Battlefield Europe v1.9 – Mediterranean (Manstein)

[PeteMitchell_2]

Turn 13 – 12 May 1941
Weather: clear and dry

Western Europe:
Now we are getting serious… attack on the Ruhr industrial area!

BE_Turn_13_078_Essen.jpg (290.4 KiB) Viewed 1263 times

Southern Balkans:
Finally, the fighting east of Belgrade has been finished.

BE_Turn_13_079_Belgrade.jpg (268.81 KiB) Viewed 1263 times

Crete:
The Battle of Crete has begun! One Fallschirmjäger unit successfully landed southeast of Maleme airfield. On very short notice, the OKW had to cancel the landing of the second Fallschirmjäger unit southwest of the airfield due to the imminent risk of immediate suppression and subsequent surrender. (Please note: in reality, the airborne invasion began on the morning of 20 May 1941.)

BE_Turn_13_080_Maleme.jpg (241.15 KiB) Viewed 1263 times

[PeteMitchell_2]

North Africa:
Derna has been seized.

BE_Turn_13_081_Derna.jpg (277.92 KiB) Viewed 1262 times

Further to the south, Axis troops (mainly Italian) are now also opening a corridor towards Fort Capuzzo.

BE_Turn_13_082_Desert.jpg (274.69 KiB) Viewed 1262 times

[PeteMitchell_2]

Turn 14 – 15 May 1941
Weather: clear and dry

Western Europe:
It took some effort (and some prestige) but the two RAF bombers are history. Hopefully, these were the last ones for a very long time to come...

BE_Turn_14_083_Essen.jpg (291.92 KiB) Viewed 1261 times

Crete:
As in reality, heavy casualties to our initial Fallschirmjäger unit. Luckily, we were able to drop the second one more to the center of the island as well. Also so far, the British Mediterranean Fleet hasn’t followed up on us too much yet…

BE_Turn_14_084_Maleme.jpg (245.84 KiB) Viewed 1261 times

North Africa:
The way to Fort Capuzzo seems open!

BE_Turn_14_085_Fort Capuzzo.jpg (281.22 KiB) Viewed 1261 times

[PeteMitchell_2]

Turn 15 – 18 May 1941
Weather: clear and dry

Crete:
The British infantry unit left Maleme airfield and killed our first Fallschirmjäger unit but it is out of ammo (due to our preceding bombardments) now as well… In addition, the airfield seems free for additional Axis mountain infantry units to land. Mountain infantry/Gebirgsjäger are critical due to Crete’s rough mountain terrain.

BE_Turn_15_086_Maleme.jpg (244.38 KiB) Viewed 1259 times

North Africa:
Axis troops are advancing towards Fort Capuzzo and Halfaya Pass has been crossed as well.

BE_Turn_15_087_Fort Capuzzo.jpg (279.24 KiB) Viewed 1259 times

[PeteMitchell_2]

Turn 16 – 21 May 1941
Weather: clear and dry

Greece:
Some British warships continue to shell Axis troops around Athens.

BE_Turn_16_088_Greece.jpg (264.84 KiB) Viewed 1258 times

Crete:
It worked, Maleme airfield has been seized! However, the British infantry unit hasn’t been defeated yet. (Please note: to achieve a DV you need to capture all objectives by the end of this turn, i.e. turn 16. I am still curious to learn how at Manstein difficulty... )

BE_Turn_16_089_Maleme.jpg (245.18 KiB) Viewed 1258 times

North Africa:
Given the strength and entrenchment level of Fort Capuzzo, correct positioning of all required forces is important. However, so close to the coastline, this exercise might also attract the attention of some British warships again…

BE_Turn_16_090_Fort Capuzzo.jpg (279.2 KiB) Viewed 1258 times

[PeteMitchell_2]

Turn 17 – 24 May 1941
Weather: clear and dry

Crete:
The AA adjacent to Heraklion is out of ammo and there is only one British infantry unit left on the island while our Gebirgsjäger keep pouring in…

BE_Turn_17_091_Heraklion.jpg (246.33 KiB) Viewed 1256 times

North Africa:
The preparations for the attack on Fort Capuzzo are almost complete as well… (maybe they were overdone as well, could be…)

BE_Turn_17_092_Fort Capuzzo.jpg (273.92 KiB) Viewed 1256 times

[PeteMitchell_2]

Turn 18 – 27 May 1941
Weather: cloudy and dry

Crete:
Attack on Heraklion!

