Historical Background:
News of the German Paratrooper landings reached Brigadier Chappell’s headquarters at about the same time the first Fallschirmjägers were landing in Heraklion. Under orders from Chappell, the 2nd Leicester attacked out of the town and into Buttercup Field before the Germans could regroup. To the east of town, elements of the 1st Fallschirmjäger Regiment had landed near Ames Ridge and quickly set up a defensive position; along the coast, others began moving toward the airfield and into the outskirts of Heraklion. Not knowing the exact strength nor position of his enemy, Chappell counterattacked cautiously, while trying to remain on the defensive.
Briefing:
Axis 5 Command cards. Allied 5 Command cards; move first.
Conditions of Victory:
6 Medals. The Airfield is a Temporary Medal Objective for the Axis Forces.
A Turn Start Temporary Medal Objective Medal is awarded to the Axis forces when any three town hexes are occupied at the start of the Axis player’s turn. The moment one or more of these units vacate any of these hexes for any reason (movement, retreat or elimination), the medal is removed from the Axis player’s medal track.
Special Rules:
British Commonwealth Forces Command rules (Nations 5 - British Commonwealth Forces).
British Armour unit only has 2 figures and it only moves 2 hexes.
Cretan Partisan Civilian unit has 3 figures and it is played like French Resistance (Nations 1 - French Resistance).
All Axis infantry units are Para Special Forces (Troops 2 -Specialized Units).
When an Air Power card is played, the Axis player rolls 2 dice, the Allied player only 1 die.
The river hexes are impassable; they represent the Mediterranean coast.
Report
There have been many scenarios created for this famous battle, but this is the original one from Richard Borg.
And it is another relatively straightforward, easy to set up and play game.
Set up:
(Sorry, photos a bit blurry due to smartphone camera and Pilsner!)
Again my opponent (Axis) was too cautious, but this time he was really let down by cards and dice. And I was greatly aided by the Return to Duty Combat Card, which I played alongside a General Advance, meaning that (with good dice throws) all my infantry units were back to full strength.
For those who have not used Combat Cards, I would recommend trying them (and see this discussion in Officers Mess)
So it was a whitewash in the end, but still an interesting game.
The end:
