Mud, Blood & Steel

"Mud, Blood & Steel, the Battle of Hoveyzeh, January 5-7, 1981" is published by High Flying Dice Games, LLC (HFDG). Designed by veteran designer Paul Rohrbaugh with graphics designed by Bruce Yearian. It is a hell of a good looking game, with thanks to Bruce. The colors of the map and units are beautiful and go well together.

Sooner or later, a game comes along that makes one take a look at a game publishing company. This is one of those games. It is a very well designed and straight forward. Though only costing $*, it is equal to any game costing 10x or more.

The Battle:  The battle being depicted is also known as "Operation Hoveyzeh" and/or "Operation Nasr" (Victory), January 5 to 7,1981. It was the first attempt of many operations that Iran used to remove the Iraqis from their lands. Operation Nasr was hastily planned by Khomeini and his clerics, the true rulers of Iran. With the government in shambles, many of the Clerics still mistrusted much of the military. Khomeini and his clerics needed a battle to unify their hold on the Iranian people and could also be used to force President Banisadr into resigning if the battle was lost.

The Iranian 88th Armor Division used in the attack was actually the Iranian 88th Armor Brigade expanded into an adhoc division by combining units from the depleted 92nd Division. It consisted of 3 armor brigades of British Chieftains (Mk I to V) and M-60A1s, but lack recon units, mech inf, arty, and other divisional assets. The 55th Parachute Brigade was attached to be used for Infantry support.

In case you are wondering, as great as tanks are, they cannot survive the battlefield without Infantry covering the flanks. This was true in 1916, as it is now.  Did you know this battle was the largest armor battle fought since the Yom Kippur War (aka the "6 Day War", soon to be coming (well at the end of this year :D) from ATO magazine as their end of year annual magazine with game, and designed by the way by Paul Rohrbaugh.)?

 

The Iraqi's 9th Armor Division was the opposition in this battle.  Consisting of 4 Brigades of T-55 tanks, and a Brigade of the more powerful T-62's from the 3rd Armor Division - these were assigned as the reserve force, just in case. And this was no ad-hoc division, as it had the full compliment, including artillery and infantry. The Iraqi's used their Divisional assets to their full ability. For example the Engineers prepared positions about 1/2 mile behind where the lead 9th elements were located. 

And here is where the game begins...

Counters: The game comes with 34, 1/2" unmounted counters (mounting is available when you buy the game) consisting of four markers (two morale, one game turn and one "fortunes of war"), twelve "pin" markers, eight Iraqi combat units (double sided, with a reduction), two "strike" (one acft strike and one arty strike) markers, seven Iranian combat units (double sided, with a reduction) and one "air" strike marker.  Notice the "red" number on the armor unit to the right? That is important to remember.

 

Note: No Victory Point markers were included in the counter mix. As mentioned in rule 11.0, one is to use pennies or other spare markers for this track. Being the person I am, I just made up my own. Yes, you can use these if you want. You will probably have to play with the sizing.

 

The two infantry counters have the standard NATO Infantry symbol, while the armor units have side views of the T-55 and T-62 for the Iraqis. While the Iranians have  Chieftains Mk 1-5, and M-60A1s.  All side views are correct to the respected armor (for example, it is easy to distinguish between a T-55 with the bore evacuator being on the end of the gun and the space between the 1st and 2nd road wheel, while the T-62's bore evacuator was about 2/3's of the length towards the muzzle of the gun. Good going Bruce.)

And in case you still can't figure out who is who, Iraqi's had Soviet armor, while the Iranians used Western Armor.  

Game Map:  The entire map is 11"x17" in size, consisting of a terrain key, a chart on how to read the units, morale & support track, game turn track and a random events table, the actual battle map is only 7.5"x9.5" and features a non-passable river, except at the main bridge (this is the Karkhah River btw), a passable smaller stream, clear desert, roads, and mud, lots n' lots of mud.

