(Wargame-Simulation) Avalon Hill - Air Assault On Crete-Malta

AIR ASSAULT ON CRETE
Rules of Play
TABLE OF CONTENTS F. Axis Supply Limitations 32

Rules of Play - Air Assault on Crete 2 G. Victory Conditions 33
Introduction 2 Tactical Briefing - Air Assault on Crete 34
I. Background on Crete 2 The German Player 34
II. Description of Play 3 The Allied Player 35
III. Game Components 3 The Tactical Set-Up 37
A. The Mapboard 3 Malta – The Player's Challenge 39
B. Charts and Tables 3 Historical Perspective - Crete 40
C. The Unit Counters 3 Historical Perspective - Malta 47
IV. Sequence of Play 6 Vertical Envelopment - German Approach 50
A. Axis Player Segment 6 Bibliography 53
B. Allied Player Segment 7 Glossary of Abbreviations 55
V. Basic Game Rules 7 Design and Production 56
A. Movement 7 Errata 57
B. Road Movement 8
C. Stacking Limitations 8
D. Zone of Control 9
E. Friendly Hex 9
F. Combat 9
G. Ranged Artillery Fire 11
H. Battalion Substitute Counters 12
I. Airborne Assault 13
J. Air Landing 14
K. Aircraft Units 15
L. Sea Movement 15
M. Inverted Units and Decoys 16
N. Night Restrictions 17
O. Preparations for Play 17
P. Victory Conditions 17
VI. Advanced Game Rules 17
A. Additional Aircraft Missions 18
B. Anti-Aircraft Units 19
C. Coastal Defense Artillery Units 19
D. Allied Reinforcements 20
E. Axis Port Entry 21
F. Allied Evacuation 21
G. Special Units and Functions 22
H. Advanced Game Victory Conditions 24
Examples of Play 26
Rules of Play – Invasion of Malta 29
A. Rules Changes 29
B. Axis Amphibious Assault 30
C. Malta Coastal Defenses 31
D. German Airborne Withdrawal 31
E. Italian Commandos 32
AIR ASSAULT ON CRETE 2
INTRODUCTION weapons, radios, wheeled transport, and

other logistical equipment. Also, their ranks
AIR ASSAULT ON CRETE marks a depar- were swelled with large numbers of non-
ture from the usual Avalon hill practice of combatant technicians and specialists who,
releasing only a single game in one package. valuable as they were, could not fight. The
With the inclusion of INVASION OF German airborne assault force consisted of
MALTA, 1942, players may play two differ- the 7th Flieger Division with its four assault
ent and complete games from the same box. regiments. As follow-up support, the 5th
Each game includes its own mapboard and Mountain Division was to he landed by air
counters and shares only a minimum of transport and sea convoy to relieve the main
components with the other. For the sake of assault force. The initial airborne assault
brevity, however, the rules for each game went according to plan; four separate assault
are not written independently of one an- forces dropped on four different objectives.
other. Since both share the same basic rules One group attempted the capture of Canea,
system, the rules for Air Assault on Crete seat of the Allied headquarters, while each
are presented as the rules system for both of the others assaulted one of the three air-
games while the Invasion of Malta, 1942 fields on the island. After reaching ground,
rules encompass only variations and expan- however, the situation deteriorated quickly
sions of that basic system. Therefore, it is for the German paratroopers. Surprised at
strongly recommended that players first play the much-stronger-than-anticipated resis-
Air Assault on Crete before venturing into tance, the Germans failed to capture any of
Invasion of Malta, /942. Approached in this their primary objectives. Only after much
manner, players should find the reduction in desperate hand-to-hand fighting did they
the total length of the rules most advanta- finally grab Maleme airfield. Reinforced at
geous. last by the mountain units arriving by JU-52
transports the airfield, the Germans finally
I. BACKGROUND ON CRETE drove the weakened Allied forces across the
mountains. In an operation reminiscent of
Early on the morning of May 20, 1941, the the Dunkirk evacuations, the British Navy
German Army launched the first totally air- rescued over half of the garrison before the
borne invasion that the world had ever wit- island fell. The Germans had won, but at a
nessed. Even the Germans themselves ad- terrible price. Some parachute companies
mitted that it was an awesome and daring suffered over 70% casualties. Officer casu-
undertaking. As their objective, the German alties were five times greater than expected.
High Command had chosen the island of It was a 'very near run thing.' It was almost
Crete, strategically located in the middle of an Allied Victory.
the Mediterranean Sea between Greece Cy-
prus and the coast of North Africa. Defend- Air Assault on Crete re-creates this cam-
ing this rugged and isolated island were the paign in detail. Each player controls either
rag tag Allied survivors of the ill-fated the German or Allied Order-of-Battle as ac-
Greek Campaign consisting of British, New tually existed in the real battle. The Allied
Zealand, Australian and Greek units. Al- player plans his defense and attempts to
though 42,000 strong they were woefully keep the airfields out of German hands. The
weak in ammunition, artillery, rifles, heavy Axis player on the other hand, executes his
assaults on the airfields with vigor before

the Allied player can recover from the shock
of the initial landing and counter-attack.
Neither player can afford to hold back or
stand pat. It quickly becomes a no-holds- B. CHARTS AND TABLES
barred contest
There are three player-aid cards included in
II. DESCRIPTION OF PLAY the game which contain all of the informa-
tion required during play of the game.
The game is played in turns with each player These cards include the following:
alternately moving his playing pieces and
resolving combat in succession. A player 1. Combat Results Table: Used to resolve
may move all of his pieces during the combat situations and determines effects on
movement portion of his turn and then may units involved.
have 'combat' with any enemy pieces his
units are adjacent to. The combat procedure 2. Terrain Effects Chart: Lists the functions
is simply a mathematical method of deter- and effects on movement and combat of the
mining who wins a particular combat situa- various types of terrain represented on the
tion and consists of comparing the numerical mapboard.
strengths of the opposing pieces as a ratio
and then consulting a table to find out who 3. Miscellaneous Charts and Tables: In-
wins or loses. The die has nothing to do with cluded on the CRT/TEC card, used as called
movement! It is only used to represent a for in the game to resolve functions that
range of possible outcomes reflecting the have only occasional use during play.
uncertainties of real battle
4. Axis and Allied Organization Charts:
III. GAME COMPONENTS Organizes playing pieces for play, outlines
where and when they appear in the game,
A. THE MAPBOARD and describes limits of placement and entry
for both sides. Also contains Turn Record
The playing board consists of three rectan- Track which is used to record elapsed turns.
gular sections which, when arranged in the
proper configuration create a map of the C. THE UNIT COUNTERS
northern coast of Crete. Printed over the
map symbols in a hexagonal grid which The printed die-cut cardboard squares are
serve the same purpose as squares on a chess the playing pieces for the game. Variously
board of regulating movement. These hexa- called 'unit counters', 'units', or 'counters',
gons are called 'hexes' for short. Each hex each piece represents an actual military unit
represents a scale distance of 1.6 kilometers. or acts as a marker to identify special game
The mapboard sections fit together as illus- conditions on the mapboard.
trated:
1. Each unit counter contains the following
information:
Infantry
ranger, commando, special forces
parachute infantry
2. Size Symbols: The organizational size of

a given unit is indicated by the small symbol
located above its type symbol: glider infantry
XXX - Corps
XX - Division
X - Brigade
III - Regiment
II - Battalion machine gun
I - Company
••• - Platoon
•• - Section
3. The units in the game are classified into

several broad categories according to their
engineer
real-life characteristics for several very im-
portant rules purposes. A unit's classifica-
tion is determined by the unit type symbol
printed on its counter:
a. Combat Unit Types:

headquarters
1) Infantry-type units:
3) Armored-type units:
reconnaissance
tank (light or heavy)
anti-tank
assault gun
2) Ranged Artillery-type units:
4) Aircraft-type units
field artillery
bomber fighter fighter-bomber
5) Naval-type units:
light support artillery
HMS York (heavy AA unit)
anti-aircraft artillery (light and heavy)
Coastal Steamer (transport unit)
b. Noncombat Unit Types:

coastal defense artillery (light and heavy)
truck docks operations

NOTE: Airborne units, either infantry - or

ranged artillery - are designated by the gull
wing symbol or by the glider symbol
noncombat units
.
c. Indicator Markers:
IV. SEQUENCE OF PLAY
AIR ASSAULT ON CRETE, is played in

turns. Each turn is divided into two player
segments with each player segment further
divided into several 'phases' which organize
neutralization markers a player's activities during his segment. The
step-by-step sequence of play for the Basic
game is outlined below:
A. AXIS PLAYER SEGMENT
demolition markers 1. Aircraft Placement and Bombardment

Phase: Axis player places his aircraft units
on the board and executes any aircraft bom-
bardment attacks.
2. Airborne Assault and Air Landing Phase:

beach destination markers Axis player places his airborne units on the
mapboard during the proper turns, rolls for
drift, and executes drift combat. Also, he
may bring air landing units into the game as
allowed by the rules.
port destination markers 3. Sea Movement Phase: Axis player brings

'convoy' units into game and places them on
beach landing boxes.
4. Movement Phase: Axis player may move

all of his units to the limit of their movement
convoy markers allowance as modified by enemy unit and
terrain restrictions.
5. Combat Phase: Axis player resolves any

land attacks against adjacent enemy units at
his option.
beachhead markers
each unit counter expends one movement

B. ALLIED PLAYER SEGMENT point (MP) of its movement allowance for
each hex it enters. Quite often, however,
1. Sea Movement Phase: Allied player terrain restrictions (see below) will require
brings reinforcements into the game via sea units to expend more than one movement
movement as indicated on Turn Record point to enter a hex of a particular type.
Track.
3. In any given movement phase, a player
2. Movement Phase: Allied player may may move as many or as few of his units as
move all of his units to the limit of their he chooses. Movement is always voluntary,
movement allowance as modified by enemy never mandatory (EXCEPTION: see Sea
units and terrain restrictions. Movement, below).
3. Combat Phase: Allied player resolves any 4. A unit may be moved in any direction or
land attacks against adjacent enemy units, at combination of directions. A unit may ex-
his option. pend some, none, or all of its movement al-
lowance each turn. Un-used movement
C. Players repeat steps A. and B. for each points may not be transferred from unit to
turn of the game. Use the Turn Record unit or accumulated from turn to turn.
Track printed at the bottom of the Organiza-
tion Card to record elapsed turns by sliding 5. Each unit is moved individually, tracing
the 'Turn Now' counter along the track from the path of movement through each hex in
left to right. turn. Once a unit has completed its move-
ment, it may not be changed, repositioned,
V. BASIC GAME RULES or realigned. A unit's movement is consid-
ered completed when the player begins to
A. MOVEMENT move another unit.
During the movement phase of a player's 6. No combat may take place during the
segment, he may move all, some, or none of movement phase. No enemy units may
his units, at his option. Each unit counter move during a friendly movement phase.
may be moved as many hexes as possible
within the limits of its movement allowance, 7. A unit may freely pass over or stop in the
terrain restrictions, and other game rules: same hex with other friendly units, subject
to stacking limitations. A friendly unit may
1. Each unit counter is moved by tracing the not enter hexes containing enemy combat
path of movement through each separate units (EXCEPTION: See Airborne Assault).
hex.
8. A unit must stop and end all movement
2. The number of hexes through which a for that phase when it moves adjacent to an
unit may move in one turn is indicated by its enemy combat-type unit. It is not required to
movement allowance. A unit's movement stop for NONCOMBAT-type units.
allowance is expressed in terms of a certain
number of movement points. In general, 9. A unit with a movement allowance of '0'
may never move from its initial starting hex. primary and secondary.
10. A unit may not engage in normal land a. Primary: A unit may move into a primary
movement in the turn in which it engages in hex from another road hex (primary or sec-
airborne assault, air landing operations, or ondary) at the rate of ½ MP per road hex,
sea movement. regardless of the other terrain in the hex.
b. Secondary: A unit may move into a sec-
11. A complete list of all terrain features ondary road hex from another road hex at
and their effects on movement and combat is the rate of 1 MP per road hex, regardless of
contained in the Terrain Effects Chart. the other terrain in the hex.
12. A unit may not enter a hex of a particu- 2. EXCEPTION: Roads do not negate the
lar terrain type unless it has sufficient effects of rivers on movement except where
movement points available to expend in do- a road crosses a river at a bridge. If there is
ing so. no bridge symbol at the point where the
river intersects the road, a unit must expend
the river hex movement penalty to leave that
hex.
C. STACKING LIMITATIONS
Each side may have more than one unit in a

common hex. Each side, however, is limited
in the number of unit counters allowed in a
hex at the same time.
1. No more than SIX 'stacking points' of

friendly units may be in the same hex at the
end of any friendly movement or combat
EXAMPLE: A unit, moving as illustrated, phase.
expends movement points in the following
manner: l MP (clear terrain to clear terrain 2. Each combat and non-combat unit has a
hex) +2 MP (clear terrain hex to rough ter- certain stacking point value which is deter-
rain hex) = 3 MP total expended. The unit mined by the stacking value number printed
cannot enter another rough terrain hex be- in the upper left corner of each unit counter.
cause it costs 2 MP to enter and it has only
one MP remaining in its movement allow- 3. Units with a stacking value of '0' may be
ance. freely placed with other friendly units at no
stacking cost.
B. ROAD MOVEMENT
4. If the stacking capacity of a hex is ex-
1. A unit may move from road hex to an ceeded at the end of a player segment, the
adjacent, connecting road hex of the same owning player must eliminate excess units
road at the road movement rate for that class from the hex until capacity equals six or
of road. There are two classes of roads;
less. The owning player has the choice of E. FRIENDLY HEX

which units to eliminate.
1. A hex is considered friendly to a player if
5. Aircraft, naval, and indicator counters it is physically occupied by a friendly com-
have a '0' stacking point value. bat or noncombat unit. Aircraft and naval
units have no effect.
D. ZONE OF CONTROL
2. An unoccupied hex is friendly to neither
1. The six hexes surrounding a unit consti- side.
tute that unit's 'zone of control'. A hex in a
unit's zone of control is said to be a 'con- 3. Enemy zones of control have no effect on
trolled hex'. the friendly condition of a hex.
2. Only COMBAT-type units have zones of F. COMBAT

control. Noncombat, naval, and aircraft
units do not have a zone of control. Combat occurs between opposing units in
adjacent hexes at the discretion of the player
3. Whenever a friendly unit enters an en- who has just finished moving. The player
emy unit's zone of control, it must stop and who initiates combat is said to be the at-
end all movement during that movement tacker while the other player is considered
phase. the defender.
4. If a unit begins a turn in an enemy zone 1. During the combat phase of his segment,
of control, it may move out of that con- a player may only attack those enemy units
trolled hex but it may not re-enter another that are adjacent to friendly units. Only
enemy controlled hex during that movement friendly units that are adjacent to specific
phase. (EXCEPTION: See '6', below.) enemy units may attack those units.
5. Units with a movement allowance of '4' 2. A unit is never required to attack during
or greater may, however, move directly from the combat phase, but always has the option
one enemy controlled hex to an adjacent en- of doing so. (EXCEPTION: See Sea
emy controlled hex. To do so, it must begin Movement.)
its turn in an enemy controlled hex, move to
the adjacent controlled hex, and then stop 3. No enemy unit may be attacked more
and move no further in that movement than once per combat phase. No friendly
phase. unit may attack more than once per friendly
combat phase.
6. Ranged artillery and noncombat units
may NEVER voluntarily move into, 4. All defending units in a hex must be at-
through, or out of an enemy controlled hex. tacked as one combined defense strength.
If forced to do so by retreat after combat Individual units in a hex cannot be attacked
(see below) they are eliminated instead. while others in the same hex are ignored.
5. Attacking units may attack the same defense strengths (due to terrain effects) as in-
fending unit from as many different hexes as dicated on the Terrain Effects Table, before
possible, provided all of the attackers are converting the odds ratio to the simplified
adjacent to the defender's hex. odds categories.
6. Not all of the friendly units in a hex are d. Roll the die once for each attack situa-
required to attack. Some may attack while tion, cross-indexing the number rolled with
others in the same hex do nothing. the proper odds category column on the
Combat Results Table, to determine the re-
7. Not all of the friendly units in a hex are sult of the attack.
required to attack the same defending hex.
Different units in the same hex may attack e. Apply the results to the attacking or de-
adjacent defenders in different hexes. fending units immediately before resolving
any additional combat.
8. Defending units in adjacent hexes may be
attacked as one combined defense strength 10. Retreat After Combat: When called for
provided that all attacking units are adjacent on the Combat Results Table, units are re-
to all defending units. Each attacking unit treated according to the following princi-
must be adjacent to all of the units being at- ples:
tacked.
a. Each player may retreat his own units.
9. Each attack against a group of defending
units is resolved individually. To determine b. A unit may be retreated in any direction,
the results of the attack, follow this proce- but it cannot retreat into sea hexes, enemy-
dure for each attack: occupied hexes, or empty hexes in an enemy
zone-of-control.
a. For each separate combat situation, total
all of the attack strength points of the attack- c. A unit may be retreated into hexes occu-
ing units together, then total all of the de- pied by friendly combat units (which are not
fending units' defense strength points. involved in the current combat situation)
even if those hexes are also in enemy zones
b. Convert these two totals into a numerical of control. If such a retreat creates an over
odds ratio (attacker to defender). Round-off stacked hex, the owning player must remove
this odds ratio downwards to conform to the units in excess of the stacking limit. Spe-
simplified odds ratio categories printed on cific units removed are chosen by the own-
the Combat Results Table. EXAMPLE: ing player.
Three Axis units totaling 21 attack strength
points attack two Allied units totaling 10 d. Units which retreat into other friendly
defense strength points. This is converted units which are subsequently attacked do not
into an odds ratio of 21 to 10, which is affect the outcome of that attack in any
rounded down to 2-1 to conform to the manner. They must, however, suffer the ef-
Combat Results Table. fects of any adverse combat results applied
to that hex by subsequent attacks.
c. Where applicable, modify attack and de-
11. Advance After Combat: Victorious in- line running from the approximate center of
fantry and armored units may advance after the firing hex to the approximate center of
combat into those hexes vacated by defeated the target hex.
enemy units, whether they are attacking or
defending. Such advance after combat must b. City and rough terrain hexes block a
be executed immediately before any other unit's line-of-fire. If the line-of-fire is traced
combat is resolved. through or along a hex side of one of these
types of hexes, the unit may not fire at that
12. SPECIAL: Each ranged artillery-type target hex.
unit defends with a provisional defense
strength of '1' when defending in a hex c. The firing unit's hex and the target hex
without infantry or light armored units. are always ignored for blocking terrain de-
When in a hex with infantry or light armored termination.
units, ranged artillery-type units defend with
a defense strength of '0'. The provisional 4. Support Fire: Artillery may assist regular
defense strength is never doubled or tripled combat units during the friendly combat
due to terrain considerations. phase as follows:
G. RANGED ARTILLERY FIRE a. During the friendly combat phase, each

