[Crete] Capture of Kastelli - May 25, 1941

Unternehmen Merkur - The last battle in the western sector.
Mediterranean Theater By: jdrommel - Last update: 12/19/2015
Axis Player: Allied Player:
x6 x6 x5 x6
first You play first    


Historical Background:
On the 20th of May 1941, a paratrooper strengthen platoon of the 2nd battalion Luftlande Sturm Regiment, under the command of Leutnant Mürbe, was dropped in the Kastelli Kissamou area, west of Maleme. The German paratroopers were immediately under the fire of two Greek battalions supervised by some New Zealand officers. Most of the Germans were killed included the young officer, 13 men only were prisoners by the Greeks. On the 25th of May, the Gebirgs-Pionier bataillon 95, reinforced by paratroopers of the 6th Kompanie (the same company of the Mürbe platoon) attacked Kastelli to relieve the lost platoon. The battle began with a Luftwaffe bombing by Stukas, then the German combat engineers of the 5.Gebirgs Division attacked the Greek soldiers entrenched in the city and using German machine guns captured before. At the end of the battle, the German soldiers discovered that the bodies of their comrades killed on the 20th of May had been horribly mutilated by the Greeks. This was the beginning of a bloody repression who lasted during the whole German occupation of the island.
The stage is set, the battle lines are drawn and you are in command. The rest is history.

Briefing:
Axis player [Germany] : 6 command cards, you move first.
Allied player [Greece/New Zealand] : 5 command cards.

Conditions of Victory:
6 medals.
The castle is a temporary medal objective for the Axis player.

Special Rules:
- Use "BCF Command" rules (Nation 5) to the New-Zealand unit only.
- Use "Specialized Units" rules (Troop 2) to the three paratrooper units and "Combat Engineer" (Troop 4) to all other German units.
- Special Weapon Asset Rules (SWAs 1) are in effect for the two Greek units equipped with machine-gun (SWAs 8).
- Use "Blitz" rules (Action 15).
- "Air Power" card is not allowed to the Allied player. Discard it and take another.

Scenario Bibliography:
- "La Crète, tombeau des paras allemands" - Jean Mabire.
- Magazine Champs de Bataille/Seconde guerre mondiale n°3 - Les Fallschirmjäger en Crète.
- Magazine 2e guerre mondiale n°34 - La 5.Gebirgs Division dans la campagne de Crète.
- 39/45 Magazine hors-série n°3 - Opération Merkur.

Warning:
Please note that this scenario was not approved by Richard Borg or Days of Wonder, so you have to check yourself about playability, potential gaming issues, etc.

Set-up Order
9
8
1
1
9
3
11
3
4
1
1