Sunday Game - Fallschirmjäger Assault on Maleme, 20-23 May, 1941

 A great game at Barrys today using Andrews AS9 rules and figures supplied by Julian, Paul, Rick and yours truly. Julian provided the scenario and set up the table we played on.

There is a very detailed account of the battle on Wikipedia but I thought it was a bit TOO detailed (i.e. long!) - so here is the brief overview section and if you want more info, including all the detail of why FSJ had to jump without weapons and were prone to injury on landing, etc, its all here Battle of Maleme - Wikipedia

The Battle of Maleme was one of three main battles that occurred in the Battle of Crete against the Fallschirmjäger, in the Nazi German Mediterranean campaign in 1941. The overall plan was to conquer Crete as part of Operation Merkur, with German Paratroopers landing in three main areas, Heraklion, Maleme and Rethymno. The operation relied on German airborne troops, both paratroopers and in military gliders. Due to a mistake, and despite being in a superior position, New Zealand troops abandoned a strategic hill, leaving it to the Germans, and then lost the airfield. The airfield was then used by the Germans to transport in more troops which saw the whole island lost to the Germans

The table - Maleme aerodrome on the right. The white cards are either DZ the Germans can choose to land at or VPs. The winner would be determined by possession of VPs at the end of the game - Maleme was worth two and there were three others worth one each

Maleme is in the far top left of this image

John "volunteered" to go in first, with Andrew and I arriving on turn two as reinforcements. All three of us would land near Maleme and attempt to take control of the runway, which would allow JU52 aircraft to fly in up to four additional units of Gebirgsjaegers as reinforcements. Paul opted to land at the far end of the AO and get the two VP on offer there.

The Kiwis, this unit commanded by Nick, wait in the rough hillsides overlooking the DZ

The Fallschirmjäger regrouped, got their weapons, and stormed up the hill to assault the first Allied position - the hit they are carrying was taken from ground fire as they landed

The game moved along at such a rate that I didn't take as many pics as normal - this must be quite a while later because the two AT guns were reinforcements that arrived around an hour into the game. The Matilda tank has also been taken out by a Stuka attack that finally managed to penetrate the unusually effective Allied AA screen, which drove off the first three sorties before they could have any effect the situation on the ground

Three separate units of Fallschirmjäger move northwards towards Maleme, with the Allies occupying the scrub covered hills between them and their goal. Being on the hills gave cover to all units.

My original unit (in the centre carrying four hits) was forced to pull back to reorganise, Meanwhile, a backup unit that had arrived a bit later moved up on the flank of Ricks Kiwis (on the left of the image)

The flank attack goes in!

At this stage (around mid-game) the Germans briefly held the aerodrome, and one unit of Gebirgsjaegers were flown in.

But they were pushed off the table edge just as quickly by Ricks Kiwi bayonet charge - and with Allied troops back on the aerodrome, the reinforcement flights had to be suspended!

The Greeks and 28th (Māori) Battalion, finally appeared from the western table edge, giving Paul something to do - at last!

Pauls Fallschirmjäger holding the village

Greek infantry - repurposed Perry Italians painted by Julian

Back at Maleme, Ricks command group destroyed mine in a close assault

On the German right (eastern) flank, John had been playing a masterful game of cat and mouse against superior numbers of Allied troops, but the Kiwis were now beginning to push the Fallschirmjäger back

More Allied reinforcements appeared from the east, commanded by Barry - an infantry unit plus two Vickers light tanks!

Just as well we brought our little 75mm gun!

The Allied strategy was crystal clear - swamp Maleme aerodrome with as many troops as possible and prevent any further reinforcements reaching the Germans. There are three separate units clustered in the cover of the knocked-out Matilda!

But additional Fallschirmjäger units were arriving at the schwerpunkt, too!

The Allied boss looked on, pensively!

Marks Kiwis continued to push John back, helped enormously by their 3" mortar crew

A view from the east towards the battle at the aerodrome. By this stage, two unopposed Stuka attacks had taken out both of the Vickers light tanks - wunderbar!

My command unit went on the offensive, and in a wirbelwind of close combat action, beat one, then two, then three allied units, forcing them to fall back and leaving the Germans in control of the aerodrome once again - is that the sweet drone of a Tante Ju I can hear?!

At the other end of the battlefield, the Greeks and Kiwis pushed forward against Paul with a three to one numerical advantage

The elite German paras clung on tenaciously for several rounds of combat

But with the last roll on the last turn of the game, they were finally evicted from the village and Nick claimed the two VPs at that end of the table

Meanwhile, at Maleme, the last two to three turns saw the now re energised Germans being reinforced by another unit of Gebirgjaegers. Two units of paras made a final attempt to dash eastwards and grab possession of the last VP

But it was not to be! 

A great game and something for everyone to feel satisfied with, I think. The Allies won - they held three VPs, and the Germans only had two - BUT the Germans held Maleme aerodrome and had achieved their aim - and two more units of Gebirgsjaegers would arrive by air, which would doubtless seal the fate of the Allies in due course.

The rules worked well, they provided a pretty historical result, and we had an engrossing game that lasted around four hours, with only two to three units per player on the table - it doesn't get much better than that, in my opinion!

Here are a few more close ups from John that I did not manage to weave into the narrative of the AAR.

That %$^#% Bofors gun!

The Matilda before its waltzing was curtailed

Perry FSG MG34

The Vickers light tanks as seen from the cockpit of a diving Stuka!

I told you it was a mistake to land here, Heinrich!

Thanks for visiting and I hope you enjoyed the report on our refight of the battle for Maleme.

Bis später, Jungs!