artillery unit may add its attack strength to
Field artillery, light artillery, and light anti- any attack by other combat units against en-
aircraft units may apply their artillery attack emy units occupying hexes which are in
strength against non-adjacent enemy units range and line-of-fire.
within range as follows:
b. The defending unit must be attacked by
1. Each ranged artillery unit may 'fire' (use at least one friendly infantry-type unit in or-
its attack strength) in both the friendly com- der to be fired upon.
bat phase and the enemy combat phase in
the same turn. 5. Defensive Fire: Artillery may attack en-
emy combat units during the enemy combat
2. Each artillery unit has a specified range phase as follows:
in hexes over which it may apply its attack
strength. It may apply its attack strength a. During the enemy combat phase, each
against any single hex within range. artillery unit may fire at enemy units that are
attacking friendly defending units. As the
3. An artillery unit may always fire into ad- opposing player announces each combat
jacent hexes regardless of terrain. When situation, stating the odds, and specifying
firing at a range of two hexes or more, how- the units attacking, the defending player
ever, blocking terrain may prohibit fire: may announce defensive fire against attack-
ing enemy units before the die is rolled to
a. To be able to fire into a particular hex, an resolve the attack.
artillery unit must have a clear line-of-fire
(LOF) from the hex it occupies to the target b. Defensive fire may be directed against
hex. This line-of-fire is defined as a straight any single enemy unit or group of enemy
units occupying the same hex that are at- use as the tactical situation dictates.
tacking friendly units. NOTE: In this ex- 2. German airborne infantry and engineer
ceptional case, whole stacks of enemy units battalions must be broken-down into com-
do not have to be fired upon (German air- pany-sized units for entry into the game via
borne battalions must be attacked as a airborne assault.
whole, however.)
3. Re-formed battalion counters may be re-
c. Defensive fire attacks are resolved in the placed with the proper company-sized sub-
same manner as regular attacks. Note, how- stitute counters any time during the game
ever, that the artillery unit is immune to ad- provided such a break-down does not violate
verse combat results. stacking limitations.
d. If the defensive fire is successful in 4. Company-sized units may re-combine

eliminating or retreating enemy units, the into battalion units only at the beginning of
enemy attack must be recomputed and the the Axis movement phase, provided that all
attack odds revised. No additional enemy units to recombine occupy the same hex.
units may participate in that attack. Enemy Battalion counters may function normally in
units forced to retreat may not participate in the turn they are reconstituted.
any other attacks during that combat phase.
5. To recombine, company-sized units must
e. Defensive Fire may not be directed occupy the hex with a battalion headquarters
against enemy artillery units. company.
6. Artillery units may only fire at enemy 6. Battalions breakdown and re-form ac-
units that are adjacent to and involved in cording to the following illustration:
combat with, friendly combat units.
7. Artillery units always ignore adverse

combat results when attacking. They may
not be retreated nor may they be removed as
combat losses except when attacked directly
be enemy infantry or armored-type units.
(See Zone of Control rules.)
SPECIAL
8. Artillery units may use defensive fire and
defend normally in the same segment.
H. BATTALION SUBSTITUTE
COUNTERS (No substitutions allowed.)
1. Each German parachute and glider infan- a. Each battalion has specific company-
try battalion is provided with company-sized sized units attached to it. These run in nu-
substitute counters for mandatory use during merical order from '1' to '16' with each con-
the initial airborne assault and for optional secutive group of four companies represent-
ing one battalion when coupled with a bat-
talion headquarters company. ganization Card:
b. See the Battalion Substitution Chart for a a. Airborne units must be initially posi-
complete illustration of all battalion organi- tioned on non-rough terrain hexes.
zations.
b. Airborne units must be positioned in
7. SPECIAL: To re-form into battalions, it hexes within stacking limitations.
is not necessary to have the specific compa-
nies belonging to the battalion headquarters c. Airborne units may be positioned in
in the same hex. In fact, all that is required hexes containing enemy units.
to re-form a battalion is the battalion HQ
company and any four parachute, glider, en- 3. Airborne Assault Placement Restrictions:
gineer, or machine gun companies or com- Follow the instructions listed above each
binations thereof. group of units on the Organization Card for
location and turn of entry. Placement is re-
a. EXCEPTION: To re-form the airborne stricted as follows:
engineer battalion, at least one of the combat
companies must be an engineer company. a. Each 'block' of units listed for a specific
sector destination must enter the game on
b. EXCEPTION: The IV Battalion of the the turn and in the sector so designated. All
STURM regiment was an ad hoc battalion units must enter on the same turn.
put together shortly before the beginning of
the campaign. Consequently, it lacked the b. Each 'block' of units listed for "any single
cohesiveness and experience of other battal- sector" must enter the game on the turn indi-
ions. Therefore, it may only be reconsti- cated, but the Axis player has the option of
tuted by the exact companies listed on the choosing the sector in which they will be
Battalion Substitution Chart. initially positioned. Placement of these
units is limited, however, to those sectors in
I. AIRBORNE ASSAULT which airborne units have been previously
dropped or convoys have successfully
Axis airborne units enter the game via the landed units. All units must enter on the
airborne assault procedure which consists of same turn.
three steps; placement, drift, and drift com-
bat: c. The block of units constituting the first
battalion of the Sturm Regiment is listed as
1. During the designated turn of entry, air- being initially positioned "anywhere". This
borne units are broken down into company- means that the battalion may be split and
sized units and transferred from the Assault dropped by companies in any number of dif-
Organization Card and placed on the map- ferent sectors. All units must enter on the
board during the air assault and air landing same turn.
phase.
4. After completing initial placement, each
2. Airborne units must be initially posi- individual airborne unit must undergo the
tioned within the area described on the Or- effects of drift. Referring to the Drift Dia-
gram printed on the Playing Aides card, roll 6. Airborne units may not engage in any
one die for each unit and move that unit to other type of movement or combat during
the hex that corresponds to the number the player segment in which they execute
rolled. Make certain the 'north' orientation airborne assault.
of the diagram matches that of the map-
board. 7. SPECIAL SURPRISE RULE: During
the first turn of the game, Allied units may
a. Any unit that drifts off of the mapboard, only move a maximum of one hex during
into sea hexes, or onto hexes containing the Allied player segment. This restriction
friendly units in violation of stacking limita- applies ONLY to the first turn of the game.
tions is automatically eliminated from play. Allied units may engage in combat with en-
emy units normally during turn #1.
b. For GLIDER units, subtract '2' from the
die roll number for drift. J. AIR LANDING
c. If a unit is initially placed on an enemy- Only those units designated as 'Air Landing'
occupied hex, add '1' to the die roll number on the Axis Organization Card may enter the
for drift. game via air landing procedures:
5. Drift Combat: If the final position of an 1. Air landing units enter the game during
airborne unit is an enemy occupied hex, a the airborne assault and air landing phase by
'drift combat' situation exists. All such drift being transferred from the Organization
combat situations are resolved as regular Card to any airfield hex that was friendly to
attacks at the end of the air assault and air the Axis player at the beginning of the
landing phase: player segment.
a. Determine combat odds as normal. Note, a. Air landing units may not enter the game
however, that only those opposing units in during NIGHT TURNS.
the same hex are counted. Units in adjacent
hexes are ignored for drift combat purposes. b. Air landing units may not land on an air-
The Axis units are always the attacker; the field hex if there is an un-neutralized enemy
Allied units always defend. light antiaircraft unit within range of that
hex.
b. Automatically add '1' to the die roll result
of all drift combat situations. 2. The maximum number of air landing
units that may enter the game through a
c. SPECIAL: If a retreat is called for on the friendly airfield hex in one turn is indicated
Combat Results Table, for either the attacker by the number printed next to the airfield
or the defender, the retreating unit is allowed symbol. This number represents the number
to move to an adjacent hex provided that hex of stacking points that may be air landed on
is only in the zone of control of the enemy that hex during the air landing phase, subject
unit involved in the drift combat, or that hex to stacking limitations. Air landing units
contains a friendly combat unit. may not enter the game in violation of stack-
ing limits.
3. Units may not move out of the airfield Certain Axis units enter the game by being
hex in the turn in which they arrive. They transferred from the Organization Card to
may, however, engage in combat and move- the beach landing boxes printed on the map-
after-combat normally. board. These units are organized into con-
voys on the Organization Card and enter the
K. AIRCRAFT UNITS game at a time and place chosen by the Axis
player:
The Axis player is provided with several
aircraft units as indicated on the Axis Or- 1. Prior to the commencement of play, the
ganization Card. These are employed in the Axis player determines both the turn of arri-
game to abstractly represent the air support val and the beach destinations of his con-
available during the campaign: voys. He does this by placing a convoy
marker and a beach destination marker for
1. During the aircraft placement and bom- each convoy on one of the blocks of the
bardment phase, the Axis player allocates Turn Record Track. These indicators are
his aircraft to any desired hex or hexes on positioned inverted to keep the destination
the mapboard. They have no stacking limi- and turn of arrival secret from the Allied
tations. player.
2. Bomber units may be positioned on top 2. At the same time, the Axis player also
of Allied units that the Axis player intends places up to three groups of decoy counters
to attack during the combat phase. to further confuse the Allied player as to
Axis intentions.
3. During the combat phase, the Axis player
adds the attack strength of each bomber 3. Each of the two regular convoys may en-
units to that of regular ground units attack- ter the game at any time after turn one.
ing Allied units in the bomber's hex. Each convoy is independently designated for
arrival. Both convoys may be designated for
4. Bomber units may not attack enemy units the same turn of arrival. They may not,
without at least one Axis ground unit also however, land at the same beach in the same
attacking those units. If bomber units are turn.
allocated to an enemy occupied hex and the
Axis player does not attack those units in the 4. During the sea movement phase of the
combat phase, the bomber units have no ef- turn of arrival for a convoy, the Axis player
fect. must roll one die on the Sea Movement Ta-
ble to determine if the convoy arrives suc-
5. Bomber units are removed from the cessfully during that turn. Roll one die for
mapboard at the end of the Axis combat each convoy and apply the indicated results
phase. They suffer no adverse combat ef- to the units involved. NOTE: To preserve
fects and may not be removed as combat secrecy, it is suggested that the Axis player
losses. also roll for decoy convoys, revealing the
true nature of the convoy on non-elimination
L. SEA MOVEMENT results only.
'aborted', such units are placed in the aborted

5. Any units that survive the Sea Movement units box on the Organization Card. Infan-
Table are placed on the landing boxes of the try-type units that are aborted may be
designated beach, as the player desires, formed into an emergency convoy:
within stacking limits.
a. During any sea movement phase after the
6. During the regular movement phase, last regular convoy has attempted to land,
convoy units must be moved from the land- the Axis player may position the Emergency
ing boxes to the connected coastal hex. Convoy counter on the Turn Record Track
They may move no further in the turn of ar- along with a beach destination counter. The
rival. emergency convoy cannot be scheduled for
7. If enemy units occupy the connected arrival until at least three turns after place-
coastal hex, they must be eliminated or ment of the destination counter. No decoy
forced to retreat during the combat phase to counters may be placed with the emergency
allow units in the landing boxes to advance convoy although the emergency convoy
after combat: could itself be a decoy and contain no units
(blank counters being placed in the emer-
a. Units in landing boxes may attack enemy gency convoy box).
units on the connected coastal hexes by
themselves, or in conjunction with other b. No more than nine stacking points worth
convoy units that moved to adjacent coastal of aborted units may be allocated to the
hexes, or with other friendly units attacking emergency convoy.
from land, or with aircraft units previously
designated to that hex. c. Only infantry-type units may be allocated
to the emergency convoy. Ranged artillery
b. Combat is resolved normally, except that and armored units are prohibited.
units attacking from landing boxes are re-
duced to HALF their normal attack strength. d. The emergency convoy must roll on the
Sea Movement Table in the same manner as
c. If the attack fails to remove all defending regular convoys. SPECIAL: Subtract '2'
units from the coast hex and thus does not from the die roll for the emergency convoy.
allow the units in the landing box to advance Aborted units are not considered as elimi-
after combat, those units are automatically nated units for victory condition purposes.
eliminated. They are merely units which cannot enter
play.
d. SPECIAL: Ranged artillery units in
landing boxes may NOT participate in an M. INVERTED UNITS AND DECOYS
attack on defending enemy units on coastal
hexes. They may, however, automatically 1. During preparations for play, the Allied
advance onto the vacated coastal hex if other player may position his units on the map-
friendly units force the defender to retreat. board secretly, in an inverted position.
8. Emergency Convoy: Whenever the Sea 2. Allied units may remain inverted until
Movement Table calls for convoy units to be they move adjacent to an Axis combat or
aircraft unit or whenever they attack. When one enemy zone of control to another re-
this occurs, they are immediately exposed. gardless of their movement allowance.
3. Whenever an Axis combat unit (not air- O. PREPARATIONS FOR PLAY

craft) ends its movement adjacent to an in-
verted Allied unit, the Allied unit must be Before beginning the game, punch out the
exposed at the end of the Axis movement appropriate unit counters and position them
phase. in the designated boxes on the Allied and
Axis Organization Cards. Then set up the
4. Exposed Allied units may be re-inverted units on the mapboard in this order:
at the beginning of each Allied player seg-
ment if they are not adjacent to Axis combat 1. Allied player positions his units desig-
or aircraft units. nated for specific sector locations on the
mapboard.
5. During preparations for play, the Allied
player may position up to ten decoy counters 2. Axis player positions his real and decoy
on the mapboard, face-down. They may not convoy counters on the Turn Record Track.
move and they have no effect on stacking or
combat. Until exposed, however, they must 3. Allied player positions his units desig-
be treated like real units. Thus, Axis units nated for 'Anywhere' on the mapboard.
must stop whenever they move adjacent to
decoy counters. When exposed at the end of 4. Begin play with turn #1, Axis aircraft
the Axis movement phase, however, the de- placement and bombardment phase.
coy counters are removed from play.
P. VICTORY CONDITIONS
N. NIGHT RESTRICTIONS
1. AXIS: Axis player wins by maintaining
During night turns, as indicated on the Turn any one of the three airfield hexes in a
Record Track, the following special condi- friendly condition for four consecutive turns
tions limitations prevail: before the end of the Basic Game.
1. No airborne or air landing operations 2. ALLIED: Allied player wins by avoiding

may be executed. the Axis victory conditions.
2. No aircraft operations may be executed. 3. See the Turn Record Track for length of
Basic and Advance Games.
3. Ranged artillery units may only fire at
targets in adjacent hexes. VI. ADVANCED GAME RULES
4. SPECIAL: All Allied infantry and ar- The Advanced Game rules are presented for
mored units (EXCEPT headquarters and those players desiring more detail, realism,
Greek units) may both move out of and re- and historical accuracy in their game. Cau-
enter enemy zones of control in the same tion! Adding these rules will increase game
turn. Also, they may move directly from complexity and playing time. Several of the
Advanced Game rules sections are long and on the Bombardment Table means the unit
complex even though their impact on the may not function offensively or move for
game system is, quite frankly, minor. Treat one or two turns, as indicated. Place a neu-
them accordingly. tralization marker on the target unit.
A. ADDITIONAL AIRCRAFT 2) Coastal Defense Artillery units: Same as