BE_Turn_18_093_Heraklion.jpg (236.49 KiB) Viewed 1254 times

North Africa:
While Fort Capuzzo has been seized in one go!

BE_Turn_18_094_Fort Capuzzo.jpg (277.43 KiB) Viewed 1254 times

[PeteMitchell_2]

Turn 19 – 30 May 1941
Weather: cloudy and dry

Crete:
Very heavy fighting for Heraklion!

BE_Turn_19_095_Heraklion.jpg (245.42 KiB) Viewed 1253 times

[PeteMitchell_2]

Turn 20 – 2 June 1941
Weather: cloudy and dry

Crete:
Mission completed, our Italian partners occupied Heraklion!
(Please note: historically, the island came under Axis control on 1 June 1941. So we are actually still very close...)

BE_Turn_20_096_Heraklion.jpg (243.97 KiB) Viewed 1252 times

Casualties (after AI turn 20):

BE_Turn_20_097_Casualties.jpg (48.46 KiB) Viewed 1252 times

Incoming casualties prior to turn 1 (reposted for easier comparison):

BE_Turn_01_006_Incoming Casualties.jpg (47.01 KiB) Viewed 1252 times

[PeteMitchell_2]

Strategic maps (after AI turn 20 with fog of war off):

BE_Turn_20_098_Strategic Map.jpg (170.54 KiB) Viewed 1250 times

BE_Turn_20_099_Strategic Map Air.jpg (167.36 KiB) Viewed 1250 times

After this scenario, Operation Barbarossa (the Axis invasion of the Soviet Union) follows with 99 turns. In case you don’t know the map yet, here you go:

Operation Barbarossa.jpg (153.32 KiB) Viewed 1250 times

However, I am not sure the Barbarossa scenario can be played at Manstein difficulty…
I have only tried it at General difficulty so far: http://www.slitherine.com/forum/viewtop ... 45&t=86481

Again, many thanks to McGuba for his great mod! http://www.slitherine.com/forum/viewtop ... 47&t=47985

[goose_2]

Crete:
The Battle of Crete has begun! One Fallschirmjäger unit successfully landed southeast of Maleme airfield. On very short notice, the OKW had to cancel the landing of the second Fallschirmjäger unit southwest of the airfield due to the imminent risk of immediate suppression and subsequent surrender. (Please note: in reality, the airborne invasion began on the morning of 20 May 1941.)
BE_Turn_13_080_Maleme.jpg

This means you are ahead of schedule, nice...

[PeteMitchell_2]

Crete:
The Battle of Crete has begun! One Fallschirmjäger unit successfully landed southeast of Maleme airfield. On very short notice, the OKW had to cancel the landing of the second Fallschirmjäger unit southwest of the airfield due to the imminent risk of immediate suppression and subsequent surrender. (Please note: in reality, the airborne invasion began on the morning of 20 May 1941.)
BE_Turn_13_080_Maleme.jpg

This means you are ahead of schedule, nice...

Thanks, well... just this one time I think, I am actually (a bit) behind schedule for the invasion of Yugoslavia, mainland Greece and Crete...

...but if anyone knows how to do it faster, please let me know! I would love to find out!

[PeteMitchell_2]

I just played the Mediterranean scenario in the reverse setup as well, i.e. the AI as Axis and me as Allies. However, only at Manstein difficulty as I expect the overall outcome to be fairly similar at General level, at least for Crete, maybe even in the Balkans, North Africa might be different…

So overall, it was actually more interesting than the other three scenarios and the AI played surprisingly well. About half way through the scenario I was completely overrun in the Balkans and Greece (so I doubt I will prepare a separate AAR for this one). In North Africa, I could hold Tobruk and Fort Capuzzo but I was running out of time to reconquer the rest (i.e. Derna and Benghazi).

As expected, the AI couldn’t seize the island of Crete but it even brought his two Fallschirmjäger units there (which I did not expect as I think it is not scripted to do so yet). However, the AI didn’t dare to land them on the island eventually. As a consequence, one Fallschirmjäger was shot down by my British fighters (at Tobruk) and the second one managed to parachute into Benghazi once the AI came under more and more pressure in North Africa.