Ethiopian training excercise 1935

Before Sgt Bustamanti and platoon fought a guerilla war in Ethiopia they participated in it's liberation. This comes from the opening days of the war and shows how Buffo gained his reputation and loyalty of his men.
During the Italian invasion roads were important for the attacker for supply. Despite the Ethiopian disdain for defensive combat their Turkish and Belgian advisors convinced them to construct defensive works to stop the aggressors.

As Lt Chianti walked up to Capt Butro he already knew what had happened and what his platoon would be asked to do. He had heard the firing up ahead as the column had stopped. He was thrilled that the Capitano was trusting him to re open the road from whatever rabble was blocking it. He believed in Italy and a new Roman empire. He was hoping some of the glory would rub off on him!! His mind snapped back to what the Capt was saying. "We have a tank and a sahariana to support you. We will also give the trees and the hill a drubbing with artillery before you go in. I suspect this will be much like a field excercise. Good Luck"

Characters:
Lt Chianti Romantic gr II
Sgt Buffo Bustamanti confident/ family 1st squad Gr II
Cpl Petracela cultured asl Gr II
Sgt Polti obnoxious 2nd squad Gr I
Cpl Riccelo Cheap asl Gr I

1 Platoon 1 45mm mtr 1 MMG 1 L3 tankette 1 sahariana jeep 2 stonks of 75mm arty with more on call if you need it

Looking from Italian positions

column took fire from trench in trees

black markers are suspected positions

WHAT IS YOUR PLAN LT??? WHAT IS YOUR PLAN MAD PADRE??

Lt Chainti decided subtlety was not needed here. He sent one squad to the left of the road and one to the right. The tank would go down the middle with the jeep swing wide right to pin down any forces in the building.

The artillery hit the trenches in the trees and shocked the wahlas. The artillery fell short of the hill and a MMG opened up from that position.

Initial advance

Buffo's squad quickly gaining the trees

Buffo's men moved smartly and gained the trees before the Wahlas recovered. There they traded shots with the savages.

On the right the MMG slowed 2nd squad greatly causing casulaties. Then it stopped! (broke) Polti rallied his folks with LTs help and moved up.

Sgt Polti's squad gains postions in front of
the hill with difficulty (nice jacket)

At this point Buffo led his men into the trenches to avenge their grandfather's defeat in this country years ago. The Ethiopians rose to the challange. At last, combat worthy of a warrior!

Combat worthy of warriors!

Buffo in the center

Buffo's leadership and skill carried the day as 5 of the 8 warriors fell with the rest retreating. The survivors moved to the hill where they were rallied by their officer. Buffo moved to flank them but warriors appeared on his left. ( they had moved from the building around the hill to flank Buffo) to make matters worse the MMG started up again and 2nd squad was taking heavy casualties. The Italians were pushed back.

At this point Capt Butro appears with a forward observed. After talking with Lt Chainti it was decided to pound the hill and then have another assualt led by Buffo.

Artillery pounds the hill
Yes, that is a french gouimer MMG! Sorry

The final assault. Even the tank gets

into the act

Buffo's men charge up the hill as smoke still hangs in the air. The fighting is furious but Italian elan carries the day! The Ethiopians, defeated but not broken retreat up the road. 1st squad is too exhausted to pursue; some training excercise!

Great game! At first it looked like another Italian blowout with Buffo gaining the trees and the MMG breaking. After the 1st trench cleared the Ethiopians stabalized as the MMG came back on line. I actually called it a draw as the Italians took a long time to clear the road and took 11 casualties.

Ethiopian forces

3 "squads" 1 with a LMG

1 MMG

1 Gr III officer 2 Gr II NCOs and 1 Gr I NCO

1 pre plotted 75mm artillery strike. Don't need to pre plot turn just location. (Someone will send out a signal that says "fire it now")

Forces set up dug in

the asl for 2nd sq was killed during the assault. He will be replaced by Cpl Fan. Lt Chianti tried to get Sgt Polti replaced and was unsuccessful. 2nd's squad's morale went down after the battle. He has decided to swap Sgts and give Polti the better squad and Buffo the worse one. We will see how the squads react! Buffo was praised by all for his bravery and elan. He met the CSM of the battalion and he earned his Grade III rating.