MISSIONS antiaircraft units.
Support missions by bomber units were in- 3) Ports: Neutralization result means that no
troduced in the Basic Game. The Advanced unit may embark or debark at port for one or
Game rules include fighter (F) and fighter- two turns as indicated. Place bombarding
bomber (FB) aircraft types as well as addi- aircraft units and neutralization markers in
tional aircraft missions: port landing boxes.
1. Air Support: Executed by bomber and 4) HMS York and the Coastal Steamer:
fighter bomber units in the same manner as Neutralization means the target unit is de-
presented in the Basic Game rules. Air sup- stroyed. Remove the unit from the map-
port units are removed at the end of the Axis board.
player segment.
b. Neutralization is effective immediately.
2. Interdiction: Executed by fighter and A target that is neutralized for one turn re-
fighter-bomber units only. Interdiction units gains full function at the beginning of the
are placed on or adjacent to road hexes. Al- next Axis player segment. A two-turn neu-
lied units may not enter a hex adjacent to or tralization means the target will regain full
containing an aircraft unit at the road function at the beginning of the second Axis
movement rate, nor may they ignore other player segment after bombardment.
terrain in the hex. Only Axis aircraft units
on interdiction missions impede Allied road c. Effects of neutralization are cumulative.
movement. Interdiction units are removed If a target already has an N-1 marker on it
at the end of the Allied player segment. and then suffers another N-1, an N-2 marker
would be placed on it.
3. Bombardment: Executed by bomber and
fighterbomber units only. Bombardment d. At the beginning of each Axis player
units are placed directly on their target hexes segment, remove all N-1 markers and reduce
and their attack is resolved on the Bom- all other neutralizations by '1'.
bardment Table during the aircraft place-
ment and bombardment phase. Bombard- e. The effects of bombardment apply to
ment units are removed at the end of the ALL target units in a hex. EXAMPLE: If a
phase. heavy AA unit and a coastal defense artil-
lery unit occupy the same hex, both would
a. Aircraft units may bombard the following be subjected to neutralization if that hex is
types of targets: bombarded. EXCEPTION: The coastal
steamer cannot be bombarded while it is in a
1) Anti-aircraft units: Neutralization result port landing box. It may only be bombarded
when out of port. ing the airborne assault phase adds '1' to the
drift die roll for that unit.
f. Blind Bombardment: The Axis player may
attempt to bombard positions containing in- a. Anti-aircraft effects on airborne units are
verted units. In this case, the hex may or cumulative. If three AA units are within
may not contain bombard-able targets. The range of an airborne unit, '3' would be added
Axis player conducts his bombardment at- to the drift die roll.
tack as usual, but the Allied player must re-
veal the target units and position a neutrali- b. Refer to the Drift Diagram for a complete
zation counter in the hex ONLY if the Bom- listing of all drift modifiers.
bardment Table outcome is successful. If
the result is 'No Effect', the Allied player 3. As Ranged Artillery: Light (not heavy)
reveals nothing. antiaircraft units may be used as regular
ranged artillery during the friendly and en-
B. ANTI-AIRCRAFT UNITS emy combat phases. Light AA units may
function as antiaircraft units and ranged ar-
Allied anti-aircraft units have three func- tillery units in the same turn.
tions; they reduce the effect of Axis aircraft
missions, they disrupt airborne landings, and C. COASTAL DEFENSE ARTILLERY
light AA units may act as ranged artillery: UNITS
1. Effects on Aircraft: Aircraft units within Coastal defense artillery units are a special-
range of a non-neutralized light or heavy ized type of ranged artillery units that may
AA unit are reduced to HALF normal effec- only be used against targets in beach or port
tiveness as follows: landing boxes:
a. Two fighter or fighterbomber units must 1. Coastal defense (CD) artillery units must
occupy the same hex to successfully perform be positioned on or within one hex of a
an interdiction mission. One aircraft unit in coastal hex prior to the start of the game.
a hex within range of an AA unit has abso-
lutely no interdiction effect. 2. CD artillery units have a range and attack
strength like other ranged artillery units.
b. Attack strength points of bomber and They are restricted, however, in that they
fighter-bomber units are HALF normal may only attack units in beach or port land-
value (rounded down) when executing air ing boxes during the Axis sea movement
support or bombardment missions against phase.
hexes in range of an AA unit.
3. Unlike other ranged artillery units, each
c. Aircraft effectiveness is never reduced to CD artillery unit may fire upon ALL targets
less than half regardless of the number of that are within range and line-of-fire during
AA units within range. the Axis sea movement phase:
2. Effects on Airborne Assault: Each anti- a. CD artillery units resolve the effects of
aircraft unit in range of an airborne unit dur- their fire on the Bombardment Table in the
same manner as bomber units. Any 'N' re- ble in the same manner as Axis convoys.
sult means that the target unit is eliminated Aborted units are returned to the aborted
from play. box on the Allied Organization Card and
may attempt to enter the game during the
b. Each CD unit may attack each and every next turn by being transferred from the
target unit within range, individually, during aborted box to the port or south edge box.
the same sea movement phase.
3. Port Entry: Reinforcement groups may
c. Each CD unit attacks each target unit in- enter the game through any friendly port
dividually. Each target unit represents a landing box during the Allied sea movement
separate resolution on the Bombardment phase.
Table. a. Allied reinforcements may only land at
port landing boxes during night turns.
d. CD artillery units may not combine their
attack strengths for resolution on the Bom- b. Units are placed on the port landing box
bardment Table. Note, however, that a tar- and are moved directly to the connected city
get unit may be attacked more than once in hex to the maximum stacking limit of that
each sea movement phase. hex.
4. All CD artillery units are reduced to c. Units that cannot move from the port
HALF attack strength (rounded down) dur- landing box to the city hex because of stack-
ing night turns. ing limitations must remain in the landing
box until there is room available on subse-
D. ALLIED REINFORCEMENTS quent turns.
Certain Allied units enter play during the d. If the port landing box is neutralized by
course of the game as reinforcements. They bombing attack or if the city hex becomes
may enter the game through friendly ports or enemy-occupied, the units in the port land-
from the south edge of the mapboard as fol- ing box must be eliminated.
lows:
e. Units may not move in the turn in which
1. On the first turn of availability, as indi- they are transferred from the landing box to
cated on the Allied Organization Card, the the city hex. They may engage in combat
Allied player may allocate each group of normally, however.
reinforcements to either the port or south
edge box on his Organization Card. Once f. SPECIAL: Armored or ranged-artillery
placed in a box, a reinforcement group is type units may not move from or to a port
committed to that game entry method unless landing box to a connected city hex unless
aborted. Reinforcements may attempt to there is a DOCKS unit in that city hex.
enter the game on the same turn that they are
available, or on any subsequent turns. 4. South Edge Entry: Successfully landed
units may enter the game via the road
2. Reinforcement groups must roll a die on marked with an on the south edge of the
the Allied portion of the Sea Movement Ta- Heraklion sector. Units entering the game
may execute movement and combat nor- Allied reinforcements.

mally in the turn of arrival.
2. Port Evacuation: Units may evacuate
E. AXIS PORT ENTRY from friendly, un-neutralized port landing
boxes during night turns only:
Axis convoys may be re-directed to captured
ports at the Axis player's option: a. Units to be evacuated are simply moved
to a port city hex and then transferred to the
1. Any convoy may be redirected to a evacuation box of the Allied Organization
friendly port landing box instead of its Card.
scheduled beach destination if the port is
captured and made friendly at least two b. NOTE: A maximum of 14 stacking
turns prior to the convoy's intended turn of points may evacuate from a port hex in one
arrival at a beach. turn if there is a DOCKS unit in the same
hex. If there is no DOCKS unit present, then
2. To change destination, simply replace the only 7 stacking points may be evacuated.
beach marker with the appropriate port
counter on the Turn Record Track. Roll one 3. South Edge Evacuation: At any time dur-
die on the Sea Movement Table as normal. ing the Allied regular movement phase,
units may move off of the mapboard via any
3. Axis units landing at ports must follow road hex indicated by the letter 'E' by ex-
the same procedure as outlined above for pending one additional movement point to
Allied port entry. Any number of Axis units leave the mapboard. The units are then
may attempt to land at a port subject only to placed in the evacuation box.
the city hex stacking limitations. Subtract '1'
from the Sea Movement Table for Axis con- 4. Noncombat Units: The Allied player
voys landing at ports. must deploy and evacuate noncombat units
in the Advanced Game. These units repre-
4. SPECIAL: If the intended port destina- sent formations of skill specialists and tech-
tion becomes unfriendly at any time prior to nicians which were to prove critical to the
landing, even if subsequently made friendly re-formation of the Allied forces in the Mid-
again, the convoy is immediately aborted. dle East theater of war:
F. ALLIED EVACUATION a. Noncombat units are positioned inverted

at the beginning of the game in the same
As explained in the Advanced Game victory manner as other unit types. Unlike other
conditions, under certain circumstances the types, however, a noncombat unit is exposed
Allied player may accrue victory points for IMMEDIATELY whenever an enemy unit
evacuating certain units: moves adjacent to it.
1. Allied units with a movement allowance b. Noncombat units have no zone-of-

greater than '0' may be evacuated (removed control. Enemy units may move adjacent to
from the mapboard) in a procedure which is or through them without stopping, or remain
simply the reverse of that used for landing in their hex, if no Allied combat units are in
the hex. transportation, the steamer must occupy the

landing box and the units to be transported
c. When in a hex without friendly combat must occupy the connected city hex at the
units, noncombat units are automatically beginning of the Allied sea movement
eliminated if an enemy combat unit is adja- phase. A unit is signified as being loaded by
cent or in the same hex with them at the end being placed under the steamer counter.
of the Axis combat phase.
d. Debarkation: To debark (unload) units,
d. Noncombat units have a stacking value the steamer unit must occupy a landing box
printed on their counter in the same manner at the beginning of the Allied sea movement
as combat units. phase. The transported units are simply
transferred from the landing box to the city
5. IMPORTANT: No unit may be evacu- hex.
ated before turn eight. No noncombat unit
may move out of the sector of its initial e. The coastal steamer may not move in the
placement before turn eight UNLESS en- turn of embarkation or debarkation. Un-
emy units enter the Georgeopolis sector loaded units may not move in the turn of
before that turn. debarkation, but may engage in combat
normally. If the city hex is stacked to capac-
G. SPECIAL UNITS AND FUNCTIONS ity, they must stay in the landing box.
f. Armor and ranged artillery units may

only embark or debark at a port landing box
connected to a city hex containing a docks
unit.
1. Allied Coastal Steamer: The coastal
steamer is a naval unit that may transport g. Units may only embark/debark at
combat and noncombat units between the friendly, un-neutralized landing boxes. If
landing boxes of Heraklion, Retimo, Suda, the connected city hex is captured by enemy
and Canea: units (and thus made un-friendly), the
steamer and any units in the landing box are
a. The coastal steamer may move only eliminated.
through sea hexes and into and out of land-
ing boxes. It may land units at port landing h. The coastal steamer cannot be the target
boxes and the beach landing boxes con- of a bombardment attack while in a port
nected to Retimo and Canea. It expends one landing box. If attacked and destroyed
movement point for each sea hex or landing while in a sea hex or non-port landing box,
box entered. any units being carried are also destroyed.
b. The coastal steamer may transport up to

three stacking points or ONE armored unit
from one port landing box to another.
c. Embarkation: To embark (load) units for 2. Truck Units: The truck units represent
transport companies which may carry regu-

lar land units:
a. A truck unit may transport up to three

stacking points of infantry-type units at the
truck unit's movement allowance.
b. Loading and Transporting: A truck unit

may load any infantry unit that occupies the 4. Special Functions For Armored Units:
same hex at the beginning of the friendly
movement phase. It must expend three a. Whenever an armored unit (heavy or
movement points to load and may then ex- light) participates in an attack, '1' is auto-
pend the remainder of its movement allow- matically subtracted from the combat results
ance in normal movement in the same turn. die roll for that attack. No more than '1' is
ever subtracted from the die roll regardless
c. Unloading: A truck unit may unload at of the number of armored units participat-
any time during the movement phase by ex- ing.
pending three movement points. It may ex-
pend any remaining movement points in b. No combat results die roll modifications
regular movement or it may load other units. are made when an armored unit is defend-
ing, only attacking.
d. A transported unit may not move or at-
tack in the turn of transporting or unloading.
When loaded, it is ignored for combat pur-
poses and treated as a noncombat unit. If
the truck unit is destroyed, any units being
transported are also destroyed.
c. Heavy Armored Units: Allied heavy ar-
e. A truck unit may not load or unload mored units are regular combat units. They
while in an enemy of control. have a defense strength of '0', however, and
are automatically eliminated at the end of
the Axis combat phase if attacked while in a
hex that does not contain at least one other
non-heavy armored Allied unit. If not actu-
ally attacked, they are unaffected. In addi-
tion, heavy armored units must determine
3. HMS York: The HMS York counter repre- 'reliability' each time they attack by rolling
sents the partially sunken hulk of the British one die on the Armor Reliability Table:
cruiser York which was used as an anti-
aircraft gun platform in the middle of Suda 1) After the Allied player has announced an
Bay. The York functions as a heavy AA attack and indicated the units that are par-
unit. It is a potential aircraft bombardment ticipating, he rolls one die for each heavy
target which is destroyed by any 'N' result armored unit participating and determines
on the Bombardment Table. whether it can participate in the attack.
2) If 'SUB 1' result is rolled, the unit may counter in hex.

participate normally.
3) Bridge/ River Hexes: Demolition de-
3) If 'No Effect' is rolled, the armored unit stroys road and bridge in hex. Thereafter,
is ignored for combat purposes. hex treated as non-road river hex. Indicate
demolition by placing a 'DEMO' counter in
4) If 'ELIM' result is rolled, the armored hex.
unit is immediately removed from the game
before resolving the attack. No subtraction b. Procedure:
is made to the combat results die roll.
1) The engineer unit may execute demoli-
5) SPECIAL: Add '1' to the Armor Reli- tion in any appropriate hex that it occupies
ability Table die roll for each enemy ar- at the beginning of the Allied player seg-
mored or anti-tank unit in the defender's ment.
hex.
2) Actual demolition occurs at the end of
d. Axis armored units and Allied light ar- the Allied combat phase by simply announc-
mored units never roll for reliability. ing the type of demolition being executed
and placing a DEMO counter in the hex.
3) Demolition procedures may not be exe-

cuted in hexes which are in the zone of con-
trol of enemy units or in hexes containing
5. 42nd Field Company, Royal Engineers: Allied units which retreated in the current
The 42nd Field Company, RE, was the only combat phase.
true engineer unit available to the Allied
forces on Crete. As such, it was used to H. ADVANCED GAME VICTORY
great advantage in destroying various roads CONDITIONS
and bridges thus impeding the Axis advance:
1. ALLIED: The Allied player wins by ful-
a. Demolition: The 42nd Fd Coy may de- filling either one of the two following condi-
stroy the following types of mapboard ter- tions:
rain features:
a. Maintain all three airfields friendly at the
1) Ports: Demolition destroys the port fa- end of the May 22, NIGHT turn (only!); OR,
cilities for purposes of sea transfer, evacua- maintain all three airfields friendly at the
tion, and embarkation/debarkation. Indicate end of the May 27 NIGHT turn.
demolished port by placing a 'DEMO'
counter in the port landing box. b. Failing in either of the two alternatives in
'a.', above, evacuate Allied units totaling at
2) Road/Rough Terrain Hexes: Demolition least 80 casualty points while ALSO elimi-
destroys roads in hex. Thereafter, hex nating Axis units totaling at least 75 casualty
treated as a non-road rough terrain hex. In- points before the end of the May 27, NIGHT
dicate demolition by placing a 'DEMO' turn.
2. AXIS: The Axis player wins by avoiding

the Allied victory conditions.
3. CASUALTY POINTS are evaluated ac-

cording to the following schedule:
CASUALTY
TYPE OF UNIT POINT
VALUE
ALLIED-Evacuated Units:
Each headquarters unit 5 points
Each noncombat unit 5 points
Each battalion-sized combat unit 5 points
Each company-sized combat unit 2 points
Each platoon-sized (or smaller) 1 point
combat unit
Each Greek unit (any size) 1 point
AXIS-Eliminated Units:
Each airborne headquarters unit 7 points
Each non-airborne headquarters unit 5 points
Each company-sized (or smaller) 2 points
airborne unit
Each battalion-sized airborne unit* 15 points
Each company-sized (or smaller) 1 point
non-airborne unit
Each battalion-sized non-airborne 7 points
unit
*NOTE: Award the Allied player 15 points (instead

of 13) it all three German airborne engineer compa-
nies and the battalion headquarters company are in
the Eliminated box.
friendly occupied hex containing the 4-5-4,

EXAMPLES OF PLAY All three units, however, cannot occupy the
hex since that violates stacking limits. The
SIMPLE COMBAT EXAMPLES Allied player therefore removes the 0-1-3
and retreats the 2-2-4. Both attacking Ger-
man units advance into the enemy-vacated
hex after combat.
RIVER COMBAT
The defender receives a die roll bonus only

