brigade of colonial riflemen similarly began the war at an oasis in the deep desert, but its less dedicated (more able to desert to the local population) men failed to last through August before surrendering to Sanussi patrols.

Italian loss: 1-2-5 colonial rifle X

A second, more powerful brigade of colonial riflemen likewise began the war in the deep desert and these men held together throughout August, fired by the dream of returning to the nomadic way of life that had held sway for hundreds of years before the hated Europeans arrived on scene. This brigade held firm on paper, negotiated in secret, and took its artillery battery with it into Sanussi service in mid-September.

Italian loss in September: 2*-3-5 colonial rifle X

Sanussi gain: assorted manpower and equipment

While the Italians self-destructed, Sanussi forces boxed in the colonial brigades, occupied the last few oases in Libya, and prepared to attack the French.

Northwest Africa

French forces in overwhelming strength but disorganized by rule faced Berber rebels unable to realistically attack or usefully maneuver against their opponents, so the month passed peacefully in this command. French forces in northern Algeria and Tunisia girded for Sanussi aggression by garrisoning critical cities and a very few select geographic chokepoints on the edge of the Sahara Desert. In the deep desert, a few Tuareg-French units tried to take conservative positions against the same threat.

Central Africa

Entente forces decisively invaded Togoland immediately upon the outbreak of war. French forces pinned the hastily mustered police and militia while British colonial regiments in overwhelming force assaulted their defensive position around the critical, coastal radio station. The assault went perfectly despite superior German morale.

Entente loss: SP

German loss: 0-1-5 rifle II

From Senegal, French river transports carried two regiments of colonial troops to southern Nigeria, and one to Gabon, in preparation for the Cameroon campaign. This early emphasis on Cameroon, seemingly proactive and “getting a head start” ended up being a bad Entente mistake.

Three lonely battalions of Germans defended the key overland gateways to Cameroon.

Southern Africa

The government of South Africa, out of concern for German poaching and smuggling, already planned to deploy its forming but unquestionably disloyal Boer units north of the Okavango Delta when war broke out in Europe. Colonial, South African, and British units would garrison provinces and police key cities in southern portion of the Union of South Africa, as they already did in August.

French naval transports from Morocco sailed to Madagascar in August, retrieved a colonial regiment, and sailed back toward South Africa. The garrison of Madagascar could not be allowed to remain over-strength when other needs pressed so urgently.

The Boers did not revolt.

German forces, three battalions, garrisoned Namibia (German Southwest Africa) and pretended peaceful intentions toward Boer and Briton alike.

Eastern Africa

Three battalions of Germans and larger, weaker British forces could only garrison their key positions and wait for reinforcement this early in the war.

Belgian troops invaded Burundi and deprived Tanganyika’s defenders of the first cities to fall from their supply network.

Tsetse fly zones dominated initial deployments and will heavily influence the entire campaign in East Africa. The natural South African invasion route into this theater is through Rhodesia and crosses fly-infested zones both in Rhodesia and again in Tanganyika. The far western region of this theater is indefensible for the Germans because it is likewise accessible from central and eastern regions only via fly-infested paths, but is accessible safely along difficult routes from Belgian Congo. From the north, invaders could enter this theater either across Lake Victoria or past Mount Kilimanjaro then along a narrow route that passes through ideal positions for defense in depth. From the East, Britons could amphibiously invade through Dar a Salaam to avoid the flies, but again only to reach an invasion route blocked by excellent defensive terrain. Fundamentally, however, Entente forces will eventually be numerous and far enough encroached to move through the fly zones and seize many cities across the theater. When that time arrives, superficial analysis indicates that the Germans will have to maneuver through the fly zones too, either to retake their supply network or gradually retreat into Mozambique to live off the generosity of the natives.

SEP I and II, 1914

No African rebellions grew or spread during the bi-monthly check.

Libya

The Italian colonial administration scrapped its rifle brigade, which would not be replaceable for several years, and kept sending gifts to Italian admirals and captains who could provide gunfire support in the event of any Sanussi attack on an Italian force occupying a Libyan port.

