Anniversary game: July
Last month Ben_Phillis came up with the great idea of doing an anniversary game for Omaha Beach. We then discussed making this a monthly event. The aim is to get the community a bit more active by sharing their experiences with various scenarios, as well as to stimulate a bit of a historical challenge – there are so many scenarios out there and so many battles that are not so well-known. It is also a great way of commemorating the events of 80 years ago.
So, I have decided to look for some ideas for July.
If you are into Eastern Front – especially tank battles – then the Battle of Kursk (5 July 1943 – 23 August 1943) might appeal; it includes the Battle of Prokhorovka (12th July), which is the biggest tank battle in history.
But I have gone for Sicily (Operation Husky). This is partly inspired by recently reading the book about Operation Mincemeat.
Hopefully it will raise the interest of our American and Canadian cousins – the latter in particular are often overlooked for their efforts. Free French troops were also involved, as well as of course Germans and Italians.
After some fun research on the Days of Wonder MM44 Scenarios pages, I have compiled a list of 36 scenarios from Operation Husky. I have put my Excel spreadsheet on Dropbox – feel free to download it: Dropbox - 1943 Sicily Anniversary scenarios.xlsx
There are beach landings, airdrops, commando raids, night attacks, and various tank actions, mostly single board, but some double.
I have already played a few Sicilian scenarios:
Battle of Agira – I did this in 2021. For some reason I never did a report on it, but I see from my notes that it was a really good scenario;
Cassibile Commando raid – one-sided but good;
Gela Airborne landings – great scenario;
Operation Ladbroke – disappointing;
Battle of Ponte Grande – good;
Pachino landing – disappointing.
I want to suggest another beach landing, and given that jdrommel always produces excellent scenarios, I recommend The Battle of Gela – Italian counterattack. (Updated - I put the wrong link in previously!)
It involves Rangers, paras, tanks, destroyers, and Supply Depots. Not a lot of terrain, so relative quick to set up.
I’m looking forward to playing it. And please share your experiences.