A. German 9-9-4 opts to attack the Allied 4- if all attacking units are on a river and the
4-4. Combat odds would be 9 to 4, which defender is behind the same river. In the
rounds down to 2-1. Attack is resolved on above example, '1' is added to the die roll
the 2-1 odds category column on the Com- result only as follows:
bat Results Table.
-#1 and #2 attack A: No die roll addition.
B. German 9-9-4 and one of the 2-2-4's at- -#1 and #2 attack B: Add '1' to die roll.
tack the two Allied units shown stacked to- -#1 and #3 attack B: No die roll addition.
gether. The third German unit, the 2-2-4,
elects not to participate. The attack is re- Note that 'end of rivers' are treated as full
solved as 11 (9+2) to 3 (2+1), which rounds river/wadi hexes for all purposes.
down to 3 to 1. The die is rolled once and
the result is a 'DR'; defender must retreat
one hex. Since enemy zones of control sur-
round the defenders, they must retreat to the
AIRBORNE LANDING AND DRIFT SEA MOVEMENT AND COMBAT
A. Following a successful landing attempt

on the Sea Movement Table, the German
player places units from that convoy onto
landing boxes of the appropriate beach in an
The five companies of the First battalion all inverted position.
drop in the same hex, within stacking limita-
tions. They are within range of two Allied B. The Allied coastal artillery fires at each
AA units and they are also dropping into an of the three units attempting to land. For
enemy-occupied hex. Each drift die roll is purposes of the example, assume the CD
therefore modified by adding '3' ('2' for AA unit, firing on the 2-3 column of the Bom-
and '1' for the enemy unit). The die is rolled bardment Table, succeeds in eliminating one
once for each company and produces the of the three enemy units.
following series of die rolls: 6, 5, 4, 3, and 1,
which are increased by '3' to produce the C. The surviving convoy units move ashore.
following hex locations: 9, 8, 7, 6, and 4. The surviving 2-2-4 unit, however, must at-
Drift is determined and resolved for each tack the defending enemy unit on the coastal
unit in turn before proceeding to the next. hex. During the combat phase, the 2-2-4 in
Notice that the 2nd Company has drifted the landing box, the 8-8-4 on the coastal
into an enemy-occupied hex and must there- hex, and the other 2-2-4 attack the defending
fore execute a drift combat attack at the end unit at 11 to 3 (the 2-2-4 on the landing box
of the phase. is halved), which rounds down to 3-1 odds.
D. The die is rolled, and the result is 'NE',

'No Effect'. Since the defender was not re-
moved from the coastal hex, the 2-2-4 in the
landing box is eliminated.
ADVANCED RULES COMBAT tacks the German 2-2-4 unit at 1-1 odds.
EXAMPLE
C. Assume for purposes of the example that
both defensive artillery fire attacks are suc-
cessful and both German units are forced to
retreat. The retreat of those two units lowers
the odds from 26-6 to 22-6. Therefore Allied
defensive artillery fire reduce the attack
from 4-1 (-1 on die) to 3-1 (no die modifica-
tion). The German player must then resolve
the attack at 3-1.
A. German player executes an attack by

four ground units (22 attack strength points)
supported by 2 strength points of artillery
and 2 strength points of bomber air support.
Note the following:
1. The 4 strength points of bombers are

halved to '2' because the Allied light AA
unit is within range of the target hex.
2. The 2-2-8 light armored unit automati-

cally subtracts '1' from the attacker's die roll
result.
3. The combat odds for the attack are

22+2+2 = 26, to 6, which rounds down to 4-
1 (plus the '1' subtracted from the die roll.)
B. After the attack is announced and the

attacking units indicated, but before the at-
tack is actually resolved, the defender an-
nounces defensive artillery fire and executes
the following defensive artillery fire attacks:
1. The Allied 4-2 light AA unit attacks the

German 2-2-8 armored unit at 2-1 odds.
2. The Allied 3-6 ranged artillery unit at-

INVASION OF MALTA – 1942 assumes that they were. It is 1942; Rommel

has failed to take Tobruk, the Italian Navy
RULES OF PLAY has won the Second Battle of Sirte and cut
supplies to the island, and British aircraft
INTRODUCTION reinforcements from Gibraltar have been
turned back. Hitler gives conditional and
In any listing of German strategic mistakes indecisive support by throwing the Luft-
during World War II, the failure to capture waffe and the few Fallschirmjager regiments
Malta must rank very high. Yet it is wrong available into the fray.
to assume that Malta was a plum ripe for
easy picking. An invasion, if attempted, It is the spring of 1942, and history is about
could have failed. As advanced as the Ger- to be re-written:
mans were in the techniques of airborne in-
vasion, they and their Italian allies were A. RULES CHANGES
equally backward in amphibious invasion
techniques. Once on the island, any sizeable Invasion of Malta, 1942 uses the Air Assault
force would have to win quickly or fail on Crete rules system with variations and
through thirst and hunger. Under the best of expansions listed below. Aside from minor
circumstances, it would have been a calcu- differences in application, the biggest depar-
lated risk. Unwilling to gamble as he had ture in the rules is in the sea movement and
done in the past, Hitler begged off and the amphibious assault procedures which are
invasion was never carried out. The Italian explained below. For order of appearance,
General Staff, however, had planned for an starting location, and turn record informa-
invasion, had trained troops for amphibious tion, refer to the Organization Cards for
and airborne assault, and had laid the logis- Malta. Minor variations to existing rules
tical groundwork for a sizeable operation. are:
Yet, they depended on German support that
was not forthcoming. Had that support been 1. Prepare for Play: Same as Crete, except
tendered, history would have been written Allied player positions all of his units after
quite differently. The Italian plan, called the Axis player has indicated his invasion
Operazione C3, was a plausible effort that beach and turn of arrival.
could have been initiated if the Germans had
cooperated and three military prerequisites 2. Sequence of Play: Same as Crete, except
had been attained: there is no Allied Sea Movement Phase.
1. Axis control of the air over Malta. 3. Substitute Counters: Do NOT use Ger-
man airborne company substitute counters.
2. Axis temporary control (several weeks) Axis airborne units drop and drift as
of the sea around Malta. BATTALIONS and independent companies
as shown on the Axis Organization Card.
3. Good weather.
4. Anti-Aircraft Battalions: The Allied light
These prerequisites were never attained. and heavy AA units are of two sizes: com-
They very nearly were, however. This game panies and battalions. Battalion counters
count as three AA units for purposes of Axis a. No more than THREE stacking points
airborne drift modification. One battalion- may be placed on any one landing box dur-
sized AA unit then, would add '3' to an air- ing any single turn.
borne unit's drift die roll.
b. Units that cannot be placed on a landing
5. There are no Allied sea movement, box due to stacking limitations must remain
evacuation, or reinforcement functions. on the Organization Card until space is
available in subsequent turns.
B. AXIS AMPHIBIOUS ASSAULT
c. Landing units must undergo coastal de-
Landing procedures are basically the same fense bombardment, engage in combat and
as in Crete, except there are five convoys advance onto vacant coastal hexes as in
whose arrival times and locations are inter- Crete rules.
dependent and functionally different:
d. Surviving assault convoy units (only!)
1. There are three different types of con- that advance onto coastal hexes automati-
voys: cally create a BEACHHEAD marker in their
hex at the end of the Axis combat phase in
a. Assault Convoy: The first convoy landed. their turn of arrival. Beachhead markers
It determines the beach landing location for may never be moved and are eliminated if
all subsequent convoys. an Allied unit enters their hex. Any assault
convoy unit may create a beachhead marker
b. Follow-up Convoys: There are three fol- in any coastal hex in the turn in which it
low-up convoys which, as the name implies, successfully moves from the landing box to
act as reinforcements for the assault convoy. the coastal hex.
c. Special Convoy: This convoy carries the 4. Follow-Up Convoy Landing: Follow-up
heavy artillery and equipment of the inva- convoy units may attempt to enter the game
sion force. It may only land at a captured at the times indicated on the Organization
port. Card.
2. The Axis player determines the time of a. On their indicated turn of availability (or
arrival and beach location for the assault later, at player's option), each follow-up
convoy only. He may place two decoy convoy must roll one die on the Malta sub-
counters on the Turn Record Track to con- section of the Sea Movement Table to de-
fuse the Allied player as to the actual turn of termine if it may land in the current turn. If
arrival. an 'All Arrive' result is rolled, units may be-
gin to land immediately.
3. Initial Assault Convoy Landing: On the
designated turn of arrival, units of the as- b. Follow-up convoy units may only land
sault convoy are transferred from the Axis on landing boxes connected to hexes con-
Organization Card to the beach landing taining beachhead markers. No more than
boxes of the appropriate beach. three stacking points may be placed on each
landing box.
c. The Axis player may not roll on the Sea Coastal defense artillery units function as
Movement Table for entry of a follow-up previously described, with these added ca-
convoy until ALL the units of the preceding pabilities and restrictions:
convoy (assault or follow-up) have landed.
1. Coastal defense artillery units may only
5. Port Landings: Any follow-up convoy be placed in those hexes containing a fort
may change its beach destination and land at ( ) or a battery (n) symbol. Only ONE
a friendly captured port landing box (as pre- coastal defense unit may be placed in each
viously described) if such a port is captured hex. EXCEPTION: CD units may not be
at least two turns before the scheduled arri- placed in Ft. Musta and Ft. Tarja.
val of that convoy.
2. Heavy coastal defense artillery units are
a. If the port/city hex becomes un-friendly, those units with a range of '24.' Heavy CD
units occupying the port landing box are artillery units may fire at any target in a
eliminated. Other units in the convoy, how- landing box within range. They do not re-
ever, which have not been placed on the port quire a direct line-of-fire to the target unit if
landing box, are not eliminated. They may there is a friendly combat unit adjacent to
continue landing at a beachhead landing box the target unit's landing box.
after a delay of at least two turns after the
port's recapture. D. GERMAN AIRBORNE
WITHDRAWAL
b. Special convoy units may ONLY land at
a friendly port. They may not begin landing 1. All GERMAN airborne units must be
until after turn twelve and at least two turns withdrawn from the game by the end of the
after the port has been made friendly. Also, fifteenth game turn.
they may not land until after ALL units from
follow-up convoy #2 have landed. If the 2. German units may withdraw from
Axis player has begun rolling for or landing friendly ports, beachhead hexes, or friendly
units from follow-up convoy #3, the special airfields. Withdrawal may occur at the be-
convoy units may not begin landing until ginning of any Axis player segment before
after all of those units have landed. the aircraft placement and bombardment
phase is executed.
c. Do not roll on the Sea Movement Table
for special convoy units. They may begin 3. To withdraw a unit, it must occupy a
landing automatically at their earliest avail- withdrawal hex at the beginning of the
ability. player segment. It is then simply removed
from the mapboard and placed in the with-
6. IMPORTANT: If all beachhead markers drawal box on the Organization Card.
are destroyed after the last assault convoy
unit has landed, no other units may be 4. Premature Withdrawal:
landed at beach or port landing boxes.
a. If, before turn #15, German airborne
C. MALTA COASTAL DEFENSES units suffer more than 50 casualty points (as
determined by the formula in the Malta vic-

tory conditions section), ALL German air- a. Unlike other units, the two amphibious
borne units must attempt to withdraw begin- commando units may land on ANY coastal
ning in the next Axis player segment. hex. They are not required to land at port or
beach landing boxes but may be positioned
b. Prematurely withdrawing units may not initially on any sea hex.
attack in any manner and must avoid mov-
ing adjacent to Allied units when unless no b. If the amphibious commando units land
other withdrawal route is available. in a hex by themselves (with no other non-
commando units) during NIGHT turns, they
c. If no port, beachhead, or airfield with- do not undergo any type of coastal defense
drawal route is available, the German air- bombardment. If they land during a daylight
borne units must move towards the closest turn, they may be bombarded normally.
coastal hex in the most expeditious manner.
Upon entering a coastal hex, they are auto- 2. The airborne commando unit functions
matically withdrawn from the game. like a regular glider unit.
d. German airborne units that have not yet 3. Commando units may expend their full
entered the game must remain on the Axis movement allowance during their initial turn
Organization Chart. of entry onto the mapboard unless they enter
an enemy zone of control, or a landing box
e. Withdrawn units are not considered connected to an enemy-occupied hex, or
eliminated for victory condition purposes. drift onto an enemy-occupied hex.
5. Any German unit on the mapboard at the 4. During their initial turn of entry onto the
end of the fifteenth turn is considered elimi- mapboard, commando units may attack at
nated, removed from the game, and placed full attack strength regardless of their loca-
in the eliminated units box on the Organiza- tion with no die roll modification. In addi-
tion Card. tion, they may ignore any enemy defense
strength bonuses for terrain or fortifications
E. ITALIAN COMMANDOES if they land at NIGHT and do not attack in
conjunction with any other type of friendly
The three Italian commando units, the San units.
Marco (SM) companies, were highly trained
units assigned special, highly dangerous F. AXIS SUPPLY LIMITATIONS
missions for the Malta invasion. One com-
pany is a glider - hence airborne - com- The Axis player must capture and hold
mando unit and the other two are amphibi- friendly at least one port city by the end of
ous commando units: turn #12, or else his units suffer the follow-
ing penalties:
1. The two amphibious commando units
land with the assault convoy forces. They 1. If the Axis player fails to hold a port city
may not, however, create beachhead mark- under friendly control and fails to maintain
ers in their landing hex. the connected port landing box free from
Allied Coastal Defense artillery fire by the units are eliminated, as follows:
end of turn #12, Axis offensive capabilities
are reduced as follows: AIRBORNE UNIT TYPE: POINT VALUE
Each airborne headquarters unit 5 points.

a. All attacks made by Axis ground units, Each Battalion-sized GERMAN 21 points.
including defensive artillery fire, are modi- airborne unit
fied by adding '2' to the combat result die Each Battalion-sized ITALIAN 11 points.
roll. airborne unit
Each company-sized (or smaller) 2 points.
airborne unit
b. All Axis ground units are reduced to
HALF (rounded down) their normal move-
ment allowance.
2. These modifications are effective begin-

ning on the Axis player segment of turn #13
and continue until such time as the require-
ments have been met at the beginning of any
subsequent Axis player segment. Axis units
are restored to full effectiveness at the be-
ginning of any Axis player segment in
which the supply requirements have been
satisfied.
G. VICTORY CONDITIONS
1. AXIS: The Axis player wins by fulfilling

the following two victory conditions before
the end of the game:
a. Capture and simultaneously hold friendly

LUQU AIRFIELD, VALLETTA, and
BIRZEB-BUGIA for four consecutive Axis
movement phases after the last objective has
been captured.
b. Suffer less than 120 AXIS airborne casu-

alty points by the end of the game.
2. ALLIED: The Allied player wins by

avoiding EITHER of the two Axis victory
conditions.
3. CASUALTY POINTS are incurred by