Enjoy

Joe

FAAR defends Lardinski bridge

No platoon forward this week as I have been playing BTH2. I really like this game. I have also been testing some flak rules and some bombing tables that will hopefully be in the summer special if Nick and Rich run out of stuff to print!
Started my Romanian ME 109G squadron. In two missions they have 4 kills and have lost 3 planes. Personnel losses have been 1 KIA, 1MIA and 1WIA. They have 1 Cool Point. [ the goal in Squadron Forward is to obtain cool points thus becoming the envy of friendly squadrons and infamous to the enemy ones. This also allows you to pick up women I am told!]
Their leader board:
Lt Florescu 2 kills Yak 1m
Lt Ancu 1 Kill P-39
SLt Marulis 1 kill shturmvik

First mission was a fighter sweep where they were bounced by 6 Yaks.

On the wrong side of the bounce! Adj Sef Mirou and

Adj Ursuche (MIA) both be shot down

Lt Florescu getting one of his two Yaks

The second mission was 4 ME 109Gs defending Lardinski bridge against 2 P-39s and 6 Shturmviks. They didn't fair particularly well losing Slt Gulan when his plane exploded. Adj Burileanu is a rookie, quickly lost his formation and became wounded. He managed to bring his plane back but the CO, Capt Selei, is very unhappy. 1 P-39 downed and 1 bomber. They didn't loose cool points due to lousy bombing with only 1 250lb bomb hitting the bridge doing light damage.

Melee near the bridge

Russian bombers thwarting my efforts at

testing the new bomb damage charts!

[Rockets worked well at the flak though]

I also have a P-47 sq in europe, a P-38 squadron in the pacific, a wildcat sq and a Tommahawk squadron in the Med running.

Lt Jablowski failed to Bag this Hun

However this Jap is in the bag!

Japanese get revenge

Again abysmal bombing thwarts my in game testing. [no I am not tinkering with the to hit tables, just bad die rolling] 1 bomb does damage at the airfield. However, that bomb hits the fuel dump so bullseye!@

The rules are actually done. Now I just have to write them up pretty.

Plan to have an Italian attack on the Ethiopian army this weekend

Joe

Dawn Raid Ethiopia 1938

My Italian platoon in East Africa holds a special place. It was with this platoon that I started the whole concept of platoon forward. I was inspired by Chris Stoesen's East Africa suplement and Max Maxwell had a colonial article in the Lardie special. I started focusing on a single individual, Sgt Bustamanti and it has evolved from there. I digress...

For once I hope we have good intellegence thought Lt Chianti. Supposedly rebel leader "honest Abe" had gotten his hands on a french 2pdr. The plan was to cross the river at dawn, raid the hideout and capture the gun before the Wahlas could figure out how to set it up. It would either be in one of the buildings or a cave near the river. Mula Tono felt Abe would have no more than 30 men at the hideout. Capt Butro would be north of the river with a blocking force if things went poorly.

Characters
Lt Chianti Romantic Gr II
Sgt Bustamanti cheerful 1 section Gr II
Cpl Petracela ast SL cultured Gr II
Sgt Polti obnoxious and anti war 2nd section Gr I
Cpl Riccelo asst SL Cheerfulll Gr I

Italian platoon consists of 2 sections of 19 men each. 10 man assualt element and 9 man LMG support element containing 2 LMGs I rate the breda LMG as only earning 2 dice.

Map looking across the river

River fordable only at both ends

Note MMG on hill far right

Lt Chianti was going to take Polti's section across the left ford which was the easy one to cross. He was going to position the MMG and light mortars on this side of the river to fire at the main building where he figured the main resistance would be. Sgt Bustamanti would cross on the right. Sweep the cave and move towards the buildings. Speed was essential if they were to capture the cannon!

Sentry at dawn not very watchful

Lt Chianti got half the section across before the sentry fired a warning shot to wake the rebels. He led his men forward towards the big house. Suddenly from the doorway of the courtyard...

Rebel with Italian LMG

Machine gun fire from the building caused his men to scatter. He rallied them as mortar shells rained down on the building. Sgt Polti finally showed up. Lt Chianti stood up, raised his pistol and yelled "Avanti!" as his men charged the building. The rebels melted out into a field behind the building. Chianti quickly searched the building but no cannon.

Sgt Bustamanti runs into trouble at his crossing

MMG fire greeted Sgt Bustamanti as his men forded the river. As he moved back Wahlahs appeard out of the cave. Cpl Petracela's LMGs quickly sent them packing. Buffo knew he had to get across the river fast; MMG or not. He ordered his men forward and they obeyed. The MMG strangely fell silent [ jammed and was never fixed!] They were across!