The Iranians had flooded this area to stop the Iraqis in Nov 80. And it worked. However, when the Iranians attack in the same area on Jan 5, 1981, they were forced to utilized the same road system as the Iraqi's to keep from being bogged down. It seems as if they didn't remember about flooding this area in the previous Nov. The 88th Armor Division paid a terrible price with the lost of lives and armor when the brigades went off the roads and were caught in the same mud that the Iraqis were trapped almost 3 months earlier. The game simulates this very well with most of the map as mud hexes.

Available (as it is for all High Flying Dice Games) is a card set for $*. Now this card set is well worth the money. It has  nice, really nice, artwork on them. Notice whose photos are on the 2 "Jokers" needed for the game? I don't have these cards, not yet, but I am leaning towards them getting them very soon. I should have bought the cards when I purchased the game.

Getting ready for play:  In lieu of the card set, players will need to provide a deck of cards. Remove all face cards (remember the Ace is not a face card, but considered "1"), divide the deck into Red and Black cards plus one joker for each deck. Give the red deck to the Iranian player and the black deck to the Iraqi player. And have each player shuffle their deck. One 6 sided Die (1D6) is also required.

Rules: The rules are four single sided pages in length. Nice, light, tight, and pretty straight forward as HFDG rules usually are. Download the addenda (errata) for the game and correct your set of rules before playing...  but, here is the addenda for ya

Addenda for the game. Dtd April 2018 and listed here:

General Note:In some places in the rules the underline is missing from the < sign. In all cases please add this underline in where missing so it reads < (less than or equal to).

1.0 Components (correction):There are 34 (not 30) counters in the game.

2.1 Iranian Set Up (corrections): The reference to hex C12 should be to 0912. The reference to the 8th Armor should instead be to the 88th (the counters are correct). Also, in the second sentence of paragraph 4 “may” should be “many”.

2.2 Iraqi Set Up (correction): Hoveyzeh is in hex 0201 (not J1), Susangerd is in hex 0904 (notC4) and Saideh is in hex 0205 (not J5). 

3.0 Play of the Game (clarification): In the unlikely event both Jokers are drawn by the players and one player has not activated ignore the second Joker card and continue play until all cards are drawn.

4.0 Assault (correction): The next-to-last DRM in the list should refer to a Pinned (not Disrupted) armor unit.

6.0 Air Support (correction): The second paragraph and last bullet should state “air support” (not artillery support).

8.1 Iranian Reinforcements (correction): Reinforcement units enter at hexes 1105 (not A5) or 0912 (not C12).

9.0 Changing Morale Levels (corrections):

1. The middle sentence, parenthesized section) in this rule should read “but never above 5”.
2. The Iranian player reduces his/her ML by 1 for each Iraqi unit that exits the east (not west) map edge.
3. A player’s ML is never increased above 5 (not 6).

The three Iranian 88th Armor Division brigades were strung out on the roads coming from Ahwaz to Saideh going toward Haveyzeh on the highway along with the 55th Parachute being in the rear. This column was over 10 miles long. Accompanying the armor was 14 Cobra gunships to provide air cover. It was these helos flying around, with their possible radio traffic, that alerted the Iraqis to the presence of the Iranian armor. The Iraqi's decided to set up a trap for the 88th division. The lead Iraqi armor brigade fired a couple of rounds and retreated 1/2 mile to prepared positions that were just completed. These prepared positions allowed the Iraqi armor to be in what is termed "Hull-down" position. About the only thing sticking up and out is the turret with it's gun. Meanwhile, the Iranian commander thought he had run into an Iraqi recon probe and order his brigades to attack. And that they did. The Iranians fell into a neatly laid out trap, and paid for it.

Playing the Game:  After both players have setup (not only counters, but also the arty and air strikes) the Iranian player rolls a 1D6 to see how many activations they will get for the 1st game turn (just this one time). Also, the Iranian player begins the game with "Fortunes of War" special event.  Once this has been performed, the next rounds will be by card draw. This game is like playing the old card game, that most learned as kids - "War".

