REHEARSAL FOR CRETE
ARGOS, GREECE, APRIL 26, 1941: The issue in Greece was no longer in doubt. The last units of the Greek Army under Alexander Papagos had surrendered the day before. W Force was attempting to withdraw to evacuation points along the south coast of Greece. As the German 12th Army was converging on Athens determined to trap the retreating Allied forces, the only alternative evacuations points were the small ports in the fingers of the Peloponnese. This greatly increased the importance of the narrow isthmus at Corinth, with its lone bridge spanning the Corinth Canal. The task of securing the bridge fell to Brigadier E.A. Lee, who gathered an ad-hoc ‘Isthmus Force’ composed of British and Anzac troops, and even a few Greek die-hards scattered on both sides of the canal. Although wired for demolition, the bridge commander was reluctant to destroy the bridge and thus doom the Allied units still fighting to the north near Marathon. At 7am Stukas and fighters attacked the bridge area knocking out most of the anti-aircraft defences. Soon afterwards the silent approach of parachutes and gliders announced the start of the battle for the Corinth Bridge.
YOUR ORDERS
BRITISH: You command the Isthmus Force, composed of British, Australian, New Zealand and Greek troops tasked with holding the Corinth Canal bridge to allow Allied troops to evacuate Greece via the Peloponnese. Hold the bridge for as long as possible, but make sure the Germans don’t grab it intact.
GERMAN: Your troops are the cream of the 2nd Fallschirmjager Regiment. The campaign in Greece is going well and you will surprise the retreating Tommies by grabbing the Corinth Canal bridge ahead of the Panzertruppen.
PREPARING FOR BATTLE
1. Set up the terrain using the map as your guide.
2. Place the Allied troops in their various deployment areas.
3. The game begins with the six German starting platoons descending on to the table via gliders and parachutes. Use the rules governing Airborne Operations (http://www.flamesofwar.com/Portals/0/Documents/Rules/Airlanding-Rules.pdf) to resolve the German drop prior to the first turn. The Germans first get an airstrike from their Stukas as per the Total Air Superiority rule in the Death From Above mission. During the drop, the British AA battery may fire at any Ju 52 transports or gliders in range. If a transport is shot down then any teams it is carrying need to pass a 5+ save or are destroyed. If they pass the save they are assumed to have bailed out of the burning plane and drop with the rest of their platoon. If a glider is shot down then the teams it is carrying are destroyed. Remember that the teams in a Fallschirmjager platoon count as pistol teams (ROF1, with 4inch range and no assaults) until they can recover their weapons canister.
4. The Germans have a late arriving 4th Fallschirmjager Platoon, which can arrive on the table in two different ways. The platoon can either decide to paradrop as per the airborne rules in the movement phase of German turn two, or the German player can decide that it dropped further away and bring the platoon in on foot. The platoon will then arrive as a scattered reserve, making the first reserve die-roll at the start of German turn two.
5. The British reserves and delayed reserves arrive at the Point A road edge.
6. The German delayed reserves arrive on any table edge within 8 inches of the North-West corner (Point C).
7. From turn four onwards any Allied team with a firepower value of 6 (rifles, machine-guns) in range of Point B on the bridge may attempt to detonate the disconnected demolition charges by firing at them, needing a 4+ to hit. Any hits on the charges will then need to be resolved with a firepower test. A successful firepower roll (6) blows the bridge up, destroying any teams that might have been on the bridge at the time.
8. The British player has the first turn, but as per the Death From Above mission, all their platoons start pinned and all vehicles starting on-table are bailed out due to the surprise of the airborne assault .
ENDING THE GAME
The battle ends when:
1. Turn ten is completed.
2. One of the forces fails a Company Motivation Check.
DECIDING WHO WON
The German player wins if they hold the bridge intact at the end of turn ten, or if they force the British to leave the field of battle.
The British player wins if they avoid the German victory conditions, or have forced the Germans to leave the field of battle.
SCENARIO MAP
1. The table size is 8 x 4 foot.
2. The canal is impassable, except at the bridge.
3. The big farm in the north-west corner is a multi-room building. The olive-grove and fields on the opposite side of the road are skirted by low stone walls.