Now they started trading shots with the rebels but their LMGs told the tale as the rebels fell back

Sgt Bustamanti nearing the cave entrance

As his troops neared the cave they saw 3 mules leave the cave burdened with metal objects. The cannon! Stop the mules men, he directed

Lt Chianti also saw the mules and went sprinting after them through the field. The demoralized bandits put up little resistance when surrounded by Mussolini's finest

Mules surrounded (They just look like a german shepard)

Lt Chianti in the field with pistol raised

4 rebel prisoners were taken along with the cannon. Lt Chianti gave report of the triumph personally to LtCol Aquino who was quite pleased! The only mark on the day was "honest Abe" was not among the 20 men encountered.

Good game but everything broke the italians way so it was quick. They forded the river easily and quickly. The MMG jammed turn 2 and was never cleared. The rebels (freedom fighters) never rallied their LMG team even though they needed a "8" or less on 2 dice. Lastly, for the first time my system of generating forces let me down. The rebels generated only 1 "squad" with a leader so I added a second squad and leader. I think I will play this scenario again with my vietnam troops and see if it is any closer. I didn't think the Italians would ever be on the winning side of a blow out!!

Italian Forces

1 Platoon plus 1 MMG and 1 45mm Mtr

Ethiopian Forces

1 Gr III leader, 1 Gr II leader

1 squad with italian LMG, 1 squad of 10 warriors

1 MMG which must set up on the far hill. It is covering the likely approach of the Italian forces

Special rules

Rebels may place a sentry near the main building. Both squads must deploy in either buildings or the cave which in the north end of the hill nearest the river. The cannon must also be in one of these 3 locations. It is disassembled.

Every turn the freedom fighter roll a d6. When the cumulative score reaches "10" the mules are packed with the cannon and can move. They will move 3 hexes [ 60yards]each turn. If they make it off the north edge of the board the Ethiopians win. If the Italians capture the cannon they win.

When the Italians cross the right ford they do so easily on a die of 1-3. A 4-6 means their intel was faulty and it will be difficult taking a whole turn in the river to ford.

If you have read my morale rules in the latest Lardy special I suggest you use them for the Italians. I set their morale level at 14. The Ethiopians ignore morale as they have to move their cannon at all costs.

Enjoy

Joe

Patrol along the Kokoda Trail

This is the 3rd battle with my aussie platoon. Lt "Pinky" Seibert was wounded last battle and has not been replaced. He will miss 2 battles. This platoon has poor leadership with 2 Gr I leaders and the platoon sgt a gr II [McDonnel] who was just promoted to Sgt after last battle. The company commander has decided to send the Sergant Major out with 2 sections on a combat patrol.

Sergant Major, your map is below. You start at the bottom edge and must recce the whole board. Come up with your route and order of march. You have 2 sections plus a 2in mortar.
See what the Japs are up too and good God man, be careful!
Characters:
Sgt Maj Peters Gr IV
Cpl Tommy Higgins 1st section Gr I
Cpl Jeffrey Stokes 2nd section Gr I hesitant commander

Sgt Major decided to start along the left of the board, skiriting the jungle and make a clockwise circle of the board going around the rocky hill. 2nd section would lead and when contact was made he would move up to help Stokes who was the weaker of the 2 weak leaders.

Map depression is left and

rocky hill is left center

Cpl Higgins was glad to be on a mission with the Sergant Major. Hopefully he would see what an idiot Stokes was and how deserving he himself was of another stripe. Higgins was sadden when 3rd section's Cpl McDonnel was promoted to platoon Sgt. McDonnel was good, just not as good as himself. He was out to prove it to the Sergant Major today.

Unfortunalty for our heros, the japanese [also on patrol] saw them first and moved to set up an ambush...

Sgt Maj Peters sees Japs on the hill

and past the jungle

The Sgt Maj called out Japs on the hill and past the jungle! He ordered Higgins to take his section into the jungle and Stokes into the Kunai. 2in mortar was to start pounding the hill.

Japanese knee mortars in

my version of bamboo
Japanese squad on hill

Higgins got his folks into the jungle and started firing at advancing infantry. Unfortunatly a LMG from the hill and mortars pounded his position and the men waivered.

Meanwhile a second LMG opened up on first section from the hill.

Japanese advance on Cpl Higgins

Cpl Higgins had to pull back into a depression before they were overun!! Why wouldn't these bastards rally!!!! [ It is tough to be a Gr I leader]

Meanwhile, 2nd section had pinned the LMG on the hill. Sgt Maj screamed, up and at em boys!