On the ground, the Italian military moved more boldly. While troops from Tripoli occupied Zaura, the rifle brigade from Sirte evacuated its oasis port (possibly a mistake) and marched west. The rifle brigade from Homs simultaneously sortied eastward. Metropolitan and colonial light troops from Giofra simultaneously marched toward the coast and the combined force caught a Sanussi brigade between them. The Sanussi tried and failed to flee and the fire discipline of regular troops easily destroyed them.

Italian loss: SP

Sanussi loss: 1-6 irregular X

The combined Italian forces then exploited into or toward Homs.

For their part, the Sanussi declared war on France, erupted into the central Sahara, flipped two of three Tuareg-French units to Sanussi loyalty, and grabbed many oases. The Sanussi left an offensively weak but defensively sufficient force to face the Italians and guard supply stockpiles. Sanussi main force units, toting ammunition, cautiously followed their advanced scouts toward the west and southwest.

Northwest Africa

French forces worked to overcome disorganization and withdrawals throughout the month.

Berber forces again sat tight, with no particular hope of offensive action against French not yet weakened and out of position by their own attacks.

Central Africa

Entente forces began the invasion of Cameroon this month. Approximately three regiments of British colonials moved into or toward Cameroon overland from the northwest and north through imposing mountains. Two regiments of French colonials from Chad invaded Cameroon from the northeast, destroyed the unoccupied German fort, and began lopping off the northeastern extension of the Cameroon supply network. A French colonial regiment invaded Kribi amphibiously to occupy the small southwestern extension of the Cameroon supply network and threaten the central part of the network.

German forces welcomed a newly completed regiment and spread its two battalions to join Cameroon’s cordon defense. At no point could German forces mass to attack without leaving the other Entente forces free access to disassemble the colony’s supply network, but neither could the relatively small Entente forces attack the blocking forces with likely success.

The Entente planned to conquer Cameroon by pressure from all directions to squeeze, puncture, and finally deflate the starfish-shaped colony. Entente invasions would come as soon as possible from the sea in the southwest, through the mountains from the northwest, and from the open northeastern corridor. That pressure would force the Germans to spread themselves into a cordon around their all-important supply network, five cities connected by the circular road running around the center of the colony with a few extensions. The Germans would thus be immobilized and unable to take the offensive while Entente reinforcements and garrisons fended off any Sanussi threat. In a few months, administrators would hire native labor units to extend supply lines, French battalions from Gabon and Congo would occupy the southern and southeastern German cities, and finally reinforcements would allow an Entente overrun or attack to break the German position and supply network on the circle road.

As it happens, that Entente plan was defective. It could be perfectly foreseen to work well, but it would certainly be implemented by forces that could have been better used elsewhere. While insufficient to break the Cameroonian supply network, the forces might have dramatically helped the campaigns in East and Southwest Africa. Later and with reinforcements, the Entente could have turned on Cameroon in strength for swifter results.

Southern and Eastern Africa experienced tense calm in September 1914 as the Boers did not revolt. Both sides gathered reinforcements so that Germany deployed five battalions in each East and Southwest Africa in September, and a few ships passed back or forth. Various Boer units completed forming and marched away northward. Neither side felt it could launch an offensive and even the Belgian conquest of Rwanda and Burundi ended with every Belgian unit in Africa in garrison and unavailable for field duty.

OCT I and II, 1914

North Africa

French forces finally attacked the Berbers in October, with 12.25 attack massed against 2 defense at grid 0475. The Berbers saw the aimless scratches on the rocky cave side and tried to flee, failed, did not pointlessly call for ammunition supplies from nearby tribes, and suffered destruction.

French losses: SP

Berber losses: 1-2-6 irregular X

French colonial administrators planned a limited campaign to contain the Berber menace for the duration of the war in Europe. The arc of Moroccan Berber rebel tribes lay from the Atlantic coast of Morocco at the crisis city of Agadir, through the foothills on both sides of the Atlas Mountains, to the Mediterranean coast of Spanish Morocco. French forces from the enclave around Casablanca would hold in the south and northeast and attack southeastward. French forces from Algeria would attack southwestward. The Berbers of the High Atlas already subscribed to French sovereignty and would be left autonomous, hostile to rebel Berbers and Sanussi alike, as a pivot around which the French could maneuver with some freedom. Gradually, with overwhelming force, French forces would wage a series of battles and force apart the ends of the Berber position until the rebels occupied only southwestern Morocco and their enclave on Spanish territory. At those lines, the French planned to defend with relatively static forces and to send more mobile or offensive units elsewhere.