4. The vegetation is a mixture of light woods, scrub and treelines at the edge of roads and fields which all counts as difficult going.
5. Each hill contour should be about the height of a one-storey building. The hillsides count as slow going for vehicles.
SCENARIO FORCES
ISTHMUS FORCE (CONFIDENT TRAINED)
Company Command: CinC Rifle team, 2iC Rifle team, Sniper
ELEMENTS OF 122nd FIELD BATTERY
AA Battery: Command Rifle team
2 x 40mm Bofors AA Guns
1 x 3.7inch AA gun
ELEMENTS OF 22nd BATTALION
Infantry Platoon: Command Rifle/MG team
6 x Rifle/MG teams
1 x Light Mortar team
Carrier Platoon: 4 x Bren Carriers
REMNANTS OF GREEK ARMY OF THE PELOPONNESOS (FEARLESS TRAINED)
Pezikoy Platoon: Command Rifle/MG team
8 x Rifle/MG teams
1 x VB Team
ELEMENTS OF 6th AUSTRALIAN BATTALION (FEARLESS TRAINED)
1st Platoon: Command Rifle/MG team
6 x Rifle/MG teams
1 x Light Mortar team
1 x 2pdr AT Gun
2nd Platoon: Command Rifle/MG team
6 x Rifle/MG teams
1 x Light Mortar team
1 x 2pdr AT Gun
REMNANTS OF B COMPANY, 19th NEW ZEALAND BATTALION (FEARLESS TRAINED)
Infantry Platoon: Command Rifle/MG team
6 x Rifle/MG teams
1 x Light Mortar team
1 x 2pdr AT Gun
Machine Gun Platoon: Command Rifle team
2 x Vickers HMG teams
RESERVES
RHQ 4th HUSSARS (CONFIDENT TRAINED)
Light Tank Platoon: 2 x Light Tank Mk VI B
DELAYED RESERVES
A COMPANY, 26th NEW ZEALAND BATTALION (FEARLESS TRAINED)
1st Platoon: Command Rifle/MG team
6 x Rifle/MG teams
1 x Light Mortar team
1 x Boys AT Rifle team
3 x Trucks
2nd Platoon: Command Rifle/MG team
6 x Rifle/MG teams
1 x Light Mortar team
1 x Boys AT Rifle team
3 x Trucks
ELEMENTS OF 2nd REGIMENT, 7th FLIEGER DIVISION (FEARLESS VETERAN)
Company Command: CinC SMG team, 2iC SMG team
2 x Light Mortar teams
(2 x DFS 230 Gliders)
1st Sturm Platoon: Command Pioneer Rifle/MG team
6 x Pioneer Rifle/MG teams
(3 x DFS 230 Gliders)
2nd Sturm Platoon: Command Pioneer Rifle/MG team
6 x Pioneer Rifle/MG teams
(3 x DFS 230 Gliders)
3rd Sturm Platoon: Command Pioneer Rifle/MG team
6 x Pioneer Rifle/MG teams
(3 x DFS 230 Gliders)
1st Fallschirmjager Platoon: 1 x Command Rifle/MG team
9 x Rifle/MG teams
(3 x Ju 52 Transports)
2nd Fallschirmjager Platoon: 1 x Command Rifle/MG team
9 x Rifle/MG teams
(3 x Ju 52 Transports)
3rd Fallschirmjager Platoon: 1 x Command Rifle/MG team
9 x Rifle/MG teams
(3 x Ju 52 Transports)
Air Support: Priority Ju 87 Stukas
LATE ARRIVING PARAS
4th Fallschirmjager Platoon: 1 x Command Rifle/MG team
9 x Rifle/MG teams
(3 x Ju 52 Transports)
DELAYED RESERVES
RECON ELEMENTS OF THE 9th PANZER DIVISION (CONFIDENT VETERAN)
Panzer Schutzen Platoon: Command SMG team
5 x Rifle/MG teams
3 x Sdkfz 251/1 HT
Recce Platoon: 1 x Sdkfz 222 Armoured Car