the Axis player whenever Axis airborne
AIR ASSAULT ON CRETE for the forces of one airfield to help another
before turn 8.
TACTICAL BRIEFING
5. German airpower is potentially decisive.
A Primer on Tactics and Strategy It is the strongest weapon in the German ar-
senal, IF it is used correctly.
Probably the most difficult aspect of suc-
cessful play in Air Assault on Crete for nov- 6. Convoys, because of their unpredictabil-
ices to appreciate is the impact of planning ity are not decisive. Never depend upon
on final victory or defeat. In this game, them. Often, however, their fortuitous ap-
much will be decided by what the players do pearance can tip the balance in a close game.
before the first turn of the game. For the
Allied player, the most difficult task is the Tactical Options: Unfortunately, the Ger-
placement of his units to repel the initial air- man player is locked into a prescribed mode
borne attack. For the German player, the of attack leaving little opportunity for tacti-
whole complexion of the game will be de- cal improvisation. In spite of this, the Ger-
termined by where he lands his convoys and man player must still possess an airfield by
how he places his first airborne battalions. turn 8, or the game is lost. In the main, he
Once these decisions are made, both players has two general options:
will be irrevocably committed to a course of
action which will ultimately lead to defeat or 1. Dump all airpower, convoys, and rein-
victory. The following paragraphs are writ- forcements into Maleme and go for broke.
ten to aid the inexperienced player in plan- Or, he may opt to:
ning and executing his pre-game options:
2. Attack the Maleme/Suda area with the
THE GERMAN PLAYER first turn forces only, and hit one of the other
two sectors with the glider battalion, the air-
Tactical Situation: The German player is borne reinforcements, airpower, and the
on the offensive. His first and most primary convoys in the hope of building up an ad-
objective is the capture of one of the three vantageous balance of forces to allow the
airfields. It will not be easy. The German capture of an airfield.
player is faced with these realities:
The first method requires the Maleme forces
1. He is forced, by the order of appearance to be dropped east of the airfield with token
charts, to attack all three airfields. blocking forces dropped to the west. The
Suda forces are dropped as close as possible
2. Each of his three airborne forces is sepa- to the Maleme/Suda sector line and drive
rate and independent. They cannot help towards Maleme and/or Galatas in an effort
each other directly. to separate these two Allied forces. The
glider battalion and airborne reinforcements
3. The least difficult airfield to capture is are landed in Maleme. The convoys are tar-
Maleme. The other two, Retimo and Herak- geted for either Kisamos, Maleme, or Ga-
lion, may prove impossible to take. latas Beaches. Airpower is used in direct
support of land attacks in the Maleme sector
4. Distances are too great and time too short
and to interdict road movement in Suda sec- 3. Neutralize ALL suspected Coastal De-
tor. fense artillery positions in the turn prior to a
convoy landing if they are within range of
The second method depends upon a certain the intended landing boxes. Repeat during
amount of subterfuge for success. To use the actual turn of arrival.
this method successfully, the Allied player
must be predisposed to expect an all-out at- 4. Daylight convoy landings are probably
tack in the Maleme sector. In this method, best, with all things considered. CD posi-
the Maleme forces are dropped as before. tions cannot be neutralized at night.
The Suda forces, however, are dropped
closer to the port of Suda in an effort to cut 5. Protect RHQ and DHQ units during the
all Allied movement between Suda and initial parachute drop. They are worth a lot
Georgeopolis. The glider battalion is of points even if they are not all that useful.
dropped in either Retimo or Heraklion,
whichever one is the point of the main at- THE ALLIED PLAYER
tack. All convoys and additional airborne
reinforcements are thrown into the same sec- Tactical Situation: The Allied player is on
tor so that a concerted, all-out drive for the the defensive. He is also faced with serious
airfield (either Retimo or Heraklion) can be problems:
made during turns 6, 7, and 8. During this
time period, all B and FB units are used in 1. Available Allied forces are inadequate to
direct support of the land attacks. The fight- defend all areas adequately.
ers interdict the Allied road movement in the
Suda/Georgeopolis sectors. 2. The most vital sector is Maleme/Suda.
Neither of these plans is anywhere near to 3. The forces at Retimo and Heraklion have
being foolproof. The second option, how- a better than even chance of holding their
ever, does allow the German player a better own against the expected German attacks in
opportunity to capture either one of two air- those areas.
fields instead of throwing everything against
one airfield. 4. For evacuation purposes, Heraklion is the
easiest to evacuate from; Retimo is the most
Tactical Hints: Here is a collection of tacti- difficult. The most important evacuation
cal miscellany which may help the first-time route, however, is the one that follows the
player: road from Suda to Georgeopolis. If the port
of Suda is captured, this is the only way out
1. Attack the HMS York on the first turn. for the bulk of the Allied units.
Airpower can do little else during this turn
and will be too busy to attack it on subse- Tactical Options: The Allied player has
quent turns. two possible paths to victory; denying the
German player an airfield on the eighth turn
2. In certain critical situations ('Flak Trap,' of the game, or failing that, evacuate Allied
for example) it may be worthwhile to 'blind units. The first task is difficult. The second
bomb' suspected AA sites on the first turn. task is somewhat easier, but requires abso-
lutely perfect tactical execution. The great- ing. This tactic does, however, strip other
est danger in an evacuation is realized if a sectors of available AA coverage. Weigh
small German airborne force is allowed to the advantages and disadvantages carefully.
land between Suda and the Georgeopolis
evacuation route. To maintain both options 2. Position, if possible, one light AA unit
viable as long as possible, consider the fol- within two hexes of each airfield. This pre-
lowing: vents use of the airfield until the AA unit is
neutralized and also provides strong 'artil-
1. Keep both ports in Allied hands as long lery' support for defending units.
as possible. They are the best and quickest
evacuation routes. 3. Position artillery over a wide area. There
is not enough of it to use it effectively en
2. Units in Maleme can be easily cut off masse.
from Suda. If the Germans land east of
Maleme, defend the ridge to keep the south- 4. Cover ALL major beaches with at least
ern evacuation route open. one coastal defense artillery unit. Even one
CD unit has a 50% chance of destroying a
3. Build several 'killer packs' in the Suda convoy unit.
area for counterattack purposes. They
should consist of the strongest offensive 5. Position one heavy armored unit at each
units coupled with a light armor unit. Their airfield. As unreliable as they are, they can
defense strength should total a minimum of still provide some extra juice' in a despera-
'9'. The Allied player has a very 'brittle' tion-attack situation.
force. With few strong units and many
weak ones, he can afford few major losses. 6. Use decoys in critical areas - like a Flak
His counterattack capability rests in the Trap - to gain an extra +1 on the Drift die
hands of his 'killer packs'. Once these are roll. (They act as 'real' units for drift pur-
gone, he is on the tactical defensive as well poses.)
as strategic defensive.
7. Use weak units in clear terrain to impede
Tactical Hints: For the Allied player, the a para drop. They add +1 to the Drift die
'little things' will often spell the difference roll and present a single German parachute
between defeat and victory. The Allied company with a poor Drift Combat situa-
player must maximize every advantage he tion.
has in order to survive:
8. Defend the critical Suda-Georgeopolis
1. AA protection: Uniform, even coverage road area with weak units to guard against
is not that effective. It is possible to form a interdiction by light German parachute
'Flak Trap' in the Maleme or Suda area by forces.
pulling every extra unit within range and
placing AA units from the adjacent sector on 9. Protect non-combat, artillery, AA, and
the sector border. It is possible, then, to get CD units with combat units during initial
a +4 or +5 on the Drift die roll which would para drops. Do not leave them exposed.
seriously impede a German airborne land-
10. The coastal steamer can move from port The mapboard diagrams presented herein
to port safely at dusk. German airpower is are included for illustration purposes only.
already committed on the evening turn thus They do not purport to be 'perfect' defenses
allowing the CS unit two turns of safe or 'foolproof' attacks. Players will do well to
movement. study the mapboard illustrations in conjunc-
tion with the tactical hints outlined above as
THE TACTICAL SET-UP a constructive way to improve playing skills:
MALEME/SUDA SECTORS:
Operationally, these two sectors are very power. The Allied player must keep the
interdependent. The obvious German objec- coast road between Canea and Maleme air-
tives are the port of Suda and Maleme airfield open. He must also attempt to frustrate
field. Important secondary objectives are the consolidation of the two German forces.
the evacuation routes leading off of the Some thought can also be directed to the de-
mapboard. Probably the most critical piece fenses around Suda itself. In the event of an
of real estate, besides the primary objectives, evacuation, this area must be in Allied
are those hexes constituting the 'Galatas hands.
Hills', that grouping of rough terrain hexes
between the sector border and the town of
Galatas. If the Germans can control these
hills, they can split the Allied defenses in
two and consolidate the two separate para-
drops into one combined force of crushing
GEORGEOPOLIS/RETIMO SECTORS: convoys and his glider battalion into that

sector and block the main Allied retreat
Although these two sectors look like 'side route. Yet, if the Allied player defends the
shows,' they can often be the key to a Ger- Georgeopolis sector too strongly, he may
man victory. Nominally, the Allied garrison imperil his airfield defenses. A very dan-
has an easy time holding onto the airfield. gerous area, because the Allied player can-
Leaving the Georgeopolis sector unde- not afford to defend against all contingen-
fended, however, invites disaster. An op- cies.
portunistic German player can dump his
HERAKLION SECTOR: MALTA

THE PLAYER'S CHALLENGE
Again, on the face of it, the Allied player
has an easy time defending the airfield. If No tactical analysis will be presented herein
he can hold onto the port/city of Heraklion, for Malta. Rather, it seems as though the
he can even evacuate with relative ease. two-games-in-one-box idea presents an ex-
The natural cul-de-sac position of the air- cellent opportunity to transfer lessons
field makes it a very formidable defensive learned in one situation to a totally new yet
position. A neat tactic for the Allied player conceptually related situation. The basic
is to start his coastal steamer in Heraklion, principles are the same in both games. Yet,
load the Black Watch battalion onto it, and the game player is faced with certain pecu-
ship it to Suda during the first night. An ex- liar applications in Malta. Once again, the
tra 6-7-4 battalion can make a big difference Axis player will win or lose on the place-
in Suda while not weakening the Heraklion ment and performance of his airborne
defenses to a dangerous degree. If the Allies forces. Unlike Crete, however, the Axis
must evacuate, the situation changes mark- player will enjoy many more tactical options
edly. If they lose the port, they can be very as to invasion beaches and drop zone com-
easily bottled up by an inferior German binations. Of the half-dozen or so viable
force. What was once a great defensive po- beach/drop zone combinations, some are
sition would then become something of a clearly more productive than others. Players
cage, leaving the Allied player with little will quickly discover that even a weak com-
chance of a breakout. A two-edged sword, bination can be devastatingly effective if it
indeed. is not expected. Surprise is the Axis player's
most powerful weapon. This is a finely bal-
SUMMARY: In most cases, this will be a anced game (in spite of superficial appear-
desperate game for both players. Neither ances) when played between two thinking
will feel too comfortable regardless of the opponents. It is also a high-powered game
game situation. The possibility of sudden in that every decision made by each player
disaster always exists. A desperation attack will be decisive to the outcome. Enjoy.
by one side could very likely change the
whole complexion of a game. Failure by
either side to use all the resources available
will result in great disadvantage. In any cir-
cumstance, the issue will ultimately be de-
cided in the outcome of the struggle between
the German paratroops and the Allied infan-
try. If the German player fails with his air-
borne units, all his great material advantage
will be of no avail.
HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE oilfields, but in Axis hands, it would domi-

CRETE nate the eastern Mediterranean and serve as
a bomber base against the Suez Canal. Hit-
On the morning of May 20, 1941, the British ler's Directive No. 28, the authorization for
and Allied forces in Crete awaited the Ger- the attack on Crete, emphasized this last ob-
man invasion expected since the fall of jective. So long as Greece and the Balkans
Greece. Thirteen days later, on June 1st, the were neutral, however, neither side had any-
evacuation of these forces ended. The Brit- thing to fear.
ish had once again performed an evacuation
very much like Dunkirk just one year before. With the Italian invasion of Greece on Oc-
The battle for Crete was one of the most bit- tober 28, 1940, Crete took on immediate
ter battles of the war. It marked the first importance. Within a week, the British had
and, notably, the last time the Germans used landed forces at Suda Bay with the intention
parachute and airborne forces on a large of holding it as an advanced naval refueling
scale. The battle for Crete was an important base. Sufficient Allied bomber aircraft were
battle: important primarily for the military not yet available, which mattered little since
lessons it taught, but also because of the the Cretan airbases were not yet ready to
strategic implications drawn from its out- receive bombers. Even less ready was the
come. port. British Prime Minister Churchill en-
visioned the Suda port as a "second Scapa
STRATEGIC POSITION OF THE Flow." Churchill was perhaps over-
ISLAND enthusiastic in his appraisal. The Allied
command in Egypt did not possess enough
The central position of the island in the equipment and troops to adequately guard
Mediterranean has made Crete of impor- existing bases, let alone create a major port
tance since antiquity. Since the Minoans of where none previously existed. Suda's port
1500 BC, it has witnessed successive inva- was primitive and of the other ports on the
sions of Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Venetians, island only Heraklion could handle even the
and Turks. In WWII it was viewed by all smallest ships. Yet Crete was desirable be-
antagonists as a potential bomber base. In cause of its military potential as a base for
Allied hands, it would threaten Rumanian forays into the Balkans, for its political
worth as a symbol of Britain's commitment
to treaty obligations, and to help persuade fense until very late. For a long time, only
Turkey to enter the war on the side of the the Suda Bay area was guarded with a total
Allies. The German naval staff tried to en- garrison numbering not much more than
courage Italian occupation of the island as it 6,000 men. Part of the problem was the
lay athwart British supply lines to Greece. high turnover of command. Crete had no
Possession of Crete (including conquest of less than seven commanders in six months.
Greece) would also protect Italy's oil flow With the arrival of remnants of the British
by the route Rumania-Dardanelles-Corinth- Expeditionary Force, Churchill wanted an
Italy. The Italians, as it turned out, had no aggressive fighter in command. Accord-
plans for the capture of Crete and were ut- ingly, he sacked the British commander, and
terly incapable of sustaining an expedition in replaced him with New Zealand General
the face of British control of the sea lanes. B.C. Freyberg, previously commanding the
2nd New Zealand Division in Greece.
ALLIED PREPARATIONS Freyberg established his headquarters near
Canea and dispatched units to guard all three
The British and Commonwealth troops on airfields. Existing equipment was distrib-
Crete constituted the remains of the defeated uted and unit positions improved. Fortifica-
British Expeditionary Force to Greece. tions remained woefully incomplete, due to
They had been subjected to the German a paralyzing shortage of engineering equip-
Blitzkrieg in Greece and were now ex- ment. Shortages of all materials were so
hausted, disorganized, and depleted. They great that even ordinary hand shovels were
brought no heavy equipment from Greece lacking. Freyberg appealed for supplies and
and precious few light weapons. The army weapons to no avail. The logistical network
was even considerably short on rifles. In was a shambles. During the three week
particular, the artillery and service troops "Blitz" preceding the attack, Suda's capacity
were virtually stripped of all essential of 700 tons per day quickly dropped to 100
equipment. tons because only night offloadings were
possible. Only some 15,000 tons of supplies
The Greek forces on Crete were in even were landed as Suda Bay filled with the
worse shape than the British. The regulars wreckage of 13 ships.
had long since been shipped to Epirus (Al-
banian border area) where they were subse- Strategically, the British were ready. Allied
quently captured during April. The units in intelligence operatives in Greece reported
Crete were composed of recent recruits and the preparations of the impending attack.
Gendarmes (policemen). The Gendarmes They also reported the gathering of enemy
were a disciplined group but had little or no seaborne forces which caused great concern
training as a military formation. The Greeks in Crete. Basically, the defense plan relied
were further handicapped by a lack of on self-contained brigade groups of com-
weapons. Even those who possessed rifles bined arms, each covering its own sector of
had few rounds of ammunition. However, responsibility. Each was to guard, its air-
during the battle, the Greeks partly compen- field and closely watch the adjacent beaches.
sated for their handicaps with their ferocity These requirements caused the Allied units
and use of captured German weapons. to be deployed in three areas instead of con-
The island garrison was not prepared for de- centrating in the vital Maleme/Suda enclave.
The Allied forces were divided in the fol- containing British bases. Only the rein-
lowing manner (the figures below and par- forced 2nd Parachute Regiment was actually
ticularly those for the Germans are esti- ready in early April, but it was subsequently
mates): used instead to seize the bridge over the
Corinth Canal.
Sector Men
Maleme/Galatas 11,859 The idea for an airborne invasion of Crete
Suda 14,822 was encouraged by General Student, the
Retimo 6,730 commander of Germany's parachute forces.
Heraklion 8,024 He and his men were anxious to prove the
decisive value of the parachute arm. Crete
"Creforce" HQ 405
looked like the opportunity, and he prepared
Later landed 800
an audacious plan, to be known as Opera-
Total 42,640 tion Merkur.
AXIS PREPARATION At the core of Student's plan was the prom-

ise of a quick capture of Crete. He proposed
Why did the Axis attack Crete? The situa- to attack seven different points simultane-
tion itself was the product of circumstances, ously with the objective of seizing all during
but giver the Allied decision to defend Crete the first day. Later, he was persuaded to
Hitler was concerned about security on his limit his ambitious plan to the capture of
Balkan flank. Foremost in his mind were only four major objectives: the three air-
plans for the upcoming invasion of Russia fields and the port of Suda. The Allies were
(Operation Barbarossa). He could not af- expected to offer only weak resistance. The
ford to allow a plan of this importance and boldness and speed of the plan appealed to
magnitude to be upset by British interven- Hitler. It fulfilled his requirement for a
tion in the Balkans. The resources of the campaign that freed the air forces involved
region were vital, particularly Rumanian oil. quickly to move north to support the inva-
Indeed, his Directive No. 18 (Nov.1940) sion of Russia.
emphasized the need to protect the Ploesti
oilfields in Rumania against the danger of The parachute attack was planned in two
Allied air attack, presumably from bases in phases, owing to a shortage of transport air-
the Aegean. The addition of the Axis allied craft. The first wave would land in the
armies from the Balkans to Operation Bar- morning and capture Maleme airfield,
barossa would greatly ease his manpower Canea, and Suda harbor facilities. Glider
shortage in the campaign against Russia. detachments would lead the assault and
These considerations meant that the Allied seize key positions and eliminate AA batter-
forces had to be driven completely out of the ies. In the afternoon, the second wave
Balkans. would arrive. One regiment would attack
Retimo airfield and another reinforced regi-
The fact that the invasion was conducted ment would attack Heraklion airfield. The
with paratroops had its roots in the plan for airlanding forces, consisting of the 5th Ge-
Operation Marita, the plan for the attack in birgsjager Division would comprise a third
the Balkans. German parachutists were to airlift and were scheduled primarily for
stand by, ready to seize any Greek islands
Heraklion. Seaborne forces were subsidiary paign occurred during the first night when
to the main effort, largely due to lack of the veteran 22nd New Zealand Battalion at
proper landing craft. The invasion "fleet" Maleme inexplicably withdrew, thus aban-
was actually a motley collection of fishing doning the strongest position in the sector,
caques guarded by a few Italian destroyers. Hill 107.
The convoys
carried the heavy weapons that could not be The Germans did not discover Hill 107 and
airlanded plus extra infantry. One convoy Maleme airfield to be abandoned until their
made for the Maleme beaches while the attack against it was already underway, early
other sailed for the beaches just east of on the second morning. Still believing the
Heraklion. The total forces employed in the British to be just out of sight, they took most
operation were composed as follows: of the remaining day to secure the airfield.
That night the expected British counterat-
Sector Men tack failed to leave its start line due to a lack
Maleme 2,460 of communications. During the next day,
Suda 3,000 the Germans worked desperately to bring
Retimo 1,500 troops into their expanding airhead, all the
Heraklion 2,360 time expecting the counterattack. That night
Later landed 600 it came, but it was too little, much too late.
Total Paratroops 9,920 The Allies never regained the initiative.
Seaborne 5,330 The continued German buildup could not be

