Crete 1941 - week 1, attack on hill B

The campaign proper began with the Germans launching an assault on Hill B, which guarded the western approaches to the airstrip of Rethymnon. The battlefield featured a large hill on the British side, with a farm house in the centre of the position. The Germans would attack through fields and small wooded areas.

View from the Brits left

View from the German centre of Brits right, the focus of their attack

The Germans first move was to deploy a large force of the veteran Fallschrimjager on the right of the British defences whilst the Gebirgsjager occupied a more central position.

FSJ into cover early

Brits well dug-in

GBJ move through a vineyard

The Brits responded by occupying the farm in the centre of their deployment zone and lining the hill top. Several units deployed on the right to oppose the expected FSJ attacks there.
 

The farm strongpoint

 We then saw a series of ebbing and flowing attacks by the Germans. The first attack by the FSJ pushed the Brits out of the woods guarding their right but was itself halted by accurate fire.  

Germans 1st attack

Germans 2nd attack

Looking good but the FSJ soon fell back under heavy fire

Determined counter attacks restored the British line but were themselves threatened by further FSJ and GBJ assaults. Clever use of Over watch orders allowed the Brits to pin three separate attacks as soon as the Germans broke cover and looked to be leading to a German loss.

Attack #3 pinned down

Attack #4 also pinned

Attack #5 pinned - a pattern here!

In the end the Germans got some luck though as run of bad shooting enabled them to eventually get into contact with their 6th and 7th attacks, pushing the Brits back and routing 2 sections. This gave them a 2-1 lead on objectives captured

Finally attack #6 works and the emplacement falls

FSJ reluctant to attack the Brits on overwatch

With their final attack the FSJ managed to dispute, but not capture, a third objective whilst a charge by the British HQ section recaptured the ridgeline.

A desperate dash and bad shooting gives the FSJ a win

 As darkness fell the score was 2-1 to the Germans on objectives captured, so they were awarded a marginal victory. We've not shown the British sole victory but essentially a Matilda II plodded across the table with shots bouncing off and lumbered over a German objective to claim it.

British HQ clears the hill of Germans

A fun game played out over two weeks due to the size and intensity of the battle. After a cautious initial phase we saw plenty of action with the FSJ fighting ability to the fore, but the Brits doing well to hold them off until they ran out of units to oppose the focused German attacks.

Crete 1941 - a patrol clash

Lacking several players we decided not to begin the campaign proper with the planned German assault so that Hauptmann Koch would not be overloaded with too many troops. So instead we did a small patrol game with a platoon a side. The British began on a hill with the Germans in the valley below.

The Germans deployed immediately with their forces mostly opposite the British left and a single HMG holding their own left flank.

The more numerous British deployed on the ridge and into a farm-house of their right.
 

British HMG and infantry hold the ridge

The game settled into a medium range firefight as the Germans sought to exploit their better survivability. There was a brief attack by the Germans flamethrower, which was quickly destroyed by a determined bayonet charge.

They don't like it up um

As the game drew to a conclusion the German HMG was destroyed by some accurate British fire. This opened-up the flank and allowed them to quickly get behind the Germans position, capturing two jump-off points in the process.

With the Germans steadily loosing troops a British victory was declared.

What a load of flankers

 

Crete 1941 - Campaign Rules

Operation Merkur – the invasion of Crete

In May 1941 Germany launched its first (and last) major airborne operation of the war, aimed at capturing the strategically important island of Crete. This campaign focuses on the attack by Major Walter Koch’s 1^st Btn Luftlande Sturmregiment against the town of Rethymnon, held by the 2/1^st Australians under the command of Lt Colonel Campbell.

Turn Sequence

The campaign area is composed of a series of linked zones, with attacks being launched from zone to zone as denoted. There are a limited number of heavy support units so these are only available as reinforcements if they are in that zone:

1.    Support unit moves (one hop per turn).

2.    Launch attacks – one each per turn.     

Hills A and B consist of 2 squares that must be captured, the first battle being an attack uphill and the second down hill. The airfield consists of hills guarding it and the runway itself.

