POCH003 
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Niki Elas Heraklion #4 |
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| (Attacker) Germany | vs |
Britain
(Defender)
Greece (Defender) |
| Formations Involved |
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| Total | |
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| Side 1 | 2 |
| Draw | 1 |
| Side 2 | 0 |
| Overall Rating, 5 votes |
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3.8
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| Scenario Rank: 220 of 913 |
| Parent Game | Heraklion |
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| Historicity | Historical |
| Date | 1941-05-21 |
| Start Time | 10:00 |
| Turn Count | 18 |
| Visibility | Day |
| Counters | 49 |
| Net Morale | 1 |
| Net Initiative | 2 |
| Maps | 1: 99 |
| Layout Dimensions | 43 x 28 cm 17 x 11 in |
| Play Bounty | 163 |
| AAR Bounty | 165 |
| Total Plays | 3 |
| Total AARs | 2 |
| Battle Types |
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| Inflict Enemy Casualties |
| Urban Assault |
| Conditions |
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| Randomly-drawn Aircraft |
| Reinforcements |
| Terrain Mods |
| Scenario Requirements & Playability | |
|---|---|
| Heraklion | Base Game |
| Parachutes Over Crete | Maps + Counters |
| Road to Dunkirk | Counters |
| Introduction |
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The initial German assaults on Heraklion failed to get through the ancient city walls, much less reach the port. During the night, Maj. Karl-Lothar Schulz of the 1st Parachute Regiment’s 3rd Battalion gathered his company commanders in an olive grove and hatched a plan to force the Broken Walls Gate and secure the port. The attack would begin well before dawn, with the 10th Company attacking the West Gate in an effort to drive through the town and grab the airfield. It was an ambitious plan for a single depleted battalion, even after two wandering platoons from 2nd Battalion showed up and were incorporated into the group attacking the Broken Walls Gate. Schulz worried that he had not been able to establish contact with regimental headquarters. When his radio operators intercepted a German Air Force transmission indicating that Heraklion would be bombed between 0900 and 1000 hours the next morning, he delayed his attack until the planes had worked over the town. |
| Conclusion |
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The aerial bombardment had little effect on the defenders, but the determined attack of 11th Parachute Company did. Their superior firepower allowed them to suppress the defenders in front of them, allowing a block-by-block advance until they reached the port itself. Yet every time they attempted to expand their right flank towards the center of Heraklion, the defense stiffened and the paratroopers could not make any progress. The attackers at the West Gate wedged their way into the city but not in enough force to drive the Greeks out of their positions. As darkness fell the invaders withdrew from Heraklion. |
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| Army |
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| Luftwaffe |
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| Army |
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| Cretan Irregulars |
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| 2 Errata Items | |
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Two British infantry have their full strengths printed on the back. They should both be "2-3" when reduced. (Shad
on 2010 Dec 15)
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Reduce strength direct fire value be came 5-5 in Army at Dawn. (plloyd1010
on 2015 Jul 31)
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| Husband your forces | ||||||||||||||
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The Greeks for the most part start in the city. Not as many units as in scenario #3. My biggest mistake was stacking 3 high. Towards the end I failed to recover units. Had no extra to put into the assault hexes. German eliminated lots of units on the last few turns. Then overran the town. Stack 2 high at the 4 gates. |
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| 0 Comments |
| A Tragic & Homeric Fight Ending in a Draw | ||||||||||||||
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This was a 4-session play-through with the Rough & Ready, CavDo, managing the attacking German paratroopers bent on taking Heraklion from my understrength, defending Greek infantry regiment and a platoon of hard-fighting Tommies. Both of us drew flawed leaders, that then suffered heavy casulties. We played this 18 game turn, ultimately drawn, battle in Crete using the FOW, excess initiative and consolidation rules. Once again, I did penance for my countless sins by playing the harder-to-play-side - and once again did not have benefit of any armored units to use against the high morale German paras. Taking tactical advice from other AARs, the Greek/Brit garrison was deployed in the town with two units holding each the four gates, and limited reserves standing by to reinforce the bloody close assaults that ensued. In our play, the Germans nearly overwhelmed the hard-pressed, garrison and took two gates in the first 10 game turns, but then lost their momentum due to heavy casualties, a senior leader loss, and vigorous - that is to say, lucky - Allied counter attacks. Unexpectedly, German air strikes were not particularly effective due to generally, unlucky aircraft selections and oft-missed target hexes. The end result was a very costly draw as the final victory points were almost even with the Allies having just 2 more VPs than the German total. Both sides encountered considerable trouble with combat morale and morale recovery die rolling in this fiercely-contested battle. I give this one a 3, and recommend it for SOLO play, as it is decently-balanced, but overly fiddly and longer than it should be. It is a much harder pull for the defending Allied garrison, so this effort is not terribly well-suited for SHARED play. |
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| 1 Comment |
All true as written, and in spades as I was very lucky to come away with a draw in this incredibly bloody shootout, aganist a skilled opponent in old Heraklion. The good news for the German side was that the Treadasaurus had no AFVs, or opportunities for significant maneuver in this constricted terrain.
IMHO, this is a decent training scenario for urban assaults against walled objectives, but should be played with infanty units being able to move at a rate of 1 MP per clear, or town hex,and not the ridiculous 2/3 of a MP movement rule. I give it a 4, but agree that it is probably better played as a solitaire game.