The French high command considered and rejected proposals to fully crush the Berbers in Morocco because, while the task could be accomplished, the force required to do the job would be too large, occupied for too long, and take too many casualties to make the game worthy of the candle. The Berbers could fight defensively with some strength, albeit with limited ammunition, but their offensive strength would probably not threaten the French significantly.

Other French and all remaining Italian forces defended their cities and chokepoints uneventfully, lest Sanussi raiders appear on the horizon.

Sanussi forces, meanwhile, spread westward and southward. Sanussi raiders threatened Tunisia and Algeria from the south but did not move to combat there. Other raiders, backed by some main force units, moved toward Nigeria and Chad. Still other raiders pushed westward, gathering oases and recruiting whole tribes for the cause. Main force units in the center encircled the holdout Tuareg-French unit and flipped the fourth such unit to Sanussi loyalty.

Central Africa

As expected, the Entente drive into Cameroon stalled due to lack of forces at the front and a Sanussi threat from the north. British and French reinforcements spread across central Nigeria to protect the valuable southern portion of that colony and the riverine supply line through it to northeastern Cameroon. Neither side yet realized that the Sanussi operational area left Southern Nigeria immune to their aggression, so that the colony required only an internal, policing garrison.

Southern and Eastern Africa

Little happened in these commands as the Boers failed to revolt. South African defenses thickened in Cape Province and a Portuguese unit arrived from the homeland to complete the garrison of Mozambique.

NOV I and II, 1914

North Africa

Italians and Sanussi stared at each other restlessly but quietly in northern Libya throughout the month.

Pursuant to their plan for Morocco, most French forces there defended their huge frontier with the Berbers, some 19 hex sides or almost 1000 miles. Meanwhile, some elite, light, or logistical units prepared for the next attack, against the Berbers at Taza, on the Morocco to Algeria road.

Far to the southwest, French forces massed three and a half regiments within 400 miles of Timbuktu, apparently to hold back the Sanussi tide.

In the southeast, French forces from Chad lunged forward and easily destroyed a rash Sanussi scouting force.

Entente loss: nothing

Sanussi loss: 1-0-7C irregular X (isolated)

The French then retired to form a line of outposts stretching northeastward from Lake Chad. The Sanussi could not immediately outflank the French position and lacked heavy forces near enough to attack the dispersed French.

Overjoyed at the arrival of a German blockade runner in support of their anti-European jihad, Sanussi forces upgraded a scouting 1-0-7C irregular brigade into a main force 1*-7C irregular brigade and easily destroyed the only Tuareg-French unit to remain loyal to its European masters.

Entente loss: 1-0-7C French Foreign irregular regiment (subsequently scrapped, with its stragglers sent to join the Legion)

Sanussi loss: nothing

Central Africa

No native groups in West or Central Africa revolted or spread existing anti-colonial ideas during the bi-monthly period.

British and French colonial administrators called-up the last currently available irregular warriors, in Nigeria and far south of Timbuktu respectively, but more call-ups would follow soon as the irregulars repeatedly relieved regular garrisons and delayed the Sanussi before being dispersed by them.

Southern Africa

In South Africa, dissident Boer political and military leaders rose to throw off the shackles of British imperialism. A host of Boers across the Union, and all but two Boer units of the defense forces of South Africa, immediately joined the revolt.

Simultaneously, but much less relevantly, a new African rebellion began in southern Mozambique.

Both level-1 rebellions in Angola brightened from warm ash to glowing embers, level-2.

As if in response, a Portuguese regiment arrived in Angola to prepare to suppress the four local rebellions (two level-3 rebellions also exist at game start). Its copious ammunition indicated imminent hard times for rebels as colonial administrators finally deployed enough troops to begin offensive operations.