Either side may secure a partial victory by claiming two of the enemy squares (Hills/runway count as 2) whilst contesting the others. Capturing 4 sqaures is a total victory  

Forces

Both sides receive core units (infantry platoons) and then reinforcements depending on the mission involved. Core units are always = 8 points. The reinforcements available depend on the reinforcement strength score of the zone you are attacking from (the black square on the map). The Allies are strong in the area of Hill B, whereas the Germans are strong in the area of Hill A.

Allies	Germans
Matilda II’s x 2 (max 1 per zone) Bren Carriers x 2 (max 1 per zone)	Off table LG40 battery x 1 Marder II x 1

Battles

The attacker must win in order to capture or remain in the square, otherwise the assault has failed. Should neither side win an encounter game then the battle is drawn and both fail to capture the square.

Casualties are NOT carried forward from game to game - this is an important sector so the whole battalion is available to support you.

Fallschirmjager (Veterans) HQ: (0 points) ·         CO (SMG), 2IC (SMG) 2 * Squad (2 points) ·         FT1: LMG + 2 crew, SMG ·         FT2: Rifle*7 The CO may act as an AOP on different radio net to the artillery				Commonwealth & Gebirgsjäger (Ave) HQ:  (1 point) CO (pistol), 2IC (SMG) FT: AT rifle + 2 crew FT: Lt mortar +2 crew 3 * Squads (1 point) FT1: LMG+ 2 crew, SMG FT2: Rifle * 7 The mortar is direct fire only
Fallschirmjager (Average) 1. Upgrade a support team to Vet (1 point) 2. Weapons section (1 point) ·         HMG + 4 crew ·         Panzerschreck ·         Light mortar + 2 crew 3. Support team #1 (1 points) ·         1* Sniper team ·         2 * Medics 4. Support team #2 (1 point) ·         Flamethrower team ·         1 * LG40 recoilless rifle + 3 crew 5. Mortar Section (4 points**) ·         AOP team ·         2 * Medium mortar + 3 crew 6. Artillery Battery (2 points**) (off table) ·         CO (SMG/pistol) ·         2 * LG40 recoilless rifle + 3 crew 7. Marder II (2 points) ** A single weapons team can be fielded at half the cost.				British and Commonwealth (Average) 1. Matilda II ( 2 points)* 2. Mk VI Lt Tank / Bren Carrier (1 point) 3. AT battery (2 points**) ·         CO (pistol) ·         2 * 2pdr + 4 crew 4. HMG team (1 point) ·         CO (pistol) ·         2 * HMG + 4 crew 5. Support team #1 (1 points) ·         1 * Sniper team ·         1 * Medics ·         1* Flame thrower ·         1 * extra AOP 6. Mortar Section (4 points**) ·         AOP team ·         2 * Medium mortar + 3 crew *If a double 1 is rolled for move it breaks down and may not move again that game. If a single 1 is thrown it bogs down and does not move that turn. ** A single weapons team can be fielded at half the cost.
Name	Type	Speed	Weapons		Notes
Matilda II	Heavy	Slow	Light, coax MG		No HE
Mk VI light tank	Light	Medium	HMG
Recoilless rifles			Medium gun
Bren Carrier	Light	Fast	MG or AT rifle		Open topped
2 pdr			Light gun
Marder II	Light	Medium	Medium gun		Open topped

Airborne assaults

Attackers

·         Assign teams (weapons or half sections) to a wave (4 teams per drop)

·         Have 4 JOPs. Dice randomly to see where they land, 5,6 = go around again, so assigned to the next available wave.

·         Usual rules the move you land – no move or fire.

Defenders

·         All begin on over watch.

·         Become active when

o   Fired on or attacked

o   Enemy spotted in the open

o   On a 6 (D6) +1 / turn.