Up and at em boys!

The aussies took out the LMG but before they did a final burst caught 2 men in the stomachs. Sgt Maj Peters hit the ground knowing it was bad. An IV was started; he refused morphine knowing he was the only competent leader but then he lapsed into uncounsouness. Cpl Stokes was at a loss at what to do next. [The hesitant commander card came up at the worst times] They had lost 4 of the section taking out the LMG. There was still a jap squad on the hill. They traded shots and even repeled an assault. Stokes could not get them rallied to charge and could not un hesitate enough to have them retreat.

Cpl Higgins in the depression

Meanwhile, Cpl Higgins could not get his section to rally! The japanese gathered for another charge.

The final charge
2in mortar shells try to halt the advance

12 Japanese led by a sword wielding NCO moved into the depression.Cpl Higgins managed to get extricate his folks without losing a man. He then went back and picked up the the 2in mortar and quitely snuck away.

Casualty wise it was a closer battle with the aussies sustaining 14 and the Japanese 8. Clearly the Aussies were driven from the field. With 2 poor leaders they could not rally their folks. 2nd section finally got away when Cpl Stokes was wounded. Had the Sgt Maj not been wounded it might have proved a very differnet game.

Japanese forces:

1 gr III leader 1 gr II leader 1 gr I leader

2 squads with LMGs

1 knee mortar squad [3 mortars and 6 riflemen]

Enter north edge of board on patrol Randomly determine edge and turn of entry

Cpl Higgins was unsuccessful in having Cpl Stokes removed from the platoon and he had a 50/50 chance of becoming a Gr II leader and missed. Sgt Major Peters lived but was invalided home to australia. The new Sgt Major is Joe Cook and he already dislikes the platoon. Lt Seibert is working at battalion was convilesing and had done some good stuff for the company that has earned the gratitute of the company commander. Cpl Stokes is out for 2 battles and Pvt Collins will have the section Gr I no hesitant commander card.

Can Sgt McDonnel whip these guys into shape? Will Cpl Higgins ever earn his Gr II?

Enjoy

Joe

First sortie for Adj Sef Ionescu

Traded in my playtest copy of Bag The Hun II for the final. Great artwork and some inspiring rules! Rivet counters won't like them but they reward good tactics and show why a veteran pilot is always dangerous. Needless to say did not play Platoon Forward this week but a bit a good news on that front. Rich of Too Fat Lardies has agreed to pubish it and stated he will do so right after he finishes Charlie Don't Surf. I expect to see it this summer. Soon you will be inspiring me with your tales of heroics!!

Still tinkering with Squadron Forward and my Romanian Air Force...
Adj Sef Ionescu had been in the AAR for 9 years and had finally wrangled a combat assignment when his friend (wingman) was posted as the wing commander of a fighter base at the start of the war to rid the world of Communism. If you read the last post you will remember the escadrille was down to 4 planes. The mission assignment today was a fighter sweep. Lt Macri would lead the mission along with the flight sergeant. The 2 wingmen would be Adj Stag Toma and Adj Baciu.
Characters:
Lt Marci Plesant
Adj Sef Ionescu Cultured Veteran pilot
Adj Stag Toma obnoxious
Adj Baciu cunning 1 kill

Shortly after takeoff Lt Macri had engine trouble and had to abort. (random event) There was discussion of cancelling the mission but Ionescu felt strongly that they should at least stay over Romanian lines and protect the troops. He was spoiling for a fight!

3 IAR-80s in a loose "V"

The blue stand denotes veteran pilot

(You can get away with that solitaire!)

"Bandits 4 o'clock low" Toma calls out. Obnoxious on the ground, Toma was a fine wingman in the air and his eyesight had prevented a bounce today! 5 I-16s. Ionescu pulled the V around right and allowed Baciu to detach as the battle was joined! (Toma had complained that he was senior but in the air performace counted and Baciu had downed a plane.) The battle is joined

A swirling dogfight ensued with the IARs using their speed to accelerate out of trouble when needed. Toma Lost Ionescu early on (on purpose?) as Ionescu dove and quickly turned hard to port to get on the tail of an apparently lost (sprog) I-16. As his machine guns rattled he saw hits in the cockpit of the small fighter. [ Using a modified version of my damage table that appeared in a Lardie Special a while back; the I-16 had back seat armor which turned the damage roll from a temporary loss of control to a cockpit glass smashed result; curses!] The startled pilot throttled down, flipped the agile rata into a left turn that Ionescu could not quite follow. He lost airspeed pulling Gs and dropped a level of altitude to aviod a stall.

