Historical Background:
Operation Merkur began in the morning of 20th May 1941. The Assault Regiment of Gal Meindl was Group West of the German operation and in charge to take Maleme Airfield. The defenders were aware of an airborne assault and the German paratroopers and gliders landed under the fire of three battalions of the 5th New Zealand Brigade. The German losses were at once very heavy, the 3rd battalion of Major Scherber was virtually destroyed near the village of Maleme, the 1st battalion of Major Koch suffered 50% of losses between the Airfield and the strong defended Hill 107. Only the 2nd and the 4th (heavy weapons) battalions were more or less spared during the landing. At the end of the day, the Group West with its half strength, with Gal Meindl seriously wounded and with an unexpected very strong enemy defense, didn't reached its target of the day : to take Maleme Airfield.
The stage is set, the battle lines are drawn and you are in command. The rest is history.

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

Conditions of Victory:
6 medals.
Maleme Airfield and Hill 107 are a temporary medal objective for the Axis player.

Special Rules:
- All Axis units are paratroopers, use "Specialized Units" rules (Troop 2). Badges are not required.
- Use "BCF Command" rules (Nation 5).
- Use "Fordable Streams" rules (Terrain 61) for the Tavronitis river.
- Use "Blitz" rules (Action 15).
- Use "Paradrop" rules (Action 20). During the 1st turn of the Axis player, three infantry units are dropped on the battle star hexagon in the right section (Maleme), three infantry units are dropped on the battle star hexagon in the central section (Airfield) and four infantry units + one artillery unit are dropped on the battle star hexagon in the left section (Tavronitis). If one unit falls in an hexagon occupied by a friendly unit, place this unit in an free adjacent hex.
- Heavy Armament Paradrop : two badges "Antitank Weapon" and one badge "Mortar" are dropped during the first turn on the Tavronitis dropping zone. Only Axis soldiers may take and use these weapons if they ended their movement in the hexagon of the weapon. After that, use "Special Weapon Assets" rules for these units (SWA 1,2,3). Remove the badge if an allied unit find it first.
- Kampfgruppe : During the war, the German officers had the ability to mix some different units and isolated soldiers to form a "Kampfgruppe". In this scenario, once only, two Axis units which suffered some losses could mix and form a single unit if the number of figures doesn't exceed four (i e : 1+1, 2+1, 2+2, 3+1). The disbanding of one unit doesn't count for an Allied medal.
- "Air Power" card is not allowed to the Allied player. Discard it and take another.
- "Barrage" card is not allowed to the Axis player. Discard it and take another.

Scenario Bibliography:
- "La Crète, tombeau des paras allemands" - Jean Mabire.
- Magazine Troupes d'élite - Le dernier saut des paras du Reich.
- 39/45 Magazine hors-série n°3 - Opération Merkur, les paras allemands sautent sur la Crète.

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.