Airlanding 7,500 stopped, and the Luftwaffe disrupted Allied
Total All Forces 22,750 troop movement. By the 25th, the Germans
had established a strong continuous front
The German airforces arrayed against Crete from the "prison valley" directly to the sea.
comprised nearly the whole of Luftflotte 4, The Germans attacked with four regiments
totaling some 716 combat and recon aircraft, and the Allied front crumbled. General
plus 493 Ju52 transport aircraft and 78 glid- Freyberg ordered evacuation on the 27th and
ers. Since the end of the campaign in the long march to the south coast began. By
Greece, the Luftwaffe had bombed and be- June 1st, it was all over. The cost to both
seiged Crete continuously. The RAF could sides was incredibly high:
not make good its losses and withdrew all
operational aircraft from Crete on May 19th. ALLIES
The next day the Germans attacked. killed wounded prisoners
British 797 263 6,576
ACTION AT THE CRITICAL POINT Australian 274 507 3,079
New Zealand 671 967 2,180
The battle was bloody and bitterly fought. Royal Navy 1,828 183
Total 3,570 1,920 11,835
The paratroops had dropped into a hornet's
nest and in all sectors suffered dispropor-
tionately high casualties. But eventually the
Allies began to feel the impact of the Luft-
waffe. The real turning point in the cam-
AXIS battalion withdrew in good order from Hill

killed wounded missing total 107 which protected Maleme airfield.
Paratroop 1,520 1,500+ 1,502 4,522+
Mountain 395 504 257 1,156 A large reason for the failure lies with bri-
Others 75 127 236 438 gade headquarters. Units were deployed for
Total 1,900 2,131+ 1,955 6,116+ beach defense, not air landing defense. The
critical position at Maleme airfield wound
RETROSPECT AND AFTERMATH up on the brigade perimeter, not in the cen-
ter of the defense. Within the perimeter of
The Germans won the battle for Crete. The the 22nd battalion was a considerable force
Allies suffered another "Dunkirk" with the of tanks, AA guns, coast artillery, and RAF
usual heavy toll in casualties, equipment personnel. None of these forces was under
lost, and ships sunk. This battle had effects command of the battalion commander. Af-
that reached much farther than the immedi- ter the morning parachute assault, all sector
ate military consequences, however. The units except the 22nd were only lightly en-
battle is much better known for its influence gaged by enemy forces, but yet they did
on the development of airmobile warfare nothing. If the brigade commander had im-
than for its tactical lessons. pressed upon the 22nd the fact that it held
the key position and must be exceptionally
The British failure was not necessarily due stubborn, there might not have been a with-
simply to lack of material, although this had drawal during the first night. Furthermore,
a great bearing. It was, ultimately, failure of if a clear plan of reinforcement had been ar-
command. Particularly, the individual sec- ranged, the airfield defenses would have
tor commanders showed a persistent lack of been reassured.
initiative to use the forces and equipment
they had. At Heraklion, the brigade com- Airborne warfare was new, and its newness
mander never quit his defensive stance de- caused a certain awe. The Allied command-
spite decisively defeating the German attack. ers had all fought in WWI and could not re-
At Retimo, on the other hand, the sector late to this "futuristic" warfare. A major
commander vigorously pursued the defeated handicap was the mistaken British impres-
parachutists by use of continuous aggressive sion that German transport aircraft could
patrolling. He destroyed one group of para- land anywhere, even without an airfield.
chutists and pressed the remainder into a Additionally, the landing of parachutists all
small enclave. This should have been the over the countryside gave the impression of
attitude and outcome throughout the island. a much larger attack than what actually took
By nightfall of the first day at Maleme, the place. The main attack was not readily iden-
22nd New Zealand battalion found itself tified. When reports arrived that the para-
split-up and with only tenuous communica- chutists were either defeated or held in
tion with brigade headquarters. The after- check, the battle was thought to be won.
noon counterattack had failed, and the prom- What was not known, and could not be
ised support from neighboring battalions did known, was that about 1000 parachutists had
not materialize. With little information from dropped unopposed and unobserved just
other fronts, a loss of cohesiveness within west of the Tavronitis River. There was also
the battalion, and pressure on the flanks, the the uncertainty of amphibious invasion. In
this case, Allied Intelligence performed al- on the first day. Crete would be an easy op-
most too well. General Freyberg was in- portunity to collect the final bag of Allied
formed that the German amphibious forces prisoners in the Balkan campaign. This feel-
would be ready for action beginning May ing, coupled with the lack of knowledge of
17th. Constant alert from this warning was Allied dispositions, resulted in the para-
taken to mean the primary weight of the in- troopers jumping on top of the Allied units.
vasion would be amphibious. This was What eventually saved the plan was the con-
something to which the British were accus- servatism of Student's superiors in reducing
tomed, after anticipating a German amphibi- the number of points attacked from the
ous invasion of England for over a year. original seven to four.
Expecting the invasion, the troops were de-
ployed along the beaches. The British de- It was this conservatism that turned against
ployment and Intelligence expectation actu- the parachute arm. Hitler later told Student
ally hampered the defense against the real that, "The day of the parachutist is over.
assault force. The parachute arm is a surprise weapon and
without the element of surprise there can be
Despite the many problems in the Allied no future for airborne forces." Others took
camp, the Germans nearly lost. The forces the cue and the parachutists found them-
assaulting Hill 107 at dawn on May 21st selves on the Russian front in an infantry
were desperate, decimated and exhausted. If role starting in September 1941.
the British had not withdrawn, there was an
excellent chance the Germans would have Student later said "Crete was the graveyard
failed. Failure at Maleme would have meant of the paratroopers." Not only had too many
the complete destruction of all German air- paratroopers died trying to capture Crete,
borne forces on Crete. but the idea of airborne assault as the pri-
mary mode of assault died with them. Stu-
From the start, the airborne operation was a dent had hoped to follow his success in
hurry-up affair. The decision to attack did Crete with an attack on Cyprus. From there,
not come until April 21st with a May 15th landings would be made into Vichy French-
deadline. With only 23 days to make staff held Syria thus threatening both the Iraqi
and operational preparations, the Germans oilfields and the Suez Canal. Like Hitler's
faced such problems as lack of amphibious invasion of India, these plans were never
invasion craft, difficulty in gathering inva- more than a pipe-dream. Never again did
sion forces, and the primitiveness of the the Germans launch a major parachute as-
Greek airfields. The lack of fuel caused an sault.
extra five days of delay (due to the blockage
of the destroyed Corinth Canal bridge). The The lesson, however, was not wasted on the
major German problem was faulty intelli- Allies. The British press and public were
gence. The Allies actually numbered three deeply impressed by the quickness of the
times more manpower than the Germans ex- conquest and the novelty of the battle. The
pected to oppose. best of the British Empire had been defeated
by men dangling from tiny parachutes. This
Buoyed by the intelligence reports. Student was widely regarded as the dress rehearsal
thought he could take everything important of the invasion of Britain. Churchill la-
mented, "We have to contemplate the de- formations available to strike elsewhere in
scent from the air of perhaps a quarter mil- the Mediterranean. Three weeks later, Op-
lion parachutists, glider borne, or crash eration Barbarossa changed the entire stra-
landed aeroplane troops. Everyone in uni- tegic problem. Through the remainder of
form, and everyone else who likes, must fall the war, Crete was fortified as a defensive
upon these wherever they find them and at- German base, receiving only very little of-
tack them with the utmost alacrity." Indeed, fensive equipment. Ironically, the British
the novelty of the operation so impressed the had defended Crete partly to deny to the
Allied planning staffs that even before the Germans a jumping off point for further
battle was over, Churchill ordered the ex- Mediterranean operations, and the Germans
pansion of the British parachute arm: "Thus had attacked it to prevent the British from
we are always found behindhand by the en- using it as a naval and air base against the
emy. We ought to have 5000 parachutists Balkans. As it happened, Crete remained a
and an airborne division on the German backwater throughout the war, of no strate-
model, with any improvements which might gic interest to either side.
suggest themselves from experience."
Eventually the Allies created many airborne
divisions and organized several multi-
division drops, the most famous being Op-
eration Market-Garden utilizing some
35,000 airborne troops.
Despite their many sacrifices, the German

paratroopers gained only a tactical success.
It could still have been a strategic success, if
the German command had not let the num-
ber of casualties influence their decision.
They had won the tactical battle despite
faulty planning and an absolute lack of sur-
prise. Yet their crushing strategic defeat
was in the total deprivation of the airborne
threat in their future campaigns. It was pri-
marily the paratroopers that could threaten
the British in the Middle East. In Russia, an
airborne operation, coupled with the deep
panzer thrusts, might have given the Ger-
mans Moscow before that first terrible win-
ter. But because of Crete, there were no
more airborne options open to the German
General Staff.
The British realized they had crippled the

airborne forces sent against them, but did
not know that there were no other parachute
HISTORICAL PRESPECTIVE in the region rarely had a strategic purpose.

MALTA Because of this, many golden opportunities
were overlooked that might have meant
great triumphs for Axis arms: opportunities
Although only a tiny pile of rocks in the
such as the seizure of Gibraltar, trapping the
Mediterranean, Malta's strategic position
BEF in Greece, fomenting Arab revolt, or
caused it to be a major contributing factor to
even the possibility of capturing Egypt and
the demise of the Axis in North Africa and,
the Suez Canal.
ultimately the whole Axis southern flank.
Churchill stressed the importance of main-
All these prizes eluded the Axis, because
taining the island at all costs many times and
each involved a political precommitment
many high-ranking German officers, includ-
with political objectives to be complemented
ing Admiral Raeder, the commander of the
by military action - instead of the opposite
German navy, realized that it was the key to
sequence which more often than not was the
control of North Africa. So the question
case. Such is the case with Malta.
naturally arises; why was Malta never in-
vaded?
The temporary Axis solution to the Malta
problem was the "neutralization" of the is-
STRATEGIC ASSESSMENT land's striking power through blockade and
aerial bombardment. Neutralization was
While both the Allies and the Axis realized
intended as destruction of all airfields and
the relationship of Malta to events in Egypt
aircraft, and the rendering of the ports as
and Libya, Hitler essentially saw the Medi-
unsafe for ships. The belief that air power
terranean as a sideshow, and thus relegated
alone could accomplish such a task was
control of the whole theater to Mussolini for
common to all of the major belligerents of
all practical purposes.
the war throughout its duration, despite a
general lack of evidence that it could be
German troops and equipment sent to the
done.
Mediterranean theater were often there for
The German air force, geared as it was to
political reasons alone, and German efforts
tactical support of the ground forces, was ian warships as could be made available.
particularly unsuited to such an operation, Clearly the invasion would not fail due to
and the Italian bombers were even worse. the lack of troops.
Oriented to tactical operations, they were
further encumbered by increasing obsoles- From the start, the major limiting factor was
cence and abysmal maintenance. Although the lack of landing craft. Earlier plans had
the pilots were fairly good and bombs been scrapped for the same reason, and the
dropped on Malta usually fell accurately, Italian command had once again failed to
they were too small to do much damage. anticipate the requirements for an invasion
Despite the first-ever use of "carpet bomb- of Malta. Training began almost too late,
ing" techniques against Malta, the bomber and German landing craft had to be im-
offensive proved to be a costly failure. ported to supplement the scant Italian force.
When it was over, after three years of action By the summer of 1942, enough craft had
over Malta, the Allies claimed some 1493 been assembled for the landing, but some
Axis aircraft destroyed over Malta, against units would still have to settle for fishing
their own losses of 547 aircraft in the air. boats. By mid-July the force was ready, and
awaited only the official go-ahead from Hit-
AXIS INVASION PREPARATIONS ler and the final destruction of the RAF de-
fenses.
There were no less than six major invasion
plans produced by the Italians for Malta, and The heavy Allied buildup of strength in the
the Germans had their own variations. Out Western Desert during the summer of 1942
of that total, only two plans looked as forced the Axis into a crucial strategic deci-
though they might actually be carried out. sion. Basically the Axis could either risk an
In March, 1942, detailed plans were made Allied attack in the desert while the Luft-
for the invasion, known to the Germans as waffe helped reduce and invade Malta, or
Operation Herkules and to the Italians as the Afrika Korps could attempt to defeat
Operazione Esigenza C.3. The operation British forces in front of Tobruk, and then
was to be primarily an amphibious one, with attempt the capture of Tobruk itself. Later
landings on the southeast supported by para- would come the invasion of Malta.
troops seizing the beach area one day in ad-
vance. Some 20,000 paratroops in one Ital- Important factors that had to be given con-
ian and one German division would be sideration were, first of all, the state of
dropped. readiness of the Malta invasion army versus
that of the Afrika Korps. The availability of
Another 10,000 troops in another Italian di- supplies in Africa, training status of Italian
vision would be airlanded. Some 40,000 paratroopers, release of German transports
men organized in three divisions and two from the Russian Front, and other factors all
regiments had been trained in the primary had to be considered. On April 30th Hitler
sea assault role. They were to be followed and Mussolini met at Obersalzberg, and the
ashore by another 24,000 men in two divi- key decision was made: First capture To-
sions. In all, about 100,000 men would be bruk, and then invade Malta in July.
employed, along with about 1500 aircraft
and over 200 landing craft plus as many Ital- Ironically, the sheer magnitude of Rommel's
success was probably the most important to write:

factor in saving Malta from invasion. On
June 30th, 1942, Hitler gave his final ap- "In order to guarantee supplies, the capture
proval for the drive toward Alexandria, and of Malta was essential; and now (mid-July)
the Malta invasion was shelved. Hitler it was no longer possible. The abandonment
never had much enthusiasm for the project of this project was the first death blow to the
in the first place, as he felt certain that the whole undertaking in North Africa,"
Italian navy would abandon the paratroop-
ers.
According to Hitler, the Crete battle one

year before had demonstrated that the para-
trooper had lost his surprise value, and with
it his tactical edge, and consequently would
suffer unacceptably heavy losses.
The final major Axis effort against Malta

was now to maintain the blockade. But even
this failed with the arrival in early August of
the "Pedestal" convoy at Malta.
By late July of 1942 Italy was prepared to

make the invasion alone. Plans were made
for amphibious landings at Gozo, just
northwest of Malta. But a lack of necessary
fuel prevented the invasion fleet from sail-
ing. Once again it had become a political
matter. Germany had defeated the British at
Gazala, Germans had captured Tobruk, and
Germans were at El Alamein seemingly
about to take Alexandria. It seemed as
though Italy could not win without the assis-
tance of the Germans. Mussolini needed an
Italian victory.
But it was too late. The Italians had at last

recognized the critical importance of captur-
ing Malta, but the defeat at El Alamein
sealed the Axis fate in the Mediterranean
and once again other matters took priority
over Malta (although that defeat was caused
in large part by the grave restrictions on the
German supply network caused by the fail-
ure to take Malta). As Kesselring was later
VERTICAL ENVELOPMENT
THE GERMAN APPROACH GENERAL THEORY
Today's concept of vertical envelopment, General Student subscribed to what we to-

known as airmobile warfare, traces its ori- day would call the "ink spot" theory of strat-
gins directly back to the Russian exercises in egy for control of an area (his analogy was
mass airborne landings in the middle thir- based on "scattered oil drops"). After the
ties. German observers present at these ex- initial landing, paratroopers would form into
ercises included then-Colonel Student, who their units, which would then merge with
was later to command the German parachute others and increase the area under their con-
forces. He took command (as General Stu- trol. The wide dispersal of the landings
dent) on July 1, 1938, and was essentially would give the impression of a much larger
given a free hand to develop the new "sky force than was actually present, while at the
battalions" and his idea of massed for- same time serving to confuse the defenders
mations. Thus began the famous German as to the main objective.
"Fallschirmjager" divisions.
The whole key to such an operation was tim-
TRAINING ing - simultaneous arrival at many points to
give surprise and a tactical edge. Timing is
All German paratroopers were volunteers also essential for follow-up landings and
and were intensively screened before entry ground reinforcement, as anyone familiar
into the training program. Even so, two- with the sad results of Operation Market
thirds washed out before they completed Garden in 1944 will recall.
training. The actual program was in three
stages. The first consisted of a basic course The German theory was a resounding suc-
similar to the normal infantryman's army cess in the air assaults into Holland and Bel-
training. The next stage took place at the gium in 1940, largely because of the surprise
parachute training school and lasted two that accompanied the landings. Such was
months. The third and final stage was at- not the case on Crete, where a parachute at-
tachment to a parachute unit, where an addi- tack was expected.
tional six months training took place.
Perhaps a major fault of the German ap-
Before proceeding to the unit the parachutist proach was the dependence upon quickly
would make six training jumps, with the fi- seizing an airfield. An airfield was neces-
nal jump being made in company formation sary in order to bring in the heavy equip-
from about ten aircraft. Because German ment and reinforcements essential to sus-
tactical doctrine called for avoiding disper- tained combat. This weakness is amply
sal on the ground, parachutists were ex- borne out in the game, for unless the Ger-
pected to jump from between 350 - 400 feet. mans can seize an airfield, and rather
At this height they would be in the air less quickly at that, they will be unable to con-
than one minute, thus minimizing the drift tinue their offensive, and may actually have
effects caused by wind. Ideally, the entire to revert totally to the defensive.
company would be assembled 5 to 10 min-
utes after hitting the ground.
EQUIPMENT German Parachute Battalion
The German paratrooper was lightly

equipped as he was not expected to hold po-
sitions for extended periods of time. He car-
ried with him rations for two days, which
included amphetamines and thirst quench-
ers. For Crete he was armed with the 9mm
Schmeisser sub-machinegun (MP 38), but
carried only two full magazines. Only the
platoon leader of each first platoon actually
carried his weapon when he jumped. The
others obtained their weapons and ammuni-
tion from the weapons containers dropped
with each "stick" of 12 men.
German Mountain Battalion
Other weapons used by the parachutists in-
cluded the 8lmm mortar, MG 42, 28/20
squeeze bore anti-tank gun, and the
75mm/LG4O recoilless rifle. The standard
air transport was the durable Ju52/3m. As a
standard load it carried 12 parachutists and 4
arms containers.
ORGANIZATION British Infantry Battalion

