Author	treadasaurusrex (Germany)
Method	VASSAL
Victor	Germany
Participants	OldPueblo
Play Date	2024-09-17
Language	English
Scenario	PoCr003

This was a 5-session play through of this 4-map, 24-game turn, rather large scenario. My opponent was the hard-fighting and ingenious Old Pueblo leading the defending New Zealander & Brits in a very exciting battle that - though unbalanced - might have gone another way with a more flexible & opportunistic Kiwi defensive posture, and an enhanced counter attack strategy. As it was, my sturdy opponent made the German paras pay dearly for the real estate they took.

We used the FOW, excess initiative, smoke/illum, hidden units (for the Kiwis & Brits) and consolidation optional rules. We also experimented with these three house rules: 1) Road Movement for Mechanized & Foot Units - All FOOT & MECHANIZED units may move on roads at the rate of 1/2 of a Movement Point (MP) per road hex, just like MOTORIZED units, 2) Firing Through or Over Friendly Personnel Units - All AT guns, AFVs, Infantry guns (direct fire), Anti-Aircraft (AA) guns and HMGs may fire over or through friendly personnel units. In the case of HMGs, AA guns & Infantry Guns, there must be one unoccupied hex between any friendly unit that is being fired over and the targeted hex as in the current rule (10.1, page 24), and 3) Dug In Units are Automatically in Limiting Terrain in Desert Games - Unless prohibited by special scenario rules, ALL units that are dug-in on slope hexes are considered to be in limiting terrain and are spotted if enemy units approach to within 3 hexes, or 4 hexes for reconnaissance units – unless they are marked with a spotted marker, see 8.22. In the end we liked this rule set and felt that it made for more balanced, simpler and engaging shared play. In our humble opinion, having the entire Commonwealth force begin in hidden mode would make for a much better balance.

This one is all about the Luftwaffe paras attack on Maleme Airfield, Hill 107 and the bridge over the Tavorontis River. Our play-through was about as difficult a pull for the Germans, and the defenders as actually happened. In all, ours was a fiercely contested victory for the German para. In ours, the Kiwis fought hard for the airfield and did not pull back, plus the German landings were not as disorganized as in real life. The Third Reich ended up with a costly win in this one, in spite of a middling leader draw and a plethora of bad combat die rolls, especially in the first 10 game turns. On the other hand, we only encountered 6-FOW shortened game turns, which hurt the defenders far more than the parachute infantry. German air strikes were remarkably effective in our play, with one resulting in an unfortunate, senior leader decapitation for the Kiwis in the 14th game turn. The resulting discombobulation of the 22nd Battalion's defense contributed directly to the capture of both Hill 107 and Maleme field by the end of game turn 18. Creforce was never the same, and the defenders slowly collapsed, losing the vital bridge in the bargain. This turned out as a German major victory, thanks mostly to the Germans careful, attack sequencing and better morale. Lack of Jerry coordination, piecmealing engagement, and better Commonwealth morale would surely have handed a victory to the Kiwis. Heavy casualties among the defenders in the first 16 or so game turns doomed the Kiwis to try and cover too much ground with too little in the way of undemoralized units.

As others have reported, this was an engaging & thoroughly enjoyable infantry fight scenario! We give this one a rating of 4, and recommend it for both SOLO and SHARED play. If more balanced, we would have given it a 5 in shared play.