Across The Battlefields

It Is How You Play The Game
Playtesting Malta42
By Benny Wahlberg

This time I have found a very good scenario. It is very variable and exiting. It is a bit of gamble each time. I had to try it three or four times before I got the hung of it. But still, there is always a bit of insecurity left. Will my fleet stay? Will I get the reinforcements? Etc. After the first try on this scenario (which I got beat up pretty badly in) I actually edited the scenario a bit. The German paratroopers had a move of only 1, so I changed the 75mm guns to 75mm hows and got move 8. This is how the designer Stephen R. Schaffter presents the scenario: ********************************************************************************** OPERATION HERCULES Version 1.0 A hypothetical scenario postulating a German-Italian operation to capture the strategically important Mediterranean island of Malta Date: May 1, 1942 Location: Malta Map Scale: 2.5km per hex Time Scale: Half-day turns Unit Scale: Company/Battalion Length: 16 Turns UNIT COLORS: AXIS German: Gray Background German Army: Black on gray German Luftwaffe: Blue on light blue Italian: White background Italian Army: Red on yellow Italian Air Force: Blue on gray Italian MVSN (Blackshirts): Black on yellow Italian Navy: Black on light blue COMMONWEALTH Tan background British: Red on white Maltese: Red on dark blue RAF: White on light blue Royal Navy: White on dark blue MAJOR EVENTS: German 7th Parachute Division will be withdrawn on turn 9. Maltese partisan activity will commence on turn 3. Commencing with turn 4, there is a 50% chance that Axis ships will bring reinforcements into Marfa and/or Birzebuggia. ************** Malta, "the unsinkable aircraft carrier", was the key to British power in the central Mediterranean. Situated just 60 miles from Sicily, this British possession lay across the sea and air lanes vital to the supply of German and Italian forces in North Africa. The Axis forces tried unsuccessfully to bomb Malta into submission. In this hypothetical scenario, Operation HERKULES, the invasion of Malta is unleashed at dawn on the morning of April 1, 1942. The German 7th Parachute division, which leads the attack, will be withdrawn at the end of turn 9. From turns 4 through 12, there is is 50% chance that British submarines will successfully attack the Italian invasion armada and cause the Axis sealift of reinforcements to fail to show. Comments welcome. steve@scientist.com ********************************************************************************** Since I had played this scenario a few times before this I had a reasonably good idea of the finer points of it. Basically I have identified two very important features for the axis player. First, the single and most important target(s) are the allied supply sources. Your enemy is relatively strong and it is therefore essential to reduce his strength as much as possible. The easiest way of doing so is to cut his supply. Second, the Italian units are quite weak while the German units are very strong. This must be considered in the battle plan. Furthermore the German units are leaving on turn 9 so you are in a lot of hurry. As my battle plan turned out I decided to try to catch all allied supply sources ASAP. In addition I sent in the German units to the Birzebuggia area and the Italians west of Valetta. The plan was to capture all supply sources and then use the Italians as an anvil against which the German paratroopers would crush the allied forces. At the beginning of turn2 (picture below) I had captured all supply sources but the one in west Valetta. Here the British had armour and some infantry, but by now my fleet was once again available for action and I launched several assaults with orders to "ignore losses". That hex had to be mine.

When turn three begun most of my Italian units were in a reorganising status, however I had one battalion and the entire fleet available for action inside Valetta. With orders to ignore losses my unit attacked several times and took severe losses. However the hex was so important that it was worth it. I was able to capture the hex at the end of the turn. The German units had become shattered when dropped and by now I was able to reunite them again. I begun to clear the coast from coastal artillery, at the same time I begun to advance towards Valetta and the airfields south of Valetta.

At turn four all units was available for action. By now I had received reinforcements in Marfa and these had advanced to the mountains west of St. Paul’s. On the other fronts I just reinforced the forward positions towards Valetta, but I continued to attack in the rear areas (towards coastal defences) and towards the airfields. The Germans suffered severe losses and some companies were eliminated. The allied forces launched several counter attacks from Zebbich towards Rabat, I barely succeeded in holding this position. Allied forces inside Valetta conducted further assaults. By now he was consuming more supplies than he received.

On turn 5 a nasty surprise introduced himself, parts of the Royal Navy. Luckily he bombarded my Italian units inside Valetta and not my fleet that was inside the harbour. I had to launch a major attack including my entire airforce and my entire fleet. I was able to destroy the entire British fleet, however I had no support left for my ground attacks. Therefore I limited my attacks to the British unit that had advanced to the hex next to Cumi, Southwest of Valetta. I was able to neutralise the threat towards Rabat by advancing north of Rabat. This move flanked the advancing allied forces and thus effectively ending his attacks towards Rabat. Inside Valetta the British units still attacked my Italian forces however the losses was relatively low on both sides. From the east side of Valetta I initiated several assaults, I was able to capture another hex in Valetta.

Turn 6. I figured that by now the allied forces in Valetta was ready to be eliminated. I launched several assaults with orders to "ignore losses". Both sides suffered a lot, but I was able to capture the northern hex of Valetta. At the airfields I made some minor advances but I only pushed the enemy in front of me. At Rabat I was able to completely neutralise the enemy forces.

By turn 7 I knew the battle was over, the only thing left was to mop it up. However the British forces on the western side of the island was still quite strong. Besides, the German units will leave the battle on turn 9 so by then I must have eliminated the allied forces. In the area of Valetta and the airfields south of Valetta I continued to conduct assaults with orders to " ignore losses". On the western part of the island I was somewhat more careful. Here it was more important to encircle the enemy as soon as possible.

By turn 8 there was only two stacks left. The resistance was quite low and my losses very low. I made a separate saving here and after the battle I reloaded it and checked the allied supply. Most units had supply levels below 15. The units at the airfield were eliminated on turn 8. While the units Southwest of St. Paul’s would last considerably longer. Since I failed to surround him completely he would last until turn 10. The remaining turns were spent on hunting partisans. Considering the results of this game it might appear, as the scenario was very easy, however that is not the case. This is why I consider this to be one of the best scenarios I have ever played. It has great variability and a certain degree of uncertainty. This makes planning considerably harder. Furthermore it is a small scenario and relatively short, it can be played in a few hours only. Most importantly it is fun to play again and again and again… The first time I played it I got my ass kicked real badly. However at that time the German units had only move 1. When I changed this and played again everything seemed to be okay until the German forces was withdrawn. Then I got my ass kicked. I haven’t tried the scenario as allied yet simply because it was so fun and challenging to play as German. But I will try out the allied side to. Benny