Until the Crete operation, parachute units
were used exclusively in an air assault role.
They lacked the heavy weapons they were
later to carry in the campaigns in Russia,
Africa, and Italy. The organizations below
show the best approximation of the units
used in Crete. For purposes of comparison,
the structure of a standard British infantry
battalion is also presented, although only
two British units on Crete actually were or-
ganized in this way, and even they were
lacking somewhat in equipment:
THE GLIDER UNITS the necessity of landing at the objective.
Gliderborne assault was a new item in war-

fare introduced early in WWII. First organ-
ized in November 1939, the Germans did
not use them until the stunning assault at
Eben Emael, Belgium. They were used
again on Crete in considerably larger num-
bers. But the Germans had comparatively
few gliders available. The entire Sturm
Regiment on paper, was supposed to be car-
ried in gliders, but only enough were avail-
able for one battalion. The chart, below,
shows the probable composition (all figures
are estimates) of the glider forces used in
Crete. All were used in the first wave in
Maleme and Suda sectors:
comander # men # gliders objective

Maj Koch 108(?) 12(?) Hill 107
Cpt Altmann 150 15 HAA guns
– Akrotiri
Peninsula
Cpt Genz 90 9(?) HAA guns
– south of
Canea
Lt von Plessen 108 13 LAA guns -
Cpt Sarrazin 120 15 RAF camp
Maleme
airfield
Maj Braun 90(?) 9 Bridge over
Tavronitis
River
Gen Sussman 45(?) 5 Divisional
HQ
Total 711 78
Both sides were to later compensate for the

weakness of the initial drop by using larger
gliders, designed to carry heavy equipment
including antitank guns and light vehicles.
The Allies also tended to restrict their air-
borne operations to the extent that they
would as much as possible work in conjunc-
tion with a ground relief force moving
swiftly to the airborne drop zones. One final
lesson both sides learned the hard way was
BIBLIOGRAPHY von der Heydte, Baron F.A., Daedafus Re-

turned, Hutchinson, 1958.
Primary Sources: Hogg, Ian V., Barrage: the Guns in Action,
Ballantine, N.Y., 1970.
Ansel, Walter, Hitler and the Middle
Sea,Durham, N.C., 1972. Joslen, Lt. COL. H.F., Orders of Battle
1938-45, (HMSO)
Baldwin, Hanson W., Battles Lost end Won
(Great Campaigns at World War II), Holder Lloyd, Sir Hugh, Briefed to Attack
& Stoughton, 1967.
Long, Gavin, Greece, Crete, and Syria: Aus-
Bekker, Cajus, The Luftwaffe War Diaries, tralia in the War of 1939-45, Series I Vol II,
Ballantine, 1972. Canberra, 1953.
Churchill, Winston S., The Second World "Malta," no author, After the Battle, issue
War, Vol. III. "The Grand Alliance," #10,1975.
Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston. 1950.
Morzik. Fritz, Die Deutschen Transport
Clark, Alan, The Fall Of Crete, Anthony Flieger im Zweiten Weltkrieg, Frankfurt am
Blond, 1962. Main, 1966.
Cocchia, Adm. A., The Hunters and the Macintyre, Donald, The Naval War Against
Hunted, U.S. Naval Institute, Annapolis, Hitler, Scribner's & Sons. N.Y., 1971
1957.
Playfair, I.S.O., The Mediterranean and
Davin, D.M., Crete, Official History of New Middle East, United Kingdom History of the
Zealand in the Second World War, 1939-45, Second World War (HMSO), Vol. 2:1954,
Oxford University Press, 1953. Vol 3:1956.
Edwards, Roger, German Airborne Troops, von Senger und Etterlin, FM., German
Doubleday & Co., Garden City, N.Y. 1974. Tanks of World War II, Galahad, N.Y.,
1969.
Gabriele, M., Operazione C.3: Malta, Uffi-
cio Storico della Marina Militara, Rome, Shankland, P. and Hunter, A., Malta Con-
1965. voy, Ives Washburn Inc., N.Y., 1961.
Green, Wm., Warplanes of the Third Reich, Tantum, W.H. and Hoffschmidt, E.I. eds.,
Garden City, N.Y., 1970. The Rise and Fall of the German Airforce,
Old Greenwich, Conn., 1969.
Gundelach, Dr. Karl, "The Battle for Crete,"
Chronicle IV in Decisive Battles of World Tedder, Lord, With Prejudice, Little, Brown
War lI: the German View, editors Dr. & Co., Boston, 1967.
H. A. Jacobsen and Dr. J. Rohwer, Putnam,
1965.
Thomas, David A., Nazi Victory: Crete Rohwer, J. and Hummelchen, G. Chronol-
1941, Stein and Day, N.Y., 1972. ogy of the War at Sea, 1939-1945, Vol.1, Ian
Allan, London, 1973.
Secondary Sources:
Tugwell, M., Airborne to Battle, William
Bragadin, M., The Italian Navy in World Kimbar, London, 1971.
War Two, U.S.N.I., Annapolis, Md., 1957.
Weldon. Lt. Col. H.E.C., "The Artillery De-
Cunningham, Viscount A.B., A Sailor's Od- fense of Malta," The Journal of the Royal
yssey. Artillery. Vol. LXXIX #1 Jan.1952, (The
Royal Artillery Institute, Woolwich, Lon-
Fechter, H. and Hummelchen, G., Seak- don, S.E. 18).
riegeatlas Mittelmeer-Schwarzis Meer 1940-
45, J.F. Lehmanns Varlag, Munich, 1972. Wheeler, Capt. E.J., Ship Salvage, Geo.
Philip & Son, London, 1958.
Hogg, Ian V. and Thurston, L.F., British Ar-
illery Weapons and Ammunition 1914-1918,
Ian Allan, London, 1972.
Hogg. Ian V., The Guns: 1939-1945,

Pan/Ballantine, London, 1969.
Hogg, Ian V., The Guns of World War II,

MacDonald &Jones, London, 1976.
Korotkin, I.M., Battle Damage to Surface

Ships during World War II, tr. Alexandria,
Va., 1964. orig. pub. 1960.
Lupinacci, Capt. P.F., and Tognelli, C-Adm.

V.E., La Marine Italiana nella seconda
Guerra Mondiale, Vol. IX, La Difesa del
Traffico con l' Albania, Ia Grecia e l' Egeo,
Ufficio Storieo della Marina Militare, Rome
1965. (2nd ed.).
Maurice-Jones. Col. K.W.. The History of

Coast Artillery in the British Army, (The
Royal Artillery Institute, Woolwich, Lon-
don, S.E. 18).
Pafi, B; Falessi, C.; & Fiore, G.: Corazzati

Italiana 1939-45, D'Anna Edilore, Rome,
1968.
GLOSSARY OF ABBREVIATIONS MA - Movement allowance.

MAN - Manchester Regiment.
A - Australian. MED - Medium.
AA - Anti-aircraft. MIL - Milmart.
AS - Attack Strength. MG - Machine gun.
ASH – (A&SH) Argyll and Sutherland MNBDO - Mobile Naval Base Defense Or-
Highlanders. ganization.
ASSIETT - Assietta Division. MORT - Mortar.
AT – Anti-tank. MP - Military Police.
B - Bomber. NZ - New Zealand.
CCNN – 'Camicie Nere'; Blackshirts'; fascist NZ SUP - New Zealand Supply Echelon.
party troops. P - Pioneer (labor troops).
CD - Coastal Defense. PARA BATTS - Parachute Artillery Batter-
CDO - Commando. ies.
CHES - Cheshire Regiment. PALEST - Palestinian.
COMP - Composite Battalion. QUN - Queen's Royal Regiment.
CS - Coastal Steamer. RA - Royal Artillery.
DEV - Devonshire Regiment. RAA - Royal Australian Artillery.
DHQ - Divisional Headquarters. RASC - Royal Army Service Corps.
DIV CAV - Divisional Cavalry. RCC - Raggruppamento Corazzato (Italian
DLI - Durham Light Infantry. Armored Corps).
DOR - Dorsetshire Regiment. RE - Royal Engineer.
DS - Defense Strength. RHA - Royal Horse Artillery.
ENG - Engineer. RHQ - Regimental Headquarters.
F - Fighter. RIF - Royal Irish Fusiliers.
F - Fortress. RM - Royal Marines.
FB – Fighter-bomber. RMA - Royal Malta Artillery.
FD - Field. RN - Royal Navy.
FOLGOR - Flogore Parachute Division. RNGR - Ranger
FR - Field Regiment. ROY PERV - "Royal Pervolians"; scratch
GEB - Gebirsjaeger: Mountain. unit.
GEN - General. RTR - Royal Tank Regiment.
GEND - Gendarmes. RWK - Royal West Kent Regiment
GK - Greek. S - Sturm Regiment.
HAMP - Hampshire Regiment. S-L - Searchlight.
HERK - Heraklion garrison. S.M. - San Marco Regiment; Italian ma-
HQ - Headquarters. rines.
HUSS - Hussars. SMG - Submachine gun.
KO - King's Own Royal Regiment. TEC - Terrain Effects Chart.
KOMR - King's Own Malta Regiment. TNT - Tent.
LANC - Lancaster Regiment. XXX° - Italian 30th Corps.
LEIC - Leicester Regiment. Y&L - York and Lancaster Regiment.
LMG - Light machine gun. ZOC – Zone-of-Control.
LT - Light.
DESIGN AND PRODUCTION

Original Research and Design: Vance von
Borries.
Additional Design and Game Development:

Randall C. Reed
Additional Research: Andrew Smith, Esq.,

Epping, England.
Graphics and Components: Randall C. Reed.
Production Coordinator: Thomas N. Shaw.
Playtesting: Jack Greene, Jr., Bruce Milli-

gan, Richard Hamblen, James Stahler, David
Fram, William Barr, Dale Wetzleberger.
Special Thanks for additional research to:

Andrew Smith, Epping, England; Enrico
Manfredi, Pisa, Italy; Maurillo Tamaio, Mi-
lan, Italy; and Ruggero Croce, Naples, Italy.
Printing: Monarch Services, Baltimore,

Maryland.
Composition: Colonial Composition, Balti-

more, Maryland.
© 1977, The Avalon Hill Game Company,

Baltimore, Maryland.
Printed in the United States of America

[The Question Box Questions and Answers Q: Is bomber strength halved if the only AA
from the General magazine, Vol 15, No 1.] unit in range is being bombarded by other
air units.
AIR ASSAULT ON CRETE/MALTA A: Yes. The effects of AA units are deter-
mined at the moment the air units attempt to
Q: Where does Creforce HQ start. Canea or execute aircraft missions. If the AA unit is
Suda? neutralized before the bomber units execute
A: Canea, in either hex, at player's choice. their bombardment or air support missions,
'Suda' is a mistake. they are not halved. If the A.A unit is still
functional at the moment the bombardment
Q: Is the 'Sea Movement and Combat' ex- attack is resolved, the bombers are halved.
ample of play correct? This would hold true even if the target for
A: No. The Allied 2-2-3 unit in the example the bombardment mission was the AA unit.
should be a 2-3-3.
Q: If there is five stacking points of German
Q: Where does the HMS York counter set infantry occupying Maleme Airfield at the
up. beginning of the German player segment,
A: On the red dot in hex F-26 (not F-25). how many air landing units may land at that
airfield during the air landing segment?
Q: If German 9-9-4 parachute battalion is A: Only one stacking point may land that
defending, suppose the Allied player obtains turn. Airborne, air landing, and sea move-
an 'EX' result against it and chooses to re- ment unit may not overstack on their initial
move only one attack strength point. Must placement on the mapboard. Note that this
the German battalion break-down and elimi- is an exception to the stacking rules which
nate the one strength point HQ unit? apply only at the end of the movement and
A: No. The German player has the option of combat phases. Airborne units that drift and
breaking down the battalion; he is not re- overstack are not eliminated until the end of
quired to do so . In this case, the German the movement phase.
player does not break down and conse-
quently loses nothing. Q: May the 42 Coy RE execute demolition
procedures while loaded in the truck unit?
Q: Suppose two German 2-2-4's attack an A: No.
Allied 2-2-2 and a coastal artillery unit in
the same hex at 2-1 odds and roll an 'EX'. If
the German player removes one 2-2-4, the
Allied player must remove the 2-2-2. What
happens if the German player removes both
2-2-4's?
A: Since all of the defending units are to-
taled into one combined defensive strength,
the Allied player removes both units (2 + 0
= 2) if the German player removes one 2-2-
4. If he removes two 2-2-2's [sic], he is
simply wasting a unit.
Charts and Tables
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Crete/Malta Combat Results Table 2
Bombardment Table 3
Armor Reliability Table 3
Sea Movement Table 4
Drift Diagram 4
German Airborne Substitution Chart 5
Terrain Effects Chart 6
Allied Organization Card - Crete 9
Allied Organization Card - Malta 10
Axis Organization Card - Crete 11
Axis Organization Card - Malta 12
Rules Summary Chart 13
Air Assault on Crete 13
Invasion of Malta, 1942 14
Casualty Point Table - Crete 15
Casualty Point Table - Malta 15
Evacuation Point Chart 15
Combat factor Comparison Chart 15
CRETE/MALTA COMBAT RESULTS TABLE

Die Roll Combat Odds Categories
Number 1-4 1-3 1-2 1-1 2-1 3-1 4-1 5-1 6-1 7-1 8-1+
0 AR AR DR EX DE DE DE DE DE DE DE
1 AR AR AR DR EX DE DE DE DE DE DE
2 AE AR AR NE DR EX DE DE DE DE DE
3 AE AL AL AR NE DR EX DE DE DE DE
4 AE AE AE AR NE DR DR DR DE DE DE
5 AE AE AE AL AR NE DR DR DR DE DE
6 AE AE AE AL AL NE NE DR DR DR DE
7+ AE AE AE AE AE AL NE NE DR DR DR
NOTES:
1. Odds greater than 8-1 are treated as 8-1. Odds of less than 1-4 are automatically attacker eliminated.
2. Ranged artillery units ignore adverse combat results (AE, AL, AR, EX) when firing in the friendly or
enemy combat phase. "Exchange" results from defensive artillery fire are treated as "AL" results against
the specific enemy ground units involved in the defensive fire attack.
3. Combat resolution die roll modifications may be summarized at follows:
a. Add "1" to all drift combat situations.
b. Subtract "1" when armored unit participates in attack.
c. Add "2" to all Axis attacks if no port friendly after turn #12 (MALTA only!)
EXPLANATION OF RESULTS:
DE = All defending units involved in that specific attack are eliminated and removed from the game.
Place units in proper elimination box.
DR = All defending units involved in that specific attack must retreat one hex. Units may not retreat onto
sea hexes, enemy zones of control (except if onto friendly unit), or in friendly hexes stacked to capacity.
Units that cannot retreat properly are eliminated instead.
EX = Exchange of casualties. The attacker must remove one or more of his attacking units, at his option.
The defender must then remove units whose total basic, undoubled, defense strength is equal to or less
than the attacker's attack strength losses. The defender chooses which units to lose, providing his losses
approximate the attacker's losses at closely as possible without exceeding the total number of strength
points removed by the attacker. The defender must remove units whose total defense strength is equal to
or less than the attacker's attack strength. If the defender cannot remove even a single unit without ex-
ceeding the attacker's losses, then he removes nothing. NOTE: German airborne battalions may break-
down to cover partial unit losses.
NE = No effect. No losses to either side. No retreat for either side. EXCEPTION: For drift combat, treat
all 'NE' as 'AR'.
AE = All attacking units involved in that attack are eliminated and removed from the game.
AL = Attacker must eliminate any one single combat unit involved in that specific attack. Surviving at-
tacking units must retreat one hex. Attacker may not remove non-participating units. Airborne battalions
may be broken down before extracting losses.
AR = All attacking units must retreat one hex.
BOMBARDMENT TABLE
Die Roll Number of B, FB, or CD artillery strength points:

1 2-3 4-5 6-8 9+
1 N-1 N-2 N-2 N-2 N-2
2 N-1 N-1 N-1 N-2 N-2
3 -- N-1 N-1 N-1 N-2
4 -- -- N-1 N-1 N-2
5 -- -- -- N-1 N-1
6 -- -- -- -- --
NOTES:
1. Effects of neutralization are cumulative.
2. Neutralization result for naval units in beach or port landing boxes means those units are eliminated
and removed from the game.
3. Neutralization result for port means no units may embark/debark. Also, any units currently in port land-
ing box (except the coastal steamer) are eliminated.
4. CD artillery units are halved (rounded down) at night. Aircraft units may not be used at night.
EXPLANATION OF RESULTS:
-- = No effect.
N-1, N-2 = Target neutralized for one or two turns until next or following aircraft bombardment and
placement phase. Neutralized targets may not function or move in any manner. They still maintain their
zone of control.
ARMOR RELIABILITY TABLE

(Allied Heavy Armored Units Only)
Die roll Effect NOTES:

1. Roll once for each Allied heavy armored unit
1 SUB 1 participating. No more than "1" ever subtracted.
2 SUB 1 2. Add "1" to reliability die roll for EACH en-
3 No Effect emy armored or anti-tank unit in defender's hex.
4 No Effect
5 No Effect EXPLANATION OF RESULTS:
6 ELIM
7+ ELIM Sub 1 = Armored unit is effective; subtract "1"
from combat results die roll for this attack.
No Effect = Unit eliminated and removed from
play.
ELIM = Unit eliminated and removed from
play.
SEA MOVEMENT TABLE

CRETE MALTA
Die AXIS CONVOYS ALLIED REINFORCEMENTS Follow-up Convoys Only
Roll Port Entry South Edge
Day Turns Night Turns Day or Night
Night Only Day or Night
1 All Arrive All Arrive All Arrive All Arrive All Arrive
2 All Arrive ½Arrive/½Abort All Arrive All Arrive All Arrive
3 ½Arrive/½Abort ½Arrive/½Abort All Arrive All Arrive Delay 1 Turn
4 ½Arrive/½Elim All Abort All Abort All Arrive Delay 1 Turn; Elim 1 unit.
5 All Elim All Abort All Abort All Abort Delay 1 Turn; Elim 2 units.
6 All Elim ½Arrive/½Elim All Abort All Abort Delay 1 Turn; Elim 3 units.
NOTES: All Elim = All units in convoy destroyed and elimi-

1. Subtract "2" from die roll for Axis emergency con- nated from game.
voy. Subtract "1" from the die for Axis unit's landing ½Arrive/½Abort, ½Arrive/½Elim = Invert and ix
at a port (Crete Only!). all units in convoy. Allied player picks half (rounded
2. Assault and special convoys enter automatically down) of counters at random which are then either
(Malta). aborted or eliminated as indicated. Remaining units
arrive normally.
EXPLANATION OF RESULTS: Delay 1 Turn; Elim units = Units in convoy may
All Arrive = All units in convoy or group may enter not land this turn. Axis player must roll die again in
play. following turn. For "Elim units", invert and mix all
All Abort = All units in convoy or group fail to ar- units in convoy. Allied player then randomly picks
rive and are placed in the proper abort box on Or- number of units indicated which are eliminated and
ganization Card. removed from the game.
DRIFT DIAGRAM
EXPLANATION:
1. Roll one die for each unit counter executing

airborne landing.
2. Number rolled, after modification, corresponds to
final hex location as indicated on diagram.
3. All die roll modifications are cumulative.
a. Add "1" if unit's initial placement is enemy
occupied hex.
b. Add "1" for EACH enemy AA battery within
range.
c. Add "3" for EACH enemy AA battalion within
range.
d. Subtract "2" if unit is a GLIDER company.
4. Die roll of "10" or more is automatic elimination
GERMAN AIRBORNE BATTALION SUBSTITUTION CHART

Airborne infantry and engineer battalions may break-down and companies may recombine into battalions as outlined in the rules.
The exact organization is shown below, The 13th and 14th companies of all airborne regiments (except for the Sturm Regiment)
are NOT attached to nor may they recombine into battalions. The 13th and 14th companies of the Sturm Regiment may only
combine with the IV/Sturm HQ company to reconstitute the IV Battalion counter.
TERRAIN EFFECTS CHART

TERRAIN TYPE SYMBOL EFFECTS ON EFFECTS ON
MOVEMENT COMBAT
Cost 1 MP to enter. None
CLEAR HEX
1. Cost 2 MP to enter. 1. Defender doubles

DS.
2. Armored and units
ROUGH HEX
with MA greater than 2. Blocks LOF of
four may only enter ranged artillery units.
via road.
1. Cost 1 MP extra to Add '1' to combat die
leave river hex or to roll when all attackers
move from one river are on river hex and
hex to another in addi-defender is behind
tion to cost to enter river. If at least one
RIVER/WADI HEX
adjacent hex. attacking unit is on a
nor-river hex, then
2. Armored units may there is no addition to
only enter via road or the die roll.
bridge.
Cost1/2 MP to enter None
ROADS hex from adjacent
Primary: road hex.
Cost 1 MP to enter None

hex from adjacent
Secondary:
road hex.
Negates river penalty None

when entering hex
Bridge:
from non-river hex.
1. Cost ½ MP to enter 1. Defender doubles

from connecting road DS.
hex.
CITY HEX
2. Blocks LOF of
2. Cost 1 MP to enter ranged artillery units.
from non-road hex.

MOVEMENT COMBAT
Only coastal steamer No movement, com-
SEA HEX may enter, at cost of 1 bat, or zone-of-control
MP. across sea hex sides.
1. Units must stop Attacking units half
when moving from AS against units de-
COASTAL HEX BLB. fending on coastal hex
2. Cost same as other when attacking from
terrain in hex. BLB.
All units remaining on 1. Attacking units arc
BLB at end of combat halved against units
phase are eliminated. on coastal hexes.
LANDING BOXES
2. Ranged artillery
Beach:
may not attack.
3. Bombardment tar-
get for CD artillery.
1. Artillery and ar- 1. Cannot attack from
mored units may not PLB.
land without DOCKS 2. Bombardment tar-
unit. get for aircraft and
Port: CD artillery.
2. Can only use if 3. Coastal steamer
connecting city hex is may not he bom-
friendly. barded while in
friendly PLB.
1.Cost same as other None
terrain in hex.
2. Air landing units
may not land if light
AIRFIELD
AA unit within range.
3. Airlanding units
may not move in turn
of entry.
TOWN None None
FORT (Malta only) None Defender doubles DS
BATTERY (Malta None None
only)

MOVEMENT COMBAT
Same as city hex. Defender triples DS
BASTION HEX
(Malta only)
(Hexes G-20, H20, H-
22 only.)
SECTOR/AREA None None

COMMAND
BORDERS
No units may be None
COASTAL ISLANDS placed on coastal is-
lands.
Notes:
1. Abbreviations:
MP = Movement Points
MA = Movement Allowance
AS = Attack Strength
DS = Defense Strength
LOF = Line-of-Fire
BLB = Beach Landing Box
PLB = Port Landing Box.
2. A unit may not enter a hex unless it has sufficient movement points remaining to do so.
RULES SUMMARY CHART

The following rules summary is provided for two purposes. First, it will give the veteran game
player an overview of the game system before they read the rules. Second, it will act as a quick
reference chart for beginning gamers. WARNING: This is a rules SUMMARY! It is neither
complete nor exhaustive, but rather gives an overview and highlights specific numeric informa-
tion or exceptions.
I. SEQUENCE OF PLAY A. Conventional: attack and defend once per

A. Axis Segment: phase.
1. Aircraft Placement & Bombardment 1. Voluntary: Never required.
Phase. 2. Not all adjacent units required to attack.
2. Airborne Assault and Air Landing Phase. 3. Defenders in hex attacked as one com-
3. Sea Movement Phase. bined DS.
4. Movement Phase. 4. Artillery, CD, AA defend with DS of "1"
5. Combat Phase. when alone.
B. Allied Segment: B. Conventional resolution: odds-CRT-die roll.
1. Sea Movement Phase. 1. Retreat: Friendly units nullify enemy
2. Movement Phase. ZOC.
3. Combat Phase. 2. Advance: winner occupies vacant hex.
C. Ranged Artillery: Offensive and defensive
II. MOVEMENT fire.
A. Conventional movement, hex-by-hex. 1. Offensive: Friendly phase: add AS to at-
B. No movement allowed after initial placement tack.
for airborne, air landing, or convoy units. 2. Defensive: Enemy phase: attack enemy
C. Road Movement: ½MP for primary, 1 MP for units with fire.
secondary. 3. Requires friendly unit adjacent to target
unit.
III. STACKING 4. Blocking terrain: Rough terrain and city
A. Limit: 6 stacking points/hex. hexes and hex sides.
B. Value = Number in upper left.
VI. AIRBORNE BATTALION/COMPANY
IV. ZONE OF CONTROL SUBSTITUTION
A. Conventional: 6 adjacent hexes; stops enemy A. See Substitution Chart.
movement. B. Break-down anytime. Reform at start of seg-
B. May not move out of and into enemy ZOC in ment.
same turn. C. Requires Battalion HQ Coy and any 4 infan-
C. May move directly from one enemy ZOC to try coy's.
another with MA greater than 3.
D. Noncombat and artillery units may not move VII. AIRBORNE ASSAULT
into/out of enemy ZOC. A. Three steps: Placement, Drift, Drift Combat.
1. Placement: As companies, stacking limi,
V. COMBAT non-rough terrain.
2. Drift: Each company, as per Drift Dia- XIII. INVERTED UNITS AND DECOYS
gram. A. Allied only.
3. Drift Combat: Compulsory, +1 to die, B. Inverted: exposed when moving adjacent to
"NE" = "AR". enemy or at end of enemy movement phase
B. Surprise Rule: Allied units move 1 hex max when adjacent.
on first turn. C. Decoy: Treat as real unit until end of move-
ment phase.
VII. AIR LANDING
A. At friendly airfield only. XIV. NIGHT RESTRICTIONS
1. Not at night. A. No airborne, air landing, aircraft.
2. Not within range of light AA. B. ranged Artillery = 1 hex.
B. Max number per turn = number printed on C. Allied: All infantry units may move into/out
Airfield. of and thru enemy ZOC in same turn.
IX. AIRCRAFT UNITS XV. SPECIAL UNITS

A. Abstract: Three mission types: A. Coastal Steamer: Transport 3 SP or 1 ar-
1. Bombardment: B & FB. Targets =AA, CD mored unit.
and naval. B. Truck: Transport 3 SP of infantry.
2. Air Support: B & FB. Add AS to attack. C. Armored units: -1 on die roll. See Armor Re-
3. Interdiction: F & FB. Nullify roads in hex liability Table.
and 6 adjacent. D. Engineers: Destroy port, road/rough hexes,
B. Not at night. bridges.
X. ANTI-AIRCRAFT UNITS XVI. VICTORY CONDITIONS: See Rules.

A. Two types: Light and heavy.
B. Three functions: INVASION OF MALTA, 1942
1. Reduce air units to ½ effectiveness when
(Essentially the same game system as Crete,
in range.
with the following changes:)
2. Each AA unit add "1" to drift die roll.
3. Light AA functions as ranged artillery.
I. SEQUENCY OF PLAY: No Allied Sea
Movement or Reinforcement Phases.
XI. SEA MOVEMENT
A. See Sea Movement Table.
II. AMPHIBIOUS ASSAULT
B. Axis Convoys: 2 regular & 1 emergency.
A. Assault Convoy units create beachhead
C. Determine beach and turn of arrival before
markers.
start.
B. Follow-up Convoys land at beachhead mark-
D. Roll on Table, place in landing box, move
ers.
ashore in same turn.
C. See Assault Organization Card.
E. Allied Reinforcements: See Table.
F. Axis Port Entry. Redirect convoy 2 turns prior
III. OTHER CHANGES
to arrival.
A. CD Batteries: Forts or batteries only.
B. German Airborne Withdrawal: 50 casualty
XII. ALLIED EVACUATION
points or turn 15.
A. Via ports or south edge "E" roads.
C. Commandos: Land any coastal hex, full AS,
1. Port: 14 SP max with DOCK unit. 7 SP
full MA first turn.
max without. Night only.
D. Axis Supply: Requires port by turn 12, oth-
2. South Edge: Simply exit, day or night.
erwise +2 to die & ½ MA.
B. No evacuation before turn 8.
E. Victory Conditions: See Rules.
CASUALTY POINTS - Crete Evacuation Points
combatants
CASUALTY
Combat
Factors
TYPE OF UNIT POINT
Greek
Units
HQ's
Non
VALUE Sector
ALLIED-Evacuated Units:
Each headquarters unit 5 points
Each noncombat unit 5 points Maleme 20 5 29 1
Each battalion-sized combat unit 5 points Suda 45 20 77 2
Each company-sized combat unit 2 points
Each platoon-sized (or smaller) 1 point
Retimo 5 28 3
combat unit Heraklion 10 5 33 3
Each Greek unit (any size) 1 point Free Set Up 5 8 1
Total 80 35 175 10
AXIS-Eliminated Units:
Each airborne headquarters unit 7 points
Each non-airborne headquarters unit 5 points Combat Factor Comparison
Each company-sized (or smaller) 2 points Allied German
airborne unit
Each battalion-sized airborne unit* 15 points
Artillery
Artillery
Defense
Defense
Attack
Attack
Each company-sized (or smaller) 1 point Sector
non-airborne unit
Each battalion-sized non-airborne 7 points
unit Maleme 20 22 6 34 34
*NOTE: Award the Allied player 15 points (instead
Suda 44 54 2 43 42 2
of 13) it all three German airborne engineer compa-
nies and the battalion headquarters company are in Glider 10 10
the Eliminated box. Battalion
Retimo 27 31 3 25 24
Heraklion 29 30 7 33 33
Free Set 5 7 4 18 14 2
CASUALTY POINTS - Malta Up
AIRBORNE UNIT TYPE: POINT VALUE Total 125 144 22 163 157 4
Each airborne headquarters unit 5 points.
Each Battalion-sized GERMAN 21 points.
airborne unit
Each Battalion-sized ITALIAN 11 points.
airborne unit
Each company-sized (or smaller) 2 points.
airborne unit

(Wargame-Simulation) Avalon Hill - Air Assault On Crete-Malta

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

(Wargame-Simulation) Avalon Hill - Air Assault On Crete-Malta

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

(Wargame-Simulation) Avalon Hill - Air Assault On Crete-Malta

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

AIR ASSAULT ON CRETE

TABLE OF CONTENTS F. Axis Supply Limitations 32

INTRODUCTION weapons, radios, wheeled transport, and

assaults on the airfields with vigor before

ranger, commando, special forces

2. Size Symbols: The organizational size of

3. The units in the game are classified into

a. Combat Unit Types:

tank (light or heavy)

light support artillery

HMS York (heavy AA unit)

anti-aircraft artillery (light and heavy)

Coastal Steamer (transport unit)

b. Noncombat Unit Types:

truck docks operations

NOTE: Airborne units, either infantry - or

AIR ASSAULT ON CRETE, is played in

A. AXIS PLAYER SEGMENT

demolition markers 1. Aircraft Placement and Bombardment

2. Airborne Assault and Air Landing Phase:

port destination markers 3. Sea Movement Phase: Axis player brings

4. Movement Phase: Axis player may move

5. Combat Phase: Axis player resolves any

each unit counter expends one movement

Each side may have more than one unit in a

1. No more than SIX 'stacking points' of

less. The owning player has the choice of E. FRIENDLY HEX

2. Only COMBAT-type units have zones of F. COMBAT

G. RANGED ARTILLERY FIRE a. During the friendly combat phase, each

d. If the defensive fire is successful in 4. Company-sized units may re-combine

7. Artillery units always ignore adverse

talion headquarters company. ganization Card:

'aborted', such units are placed in the aborted

3. Whenever an Axis combat unit (not air- O. PREPARATIONS FOR PLAY

1. No airborne or air landing operations 2. ALLIED: Allied player wins by avoiding

A. ADDITIONAL AIRCRAFT 2) Coastal Defense Artillery units: Same as

may execute movement and combat nor- Allied reinforcements.

F. ALLIED EVACUATION a. Noncombat units are positioned inverted

1. Allied units with a movement allowance b. Noncombat units have no zone-of-

the hex. transportation, the steamer must occupy the

f. Armor and ranged artillery units may

b. The coastal steamer may transport up to

transport companies which may carry regu-

a. A truck unit may transport up to three

b. Loading and Transporting: A truck unit

2) If 'SUB 1' result is rolled, the unit may counter in hex.

3) Demolition procedures may not be exe-

2. AXIS: The Axis player wins by avoiding

3. CASUALTY POINTS are evaluated ac-

*NOTE: Award the Allied player 15 points (instead

friendly occupied hex containing the 4-5-4,

The defender receives a die roll bonus only

AIRBORNE LANDING AND DRIFT SEA MOVEMENT AND COMBAT

A. Following a successful landing attempt

D. The die is rolled, and the result is 'NE',

A. German player executes an attack by

1. The 4 strength points of bombers are

2. The 2-2-8 light armored unit automati-

3. The combat odds for the attack are