(c) Brian R. Train, 1997
Introduction
The issue game in Strategy & Tactics #182 is Balkans 1941, concerned with the Axis sweep through Yugoslavia and Greece, in the spring of 1941. It's a good solid Joe Miranda design, but I expected to see a scenario on the curtain-raiser for this campaign: the Italian invasion of Greece in the fall of 1940. I have therefore constructed a scenario for the game that covers the first two months of the Italian invasion, the period that saw the initial advance and the Greek counterattack.
All rules in the Balkans 1941 game are unaltered, except for 20.0, Victory. This scenario adds some special rules and options to reflect the different circumstances of the campaign. The author acknowledges the game Balkan Front (Europa III), 1990 Game Research/Design, as his main source of information for this scenario.
SCENARIO: ITALO - GREEK WAR
Game Length: eight turns (November I to December IV 1940).
Area of Play: Albania and mainland Greece only. Crete is out of play. Units moving or forced to retreat into any other country are eliminated.
ALLIED PLAYER STARTING FORCES
(sets up first)
Greek Units:
In Greece, within two hexes of the border with Albania:
2 mountain divisions, 2 border brigades
(any or all units may start entrenched, for free)
In each of Athens, Corinth, Thermopylae, Larissa, and Salonika:
1 mountain division (battlegroup status)
Greek Air Units:
1 TAC
Logistics Points (LP):
none
AXIS PLAYER STARTING FORCES
(sets up second)
Italian Units
Anywhere in Albania:
2 army headquarters, 1 tank division, 1 mountain division (may set up broken down), 1 infantry division (4-6 strength), 4 infantry divisions (3-4 strength), 1 cavalry division
Albanian Units
Anywhere in Albania:
3 border regiments (use Yugoslav 1-3 strength border units)
Italian air units:
1 TAC, 1 MRA
Logistics Points:
1 mechanized, 3 non-mechanized
Reinforcements and Replacements
All Italian ground reinforcements are placed in Fiume, and must be transferred to Durazzo by sea. All Greek reinforcements may be placed in any city in Greece, if a starting city has not been named for them.
Nov I
Italian: 1 TAC air unit
Greek: 1 army headquarters (in Athens); 1 army headquarters, 1 mountain division, 1 infantry division, 1 cavalry division (in Salonika); mobilize (flip over to 3-5 strength side) the mountain divisions in Athens, Corinth, Thermopylae, Larissa, and Salonika.
Nov II
Italian: 1 motorized infantry division
Greek: 1 battlegroup-status mountain division
Nov III
Italian: 1 mountain division, 1 infantry division (3-4 strength)
Greek: 1 static brigade
Nov IV
Italian: 1 infantry division (3-4 strength)
Greek: 1 battlegroup-status mountain division
Dec I
Italian: 1 mountain division
Greek: 1 infantry division (in Athens)
Dec II
Italian: 1 infantry division (3-4 strength)
Greek: 1 battlegroup-status mountain division
Dec III
Italian: 1 mountain division, 1 TRANSPORT air unit
Greek: nothing
Dec IV
Italian: nothing
Greek: 1 battlegroup-status mountain division
Logistics Points (LP) Reinforcements:
Italian: 2 non-mechanized LP every turn, 1 mechanized LP every II and IV turn.
Greek: 1 non-mechanized LP every turn.
Replacements:
Italian: May replace 1 battlegroup-status, non-mechanized division every turn.
Greek: May replace 1 battlegroup-status, non-mechanized division every II and IV turn.
Special Rules
Poor Weather. Beginning with the December I turn, the Axis player must check for Poor Weather at the beginning of the Air Warfare Phase. He rolls 1d6, and gets Poor Weather if he rolls a 6, plus one for each succeeding turn (hence he would get it on a 5-6 in the December II turn, a 4-6 in December III, etc.). Once Poor Weather occurs, it stays in effect for the rest of the game.
The effect of Poor Weather is to reduce the Support Radius of headquarters units and the Movement Factor of all units by one. Also, all attacks on the Ground Attack Table have a -1 die roll modifier in addition to any other modifiers. Greek Army units are not affected by Poor Weather but the Greek TAC air unit is.
The Albanian Army. The units of the Albanian Army may not move out of Albania under any circumstances: they may attack across the border into Greece. If Greek units ever move adjacent to Tirana or Durazzo, the Albanian Army automatically revolts. Eliminate all Albanian units; the Allied player may immediately place anywhere in Albania one partisan unit for each unit eliminated.
German Aid. Starting in the December I turn, the Axis player may obtain up to two divisions and two air units (for the whole game) of German troops for use in Albania. He places the divisions chosen in Fiume (for transfer to Durazzo) in the Reinforcement Phase of his turn and pays the cost in Allied Victory Points (VP), as follows:
for each light infantry or infantry division taken: 5 VP
each air unit taken: 6 VP
each mountain infantry division: 7 VP
each mechanized infantry division: 12 VP
each tank division: 14 VP
German units in Albania trace supply to Italian headquarters units. Their losses may not be replaced. If the Axis player takes any German ground units, he automatically receives one non-mechanized LP per turn after their arrival in Albania at no extra VP cost.
The Balkan Dream (Optional). The Axis player may, if he wishes, add all his reinforcement units he is due to receive during the game to his starting forces. He receives no reinforcement units during the game except Logistics Points. However, he must win an Operational or Strategic Victory, or he loses.
Victory. Judge victory as in the standard game (don't count VP for Maleme and Herakleion, as Crete is out of play), but divide the VP differentials by 2 to reflect the smaller scale of the war. Hence, there is a Draw if players' VP totals are less than 12 points apart, a Marginal Victory if one player is ahead by 13-37 points, and an Operational Victory if one player is ahead by 38-62 points.