Activation's:  The game consists of 8 turns played with many rounds. The turns cover the three days and three nights that the battle went on. Each turn is equal to 8 hrs. To play each round, each player turns over the top card of their deck and who has the highest card wins the round. Odd card is one activation, even card is two activations or the winning player can pass on either. If the card draw is a tie, the player who did not perform any activation(s) in the previous round can perform 1 activation (or pass).
For each activation a player can do one of the following:

1. Arty Strike (Iraqi player only)
2. Air Support Strike (both players)
3. Move (both players)
4. Assault (both players)
5. Rally (both players)

Remember a unit can only perform one of these Activations per card draw. (example: Either move or rally, not both)

Jokers and the end of a turn:  The first time a joker is drawn, the owning player rolls 1D6 and consults the special events table on the game map.  The 2nd time a joker shows up, the game turn is over, with no activations perform. If it is not the last turn of the game, do the following:

1. move the turn marker up 1 space on the Game Record Track.
2. Both players reshuffle their decks.

Note: In-case both jokers are drawn at the same time and one player has not activated for the turn, then ignore the 2nd joker, bury it as last card and continued play until all cards are drawn.  Who gets to bury the card? Easy, the person who has activated, is how I do it. Or roll a die, highest number gets to play.  You can pick how you want to do this.  :D
 

Movement: A unit can move from one hex to an adjacent hex via a movement activation.  All units have a movement allowance printed on their counter and spends a number of movements points to enter each hex depending on the terrain cost. The chart for this is on the game map. All units must stop moving when entering a hex adjacent to an undisrupted enemy unit. There is no stacking of player units and no entering hexes occupied by enemy units.
If using the optional facing rules, all armor units must end their movement with the top of the counter facing a hex-side in order to clearly indicate the unit's frontal and rear aspects.

Don't fire until you see the whites of their eyes...a.k.a. Assault.
Players may attempt the Assault Activation by an "un-pinned' unit. An infantry unit can only assault an enemy unit in the adjacent hex. An armor unit can assault an enemy unit up to two hexes away.  The attacking player designates the attacker and the defender unit and rolls a die.

Die Roll modifications
+2 if attacking unit is normal status and +1 if reduced. 
-1 if target is in Village hex or target is not adjacent  (-2 maximum)
+1 if target is in all mud hex (no village hex or road) or firing across a stream or river (+2 maximum).
+1 firing through target armor unit's rear aspect (in addition to any of the above and if playing with the variant rule 12.1)
-1 Opportunity Fire Attack during the night turn (if playing with variant rule 12.2)
+1 Red AF (attack factor) unit firing on "disrupted" armor unit (in addition to any of the above). (remember what I wrote under "counters" to remember about "red" attack factor? Yup, go back and look).

Here are the key parts of the rules by their heading.

1.0 Components
2.0 Setup
3.0 Play of the Game
4.0 Assault
5.0 Artillery Strike
6.0 Air Support
7.0 Rally
8.0 Reinforcements
9.0 Morale Levels
10.0 Fortunes of War
11.0 Winning the Game
12.0 Variant Rules

The game is fun, but what added to the play was both of the variant rules. They just go together like peanut butter and jam.  These do add to the complexity, though not as much as one would think, but does make the game jump right at ya and scream like a wounded leopard "Play me, Play me"

I had a lot of fun with this game. It has a very low counter density (making it easier to kept track of the counters and to mount). A nice playable map, with a turn track showing 3 days and 3 nights divided into 8 hours each.  The only modification I made to the map was to put on yellow circles to show where the Iraqi sets up and reinforcements to enter the game and blue circles for Iranian set up and reinforcements to enter. Why yellow and blue? I can see those colors very easy. :D

I don't want to give the whole game away and only wrote a little bit on the rules. There is another game on the entire Iran-Iraq War called Bloody Dawns by Pierre Razoux.  It is a professional design sold by High Flying Dice Games, LLC for $50.00 plus shipping.   