Loyal South African forces upgraded a schools regiment into a supported schools brigade in November and ushered four brigade of loyal militia into service for the emergency.

On the new front, loyal South African forces spread a network of patrols and outposts along the Orange River, through Basutoland, to Swaziland, to try to guarantee Entente supply and rail network integrity along the coast. Forward of the line, a well-supplied garrison formed to defend Johannesburg. The two loyal Boer brigades in the north retreated eastward to maintain their supply line to the railroad in that direction and also to prevent rebel Boer movement in that direction.

British loss: 2 morale points for enemy-owned city in South Africa

Boer rebels faced serious problems immediately in their revolt, despite deploying impressive military force. Spontaneously formed units in the Eastern Cape Province, Transvaal, and Orange Free State captured five undefended cities west of Johannesburg but could not hope to defend their supply network. The vast bulk of rebel Boer power lay in the north, where the already U-2 rebels could not move their horses through cloying mud and across a wadi while being actively harassed by loyalist Boers.

German forces provided a bright spot for the Central Powers in this command during November. From their defensive deployment in Namibia, three German battalions used railroad and road movement to invade Cape Province and strike an exposed South African regiment. The Germans enjoyed morale superiority and terrain expertise whereas the South Africans cleverly lacked much ammunition. The English followed the standard British plan for early war battles: they surrendered after a brief skirmish.

Entente losses: 2-3-5 rifle regiment (they had no SP to spend), 1/3 morale point

German losses: SP eliminated

DEC I and II, 1914

Mud dramatically hindered activities in almost every part of Africa where either side attempted mobile operations. It caused the outright cancellation of every battle considered by either side.

North Africa

While Italian and French forces edged about for local advantage, the Sanussi moved more broadly. Italian forces finished entrenching Zaura, to questionable advantage, and clung to their coastal cities. French forces edged closer to their next attack on the Berbers. Yet another new tribe joined their Brotherhood in the Sahara. Supported units slipped southward to firmly define Sanussi holdings in northern Chad and Nigeria while the scouting forces continued to lead the wave of expansion toward Timbuktu, Dakar, and Rio de Oro.

Central Africa

Though in Cameroon and the Sahel the weather was dry, neither side in the struggle for Cameroon took decisive action in December. Entente forces from the north coast of the Gulf of Guinea continued to trickle into southern Nigeria, strengthening the defense against the Sanussi and the supply line to northeastern Cameroon, but those forces remained only barely adequate in Nigeria and only moved toward where they would be useful against the Germans later. German commanders in Cameroon welcomed their new regiment to the front, so that seven battalions held the line by the end of the month.

Southern Africa

In Angola, Portuguese forces assembled further and awaited clear weather in order to begin returning rebels to their colonial obedience.

South African defense forces slogged toward victory at the end of 1914. Nothing could happen quickly in the mud, but the loyalists managed to cut-up the Boer supply network and encircle most of the local Boers in a loose triangle about 130 miles on a side. The loyalists also surrounded a lone Boer brigade immediately southwest of Johannesburg. On their northwestern flank, the South Africans also managed a defense sufficient to hold off any cavalry adventures the Germans might attempt through the mud. In the far north, loyalist and rebel Boers both suffered badly from lack of supplies by the start of December and neither could disengage from the other due to mud movement cost for cavalry units and leaving enemy zones of control.

During the Central Powers’ initial phase, one of the two Boer loyalist units in the north turned coat and joined the rebellion, but it was a doomed effort. The remaining Boer loyalists in the north kept the main rebel force immobilized in the mud north of the Okavango Delta. In the south, Boer rebels could neither move nor plausibly attack and waited their doom.

German commanders in Namibia welcomed their new regiment to service, so that seven battalions picketed the front by the end of the month.

East Africa

German defenders of Tanganyika presented an allotment of mortars and machineguns to their recently formed jaeger regiment, the sixth and seventh battalions of the defending “army,” while both sides remained essentially stationary. Nearby, British colonial forces gradually swelled toward full garrisons in Rhodesia and its environs.