Marita-Merkur (MM)

In the spring of 1941, the political situation in the Balkans had detoriated enough to the Axis' disadvantage that Hitler feared a British intervention. Over the winters course, Italy's army had suffered one emberassing defeat after another by the Greek that tenaciously defended their country against Mussolinis attempt to add the little kingdom to his Mediterranean empire. And while Romania and Hungary were solidly in the Axis fold, Yugoslavia gave no signs to be a willing accomplice in the assault on the Soviet Union the Germans where preparing.  After a Putsch in Belgrade removed the last peddlers of german influence, the Nazis decided to "clear" the current situation and establish another protectorate. Troops already marching towards the Soviet-German demarcation line hastily deployed South...

Marita and Merkur are the German code names for the attacks on Greece and Yugoslavia, respectively. Marita-Merkur was originally scheduled as Europa Game III and was supposed to follow fast on the heels of Unentschieden. When the designers encountered difficulties in pinning down some aspects of troop strengths in the Balkans, the decision was made to skip MM for the moment and tackle a campaign which was more fully documented - Narvik.

Europa Game III, designed by John M. Astell and Paul R. Banner.

First Edition, May 1979:
Initial publication by Games Designer´s Workshop with a red collage art box

Second Edition, April 1984:
Rhe game was repackaged in a blue Europa Map box

Game components

• One and a half map
• Two and a half sheets of die cut counters (Europa Counter Sheets 20, 21 and 22)
• One rules folder
• One set of charts:
  • Map Legend
  • Greek & British Order of Battle / Reinforcements
  • Jugoslav Order of Battle
  • Italian, Hungarian & German Order of Battle / Reinforcements
  • Combat Results Tables (x2)
  • Unit Identification Chart
  • Turn Record Chart / Weather table / Allied Breakdown Chart / Allied Victory Points
  • Axis Breakdown Chart / Axis Victory Points

Errata sheets for the game were dated 17 July 1979, 24 Oct 1979, and 18 Jan 1985. The 18 Jan 1985 errata is definitive.

Printed: 6,048

• A Winter War (AWW)
• Balkan Front (BF)
• Case White (CW)
• Drang nach Osten (DNO)
• Fall of France (FOF)
• Fire in the East (FitE)
• First to Fight (FTF)
• For Whom The Bell Tolls (FWTBT)
• Marita-Merkur (MM)
• Narvik (NV)
• Scorched Earth (SE)
• Second Front (SF)
• Spain and Portugal (SP)
• Storm over Scandinavia (SOS)
• The Collector´s Edition
• The Near East (TNE)
• The Urals (TU)
• Their Finest Hour (TFH)
• Torch (TO)
• Total War (TW)
• Unentschieden (UN)
• War In The Desert (WitD)
• Western Desert (WD)