Allied Player turn

Weather: A 3 & 4 result in mud in the north and clear in the south, and calm seas in the med.

Initial phase: The first significant British reinforcements arrive, consisting of the 1st Arm X. A colonial construction unit also makes an appearance. The Allies lose 1 VP for not having the required garrison on Crete. For the Axis, everything except the F‘s goes on naval patrol.

Mov‘t phase: The engineers fix things, and troops begin to shift towards Corinth and Patrai to protect these vital choke points. The line between the Albanian and Bulgarian front begins to solidify. The construction unit moves from Egypt to Khania, thereby reestablishing the Cretan garrison. This mov‘t is not interfered with by Axis planes, since their preferred target is the tankers of the 1st Arm X. These folks wait until the exploit to sea move.

Combat phase: No planes really available for DAS, and no need anyway due to mud. No combat.

Exploit: Fearing the Axis air units on Scarpanto, the Allies begin an attempt to reduce this base. The P24‘s and the Blens attempt an airbase bombing raid. The Italian Mxd F and German Me110‘s rise up to the challenge, with Mxd F taking on the escorting P24‘s while the heavier 110‘s head for the bombers. In air to air, a 3 and 5 result for the interceptors and escorts, resulting in both planes aborted (Italian 2F2‘s facing Greek 4F4‘s consider this a fair trade.) The Me110‘s roll an 8, compared to the Brit‘s 11, so the Blenhiems are driven off with an R. Expecting a follow-up raid with the British Hurricane 1‘s, G50bis‘s out of Albania stage to the Dodecanese and fly CAP over Scarpanto. As expected, the Hurricane‘s then launch. The Me110‘s scramble away just in case, while the CAP switches to intercept and the Hurricanes choose to keep their bomb racks loaded. Unfortunately for the Axis, this apparently doesn‘t slow them significantly, and both units miss one another (7 for Axis, 10 for Allies). An AA roll of 7 does little on the 1 column, and then the Hurricanes roll a 5 for a hit against the German Ju88A‘s. The 1st Armored then departs Egypt able to avoid a long range intercept out of Scarpanto. They head for Kalamai and unload there (this is later determined to be illegal since the port is on the central med, an area not officially in-play in the BF scenario, but they could just as easily have landed at Gythion, which would have been Aegean, so it makes little real difference.) Long range naval patrol out of Albania launches, first a Z506 which successfully contacts the unloading transports with a 5. AA fails with a 7, but the bombers roll a 1 and a 4 for their two strikes and miss the 1st Armored and it‘s associated NTP. Five NTP mov‘t points later the BR.20M‘s launch , also from Valona, and they too successfully find the unit unloading at Kalamai.
Unfortunately a lucky 3 on AA drives the bombers off, which is fortunate indeed since a 4 and 6 would have been the bombing results. C‘est la guerre (or whatever the Italian equivalent.) The tanks head towards Corinth…

Axis Player turn

Initial phase: ARPs bring back the aborted Mxd F on Rodi. German ARPs that should have arrived aren‘t discovered in time, so they won‘t get the chance to bring back the aborted Ju88A until next turn (errata question and answer arrived after files posted.) More reinforcements for the front, artillery and construction units, which will head for the Greek front this time. Another Ju88A is called up at the cost of -2 Vps.

Mov‘t phase: Naval interference has no effect on the Italian units headed to Albania. Four more raids by the Me110‘s and 3 Italian bombers on the Melian port result in a single hit. Three railroad strike missions result in a single hit west of Thessalonike (thanks to the returned Ju87B/R unit!). A rail-marshalling yard strike by the BR.20M‘s gets by flak but misses (this unit‘s commander is fired, as despite the recent conversion to new and improved airframes, they haven‘t hit a thing yet!)

Combat & Exploit: Nada…

End of turn: VP totals are now 42 to 6 in favor of the Axis