Meanwhile...

3 I-153s show up to party

A random reinforcement brings 3 more russian aircraft into the battle. 3 against 8! Baciu is quickly shot down but bails out unharmed. Adj Sef has seen enough. He tells Toma they have to retreat!!

Sound retreat! Toma on the tail of a I-153 upper left

Adj Sef Ionescu swinging wide of his prey middle right

Adj Stag Toma pulls the trigger as the I-153 fills his sights. He sees hits on the engine and then the plane explodes in a ball of fire! Joyously he dives for the deck and heads for home. Adj Sef thinks, "There will be no living with him after this."

Enjoy

Joe

Aeronautica Regala Romana

I have wanted a Royal Romanina Air Force since I got into miniature aircraft about 2 years ago. Scotia does the IAR-80 aircraft but I could not find decals and did not feel I could free hand the Maltese Cross like markings. Enter Mike Grant Decals and I could see my quest becoming a reality! The following has nothing to do with Platoon Forward but thought it was too cool not to post. Hopefully you will agree...

Ready to Bag the Ivan!

59 Escadrile of 8 Grupul 22 June 1941 Time to take the Squadron Forward!

Capt Sandru Likeable Veteran CO

Lt Hapaianu agressive

Lt Macri Pleasant

SLT Alexiu Pessimistic (shys away from combat)

SLT Nicoara Cunning

Adj Sef Grecu

Adj Stag Fortu Glum Sprog

Adj Stag Toma Obnoxious

Adj Stag Chera Mecurical Dead eye Sprog

Adj Baciu Cunning Sprog

Did not roll up the first battle as I had worked too hard on these planes and pilots for them to get smoked their first time out. 6 plane patrol that would meet 6 I-16s Tip 10s. Capt Sandru takes the rookie Fortu as his wingman, Lt Macri takes Toma (even though he is obnoxious hopefully he will make a good wingman in combat) and the SLts take each other. No one knows that Alexiu shys away from the guns at times yet. Lt Hapainu and the Flight Sergant Grecu stay behind to provide leadership in case we do get smoked.

I do dice for spotting and postion and we bounce the I-16s!

SLT Alexiu gets the first shot in for the FAAR!

SLT Alexiu gets a good bounce in but manages only to damage an I-16. The russians break and a swrilling dogfight ensues. Alexiu's wingman's plane gets damaged so he stays on the fringe of the fight after that to protect his wingman. Capt Sandru, being a veteran, manages to down 2 I-16s and damage another!

Capt Sandru showing how it is done!

The next mission was as escort to a reconnassance aircraft. 4 IARs participate and encouter 5 I-153s. ( I did dice for this mission) The rookie Baciu bags an Ivan so elevates to average status. Adj Chera is shot down but is reovered by romanian troops. Unfortunatly Adj Sef Grecu's plane is seen to explode during the battle with no parachute seen. (The IAR-80A had no self sealing gas tanks)

The third battle again sees Capt Sandru on a free hunt. Unfortunatly due to combat losses and damaged planes (we started with 8) there are only 5 IARs available. This time we run into 10 SB-2 bombers escorted by 6 I-16s.

Third battle over a lake

Outnumbered by the escort the romanians fail to knock a single bomber down. Capt Sandru does add anther I 16 to his score but Adj Stag Chera (sprog) looses his leader and is shot down during the melee. Word is recieved that he is safe and should return to the unit in 1-2 days.

So our squadron has shot down 4 aircraft, damaged 4 and we have lost 3 aircraft of our own. We currently have only 4 planes ready and 8 pilots available. Capt Sandru has 3 kills and Adj Baciu has 1. A new Flight Sergant, Adj Sef Ionescu has just joined the squadron. He is a veteran flyer and use to be the wing commander's wingman when the old man was a Capt. Will he be an ally or spy?

Am formulating Squadron Forward campaign rules slowly and it seems to be coming together. Am figuring out how much in the weeds should the player be regarding fixing of aircraft. Am using Bag the Hun by Too Fat Lardies as the tactical rule set.

Just spray painted my ME-109Gs (from I-94 enterprises) yesterday but anxious to see how this new flight sergant is going to work out!

Enjoy

Joe

Hill 422 Greece 1940

Went to the Williamsburg Muster last week. Great little show. Picked up several greek NCOs to go with my greek platoon. Hence you know where the battle would take place... This is my 5th battle with this platoon. These guys have had it rough with one loss and 3 draws. Lt Sposito missed last battle recovering from wounds. In the hospital he met the division commander Gen Pitaccio who pinned on his wound badge personally.

