Historical Background: The battle of Crete was ending. Troops of the Creforce were withdrawing towards the south coast to be evacuated by Royal Navy. The Gebirgsjägers of General Ringel pursued them on the mountains roads. Exhausted British units were withdrawing with difficulty across the Cretan mountains , using Imbros pass. A rear guard composed with Australians of the 1/7th and 1/8th Battalions, New Zealanders of the 21st Battalion and Royal Marines of the Layforce sacrificed itself to delay the German Gebirgsjägers of the 100.GJ Regt. This sacrifice allowed to 12 000 men of the Creforce to be evacuated by Royal Navy, from the small harbour of Sphakia, in spite of the continuous air attacks of the German Luftwaffe. 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 [New Zealand] : 5 command cards.
Conditions of Victory: 6 medals. For the Axis player, exit markers are in effect on the portion of the Allied baseline in between the two Exit markers.
Special Rules: - Use "BCF Command" rules (Nation 5) for all Allied troops. - 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. - "Battle of Crete" - Wikipedia. - 39/45 Magazine hors-série n°3 - Opération Merkur, les paras allemands sautent sur la Crète. - Magazine 2e guerre mondiale n°34 - La 5.Gebirgs Division dans la campagne de Crète.
Remember, see the Memorial of the evacuation of Allied troops in Hora Sphakion.
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.
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