Airborne Assault: Crete – May, 1941

"How was Crete? It was perfectly all right, except that it was a bloody […] up from […] to breakfast time.” – Brig. George Vasey, Commander, 19th Australian Brigade., 1 June 1941 Early in the morning of 20 May 1941, the Germans launched history’s first totally airborne invasion. As their objective, the Germans chose the island of Crete, strategically located in the Mediterranean between Greece, Cyprus, and the coast of North Africa. Defending this rugged and isolated island were the rag-tag Allied survivors of the ill-fated Greek Campaign, comprising Australian, British, New Zealand, and Greek units. Although 42,000 strong, they were woefully weak in ammunition, artillery, rifles, heavy weapons, radios, wheeled transport, and other logistical equipment. The German airborne assault force comprised the 7th Air Division composed of three assault regiments and attached units, and the elite “Sturm” Regiment. As follow-up support, air transport and sea would land the 5th Mountain Division convoy to relieve the paratroops. They divided the initial airborne assault into four separate assault forces, each based on one of the four parachute regiments. The battle hung in the balance during the first day. Despite their considerable advantages, the Germans could easily have lost because of faulty intelligence and arrogance in planning. In the end, the British could evacuate only about half their forces and practically none of the equipment, making this another Allied disaster like Dunkirk a year prior. Airborne Assault: Crete is a grand-tactical level game of the historical WWII invasion of Crete and includes the hypothetical paratroop invasion of Cyprus. The game requires two players and is suitable for team play. The game focuses on the first few days of battle, keeping players’ attention on maneuver and what is vital to winning the battle. Players will find a familiar game rules framework covering the combined arms problems of airborne assault, air support, and bombardment, and sea invasion. The defender balances where to defend and when to evacuate. As a bonus, an exciting and balanced scenario showing a hypothetical June 1941 German invasion of Cyprus is included. Complexity: 4 out of 10 Time Scale: 3 turns = 1 day Map Scale: 1 hex = 1 mile (Crete), 1 hex = 2 miles (Cyprus) Unit Scale: companies and battalions Number of Players: 2 players or 2 teams Solitaire Suitability: 6 out of 10 Average Time to Play: scenarios range from 3 to 9 hours —description from the publisher