Lt Sposito had had 4 quite days since the Italian offensive had run out of steam. His platoon was holding part of the battalion line. He had a small hill called 422 and the edge of a small village. His platoon was still a mess since returning from the hospital. Hellik was a drunk. Pitsikas was a good private but just did not think like an NCO. Basakidas was the only good one of the bunch and he liked to drink too much as well. He had complained to his CO but the Capt Makarezos only brushed him off and told him that a good officer would turn the NCOs into good leaders.

Characters
Lt Sposito Pleasant Gr III
Sgt Hellik 1st squad Alcoholic Gr I
Sgt Pitsikas 2nd sq Course peasant Gr II
Sgt Basakidas 3rd sq Generous who likes his wine Gr III

Board looking towards the Greeks positions

Hill 422 on the right with a trench and

several small buildings on the left.

Sposito was rotating the squads at night using a squad in the trench with a MMG and a squad

in the buildings but only half of that squad alerted. The rest of the men and he stayed in the village about 100 yards back. He had no reason to expect an attack tonight...

3rd squad with Sgt Basakidas mans hill 422

yes it is dark!

Lt Sposito was awaken by machine gun fire. He waited to see if it continued; it did. He gathered 2nd squad and moved up the road. 1st squad was in the buildings and 3rd squad was on the hill. They had no flares or starshells. This was the greek army in 1940 afterall!!

The Italians had launched a raid from their left flank. The object was to capture a prisoner from one of the buildings. A random event had 1st squad asleep (I am not making this up I told you I always report honestly!) so 3rd squad on the hill did notice the bulk of the force moving forward but not on the far edge where one squad cut the wire and slipped towards the unoccupied barn.

Lt Sposito had Sgt Pitsikas wait on the road while he entered the building. Sgt Hellik explained that there were 2 Italian squads forward of his positions. The Italians had probed but were driven back with some loss. It apeared another half hearted Italian effort. Sposito acknowledged and went to check on hill 422. As he passed Sgt Pitsikas he told him to take his squad to the barn and set up his LMG in case the Italians tried to flank the greek villiage and wire.

Italian squad through the wire and

approaching the barn undetected

1st squad has half a squad in each half of the building
2nd squad is behind the building moving towards the barn
Italian squad is moving up to assualt the building

As Lt Sposito learned of 1st squad's somulence from 3rd squad all hell broke loose at the building. Lt Spositio hurried back. Apparently some Italians had infitrated through the barn and were stopped by the timely arrival of Sgt Pitsikas' 2nd squad.

Timing is everything! Sgt Pitsikas arrives.
(One of my new NCO figures!)

During this firefight the Italians managed to move up another squad to assault the house!

Italian Lt leads the raiding party in

As Lt Sposito arrived close combat raged in the house. Lt Sposito wondered if the Greeks were still asleep as they were slaughtered. 9 Italians against 5 greeks/ 5 greek casualties and no Italian! Sgt Hellik tried to fight his way in to save his men but only managed to lose 3 additional greek soldiers. As Sposito sent a runner to pull men from the hill to defend the villiage the Italians left with 2 prisoners. A disaster!! Lt Sposito wanted to kill Hellik but decided a courts martial would be better.

The next morning Capt Makarezos was furious. When Sposito brought up Hellik's derilection of duty he was cut off. "How many times have I told you not to blame your failings on your NCOs! If he was asleep why were you not there checking on him. If YOUR court martial did not have to be approved by the General I would file it today! Get out of here."

Great battle. 1st squad asleep really made it interesting I thought the Greeks had it until horrendous die rolling allowed the Italians to waltz in and waltz out. Lt Sposito was downgraded to a Gr II leader and Sgt Hellik has had a command confusion card added.

Forces

3 squads (Greek squads were 10 men 5 rifles and 5 man LMG team) substitute a MMG for 1 LMG 1 of these squads starts off board in the village and arrives on the 4 turn or 4th turn of the reinforcement card.

1 salvo of 81mm fire pre registered

Italians

3 squads plus an additional LMG (can have additional SMGs as this is a raiding party)

2 Gr III leaders 2 Gr II leaders

Italians win by taking a prisoner. Can attack hill and/or buildings

Special rules

Scenario takes place at night.

1 greek squad is asleep. randomly determine which one. In a 2 player game obviously don't tell the Italian player!

Enjoy

Joe