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Crete: The Absence of British Scenarios
I have been reading Crete 1941: The Battle for Heraklion. (Yannis Prekatsounakis, 2016). Excellent first account read! Heraklion, which is the most populous city on the island, is left out of PoC. I believe that the reason for this is because another countersheet would be needed for the British. There only a half dozen or so British units included in the game. There are 493 total counters in the game. It seems as if Crete was rushed into production last Fall when other games were supposed to come out at the same time. I’m referring specifically to Gates of Leningrad.
And the rush job shows up in a few areas: Editing mistakes, Map 98 (Just learned that AP has made a corrective overlay and Phillippe Leonard has redrawn the map. This can be downloaded from his webpage.) There are 39 scenarios instead of the advertised 40. A Greek Army commander counter is missing.
And, any scenarios having to do with Heraklion has been left out. The airdrop around Heraklion might be considered the fourth airdrop, occurring late on May 20, about 1600 hours, the same time as Rethymon. were four British battalions and the 2/4 Australian Infantry protecting the city and its airfield along with at least three Greek Army regiments and police and many Cretan partisans. The Germans lost almost half of their paratroopers in the jump of 13 companies!
The British didn’t really lose the battle but ran low on supplies and found themselves in a tightening German noose that ringed their positions in Heraklion. The Germans eventually built up their forces and overwhelmed the Allies. German airpower attempted to flatten the city. On the night of the 28th, the Royal Navy evacuated the entire force, and according to the book, conducted an incredibly stealthy operation. Not a single man was lost!
Another chapter could be added to the scenario booklet, and should have been. As much as 6-8 additional scenarios could easily be added, producing at least 45 scenarios for kCrete. It is still possible to do this with an extension of say, 11 scenarios, thus getting 50 scenarios for Crete. More scenarios could be developed for the partisans, for example.
Comments are welcome.
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