UPDATE: HFDG came out with another Iran-Iraqi War battle, Operation Fath-ol-Mobin March 22-28, 1982, called An Undeniable Victory. Cost is $* and is a professional game with die-cut counters.  I do have it, sitting in the "to look at" box of games. Unfortunately, there are another 15 or so games in front of it.

Time to rate this game:

1. Complexity of the game = LOW with moderate medium overtones.
2. Solitaire = HIGH (a little work is needed)
3. Enjoyment Level = VERY HIGH (imho)
4. Nail biting = 10 fingers worth.  It can come down to the last card draw of the last turn, if the Iranian player thinks and don't give up. 
5. Historical Level = High - "Mud, Blood & Steel" has a solid historical reference background and a very solid OOB (Orders of Battle).   
6. Length of typical full game =about 1.5 to 2.5 hours.
7. Out of the 10 or so games played, it is hard for the Iranian player to win, but it is very doable. You will have to think outside the normal box and work with what you got.  Arty Strike is the Iraqi friend and the Iranian enemy. The Iranian player starts out strong, but "lady luck" with the cards has a way of wiping out the those brigades and battle plans. Amazingly, just like what happen on Jan 5 1981 :D  

addendum - I would like to add, that a lot of folks don't care for the card draw system used to see how many units can move or attack.  I actually prefer this than the normal "can move everything and attack with everything" games or known as "ugo-igo".

Why? This type of movement with activations puts more of the fog of war into a game.  Just because the General sends out word to attack, doesn't mean everyone heard it. What about simulating fuel or ammo (supply)?  Bad radio? What if a tank broke down due to thrown track (happens)?  And one never knows if they are going next. Yes, using a card draw system simulates better the realities and fog of war to me than the old standby of moving and attacking with everything.

The game does have low movement due to the number of activations available (1 or 2). But honestly with such a low number of counters for each side, does it hurt the play? I believe, "Non!".

"Amazing sweet review AB, but where did you learn all this history?" -SC

Why thank you SC. I used "THE BOOK". Yes, the "book" is considered by many Historians as the only book on this war to read, also known as "The Iran-Iraq War" by Pierre Razoux. It is available, new or used from many places. Originally written in French and excellently translated to English by Nicholas Elliott, it is a joy to read. Pierre has laid open the many myths that other Iran-Iraq War writers have perpetuated, such as America giving the go ahead to Saddam to attack Iran and many others. 

 

His precise research is fascinating and other more prominent writers should learn how to do their research. From not only orders of battle (OOB) but also the ships and aircraft used and the history how Khomeini came to power to rule with an iron fist. Pierre interview many Iranians, Iraqis and people of other countries of prominence who were in power during this time. Including those who directed the war and survived it.  

 

BTW, "The Iran-Iraq War" was published by Harvard University Press in 2015 and awarded the 2016 Best Book of the Year Award by the Society for Military History.  Originally published: La Guerre Iran-Irak, 1980-1988: Premiere guerre du Golfe. Perrin, un department d'Edi8, 2013.

The Iran-Iraq War by Pierre Razoux 2013-2018/ ISBN:978-0-674-08863-4.
 
Salutes:

Generally I don't add this little section, but I am so impressed with how this game, small in size and price, is one in a million. I would like to thank Paul for designing and publishing this game. Bruce for his outstanding graphics and last but not least, the gentleman responsible for providing the necessary information, Pierre.  /SALUTE

-ab

This blog is considered to be a living blog. Changes will be made to it as needed to clarify, correct errors or update with new information. And I apologize, but this review may contain references to graphics that are no longer on this blog. Long story, but it was Google who removed them.

Updated: Sept 2019 to fix my bad English and add a link to the newest Iran-Iraqi game from HFDGs.  Updated- Feb 04, 2022, to fix a little bit more.

Flying Buffalo Inc Pizza Dice and more

Unfortunately, Rick passed away a few years ago. However, I can still remember the phone call I made to FB, Inc back in 1978 asking quite a few question concerning Tunnel & Trolls RPG rules and his solo dungeons. He was so nice when he found out I was calling from Grand Forks AFB and in the service.  So nice, I put in for a station in Az, which we got in 1980 (Luke AFB, Az). 

Back in March of 2017, Rick Loomis (owner, head Buffalo herder, and grand wizard) of Flying Buffalo, Inc came up with a Kick Starter for new Pizza Dice. The dice you roll to see what type you get and toppings.

Over 20 years ago, Rick came up with the idea for Pizza Dice (and other dice)

• 2 dice-
• one for meat toppings
• one for veggie toppings.

Only problem I see is no Anchovies on the dice, dang).  The dice sold for $2 and are "HOT", meaning they sell well.

Next is the Fast Food die. This is the life blood of any gamer, but particularly so for those who play pnp games.

Fast Food die, the energy pellets for those who play Tunnels & Trolls, Huzzah!!

• the types of fast food on the die are"
• burgers
• pizza
• tacos
• chicken
• fish
• Noodles

It just dawned on me - you know whats missing? Come'on, guess! Why it's a Drink die to go with the Fast Food/Pizza dice.  It could have beer, coffee, soda, water (yuck), Kool Ade or something that is not carbonated and iced tea. Yeah, there is 6 items right there!

He also had thought up an adventure set of dice (five dice that allows one to randomly create a dungeon run on the go or allowed ).  Each set had 5 dice-

• Door Die - 
• is it a lock door?
• Trapped?
• Magic locked?
• Or is it open?
• Treasure Die -
• Gold
• Silver
• Gem, 
• Weapon
• Magic weapon
• Scroll

• Weather Die
• Windy
• Sunny
• Rain
• Cloudy
• Snow
• Stormy

• Trap Die
• Six different types of traps
• Corridor die
• Door
• Stairs
• T-intersection
• Right
• Left
• Straight

• Monster Reaction die
• Happy, Sad, Angry, etc.

•  Grimtooth die for death and mayhem
• Grimtooth is the FBI mascot.  Got to have one of these. 
• 1 to 5 for "how dangerous is that trap?"
• And Grimtooth for "Death"

Nuclear War Die he has been adding to his N. War games seems forever. (yes, I am the proud owner of the first one- glow in the dark)

• Nuclear cloud as the "1". Nice 

Skip ahead 20 years and Rick needed more dice (things do well and sell out, right?  :)  ). Unfortunately, his dice maker who hand-made the dice, then silk screen the designs and print on them, finally retired.  Rick being as resourceful (I tend to call him a rascally weasel), did his homework and figured out he needed $4000 plus kick starter fees and have a mold made for his dice. 

Instead of having the designs silk screen on the die (wears off, don't ya know) the new dice are deeply engraved and inked. Very nice.  It's possible a laser is being used, for the engraving is sharp and deep. Technology can be wonderful in this day and age and it seems last months technology is outdated within 2 weeks.

Rick must have come to the conclusion that a mold was the only to go. I am thinking about this as I have no idea but seems logical to me. The new mold had either 10 or 12 cavities for 10 or 12 die. Why not make more?

And that is what he did.

• He added these for the 12 dice- (see photo above)
• Corridor die to the adventure set
• Body hit location (whether Monster or Player)

And that's the story.  I think it surprised him at the response his kick start received - 269 backers and $4782.  With that encouragement, he added a stretch goal (I told ya he was a rascal). Unfortunately, the time he gave for having this done and shipped out was 6 months (He knows the gaming die business), however, I believe this was the first time Rick had dealings with a company that used "China". Turns out he needed to add 1 year.  

And I believe people were wanting their money or the dice so Rick offered to refund anyone's money because of the long wait.   I have no idea if any one took him up on this or not. I didn't. Heck, I even bought one more bag for a total of 36 dice.

note - Rick informed me, no one took him up on the offer of refunding the money.

This is why when I find a Rick Loomis kick start, I usually join it. Only one time this year that I didn't and I kick myself in the butt every day. He has a 110% record for providing his product. Not many in the Kick Start program has as good of rating as Rick.  And he is so dad-burn honest, it ain't funny. 

All I can do is say "Thank you Rick".

The bun would recommend any die that FBI sells. They are good rollers, have a good weight, and it seems in my testing, they are very good number generators. Better than a computer.

Note updated. I totally left out a section about the old dice and the silk-screening. All I can say is Mea Culpa.  Thanks to Rick for noticing this and his gentle correction.

I found some Death Head dice and took a picture along with Lou Zocchi Polyhedral dice when he sold them in sets of 4.  Here's the pictures. I believe the year was late 1981 or early 82 when the Death Head dice appeared.  I have around 60 or so of them, collected thru out the ages.   The first ones had square corners. The later ones rounded. One can never have too many dice.

And here is a photo of Lou Zocci Polyhedral dice = the first set in 1977 (I was back from Korea) and the 2nd set in 1980 0r so.  At that time 4 came in a set of this soft plastic. One 4-sided, One 8-sided, one 12-sided and one 20-sided.  If you look at the 4 sided on the left, I used these so much, I wore down the edges, lol.  Also had to ink them myself.

Hope you enjoy this.

-ab

Note - Since Rick passed away, his Sisters took over the company.  Not sure what happen (they probably needed the money) sold the company to someone in the UK in 2021.  However, they are not producing his dice and I believe that these are now collector's items and never to be seen again.  Hopefully, someone will produce the dice again.

And I apologize, but this review may contain references to graphics that are no longer on this blog. Long story, but it was Google who removed them.

Rock and a Hard Place pocketgame #2

My recent 5 game purchase from High Flying Dice Games, LLC included a very pleasant surprise, their second released pocket game called "Rock and a Hard Place, The Fight For Malta's Fort Benghaisa", a "what if" scenario of the German glider landings on Malta to take out Fort Benghaisa for Esigenza C3 / Unternehmen Herkules (fortunately cancelled in Nov 1942).

Malta has always played a part thru-out history as an important heavily fortified island, that dominated the sea lanes in the Med. This review will concern it's self  from  the aspect of the Malta during 1940 to 1942 when the island could have been invaded by both the Germans and Italians.

Operation Herkules (Unternehmen Herkules/Operazione C3) was the German code-name given to an abortive plan for the invasion of Malta during World War II. Through air and sea landings, the Italians and Germans hoped to eliminate Malta as a British air and naval base and secure an uninterrupted flow of supplies across the Mediterranean Sea to Axis forces in Libya and Egypt. Extensive preparations were made for the invasion, but the Axis victory at the Battle of Gazala (26 May to 21 June 1942), the capture of Tobruk on 21 June and Unternehmen Aïda (Operation Aïda), the pursuit of the British as they retreated into Egypt, led to the plan being postponed and then cancelled in November 1942.

Please note, that 50% of the below is from Wikipedia with validation of the OOB from several of my sources - 5. If the history is wrong, it is my fault as I took the lazy way out instead of reading, thinking, and writing it out. 

The Plan:  The Axis plan to invade Malta had its origin in Italian military studies conducted in the mid-1930s during Second Italo-Abyssinian War. By 1938, the Italian army command had estimated the amount of sea transport it would require to move significant military forces into North Africa, and identified the seizure of Malta as a prerequisite. An outline plan for a seaborne assault was drawn up and periodically revised, but the Regia Marina (Italian Navy) initially showed little interest in it. The concept was approved at a meeting between Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini from 29 to 30 April 1942. 

By Air:  Command of the airborne component of Herkules was given to Major General Kurt Student and Fliegerkorps XI. Student had planned and executed the German airborne assault in the Battle of Crete in May 1941. In contrast with the hasty planning for that operation, Student now had months to prepare and avoid the mistakes made on Crete.

Knowledge of British defensive positions on Malta was extensive, thanks to meticulous aerial mapping by the Italians. Every fortification, artillery emplacement and AA battery was carefully noted and scrutinized. Student claimed later that "We even knew the caliber of the coastal guns, and how many degrees they could be turned inland". Ten Gruppen of Junkers Ju 52 transports with 500 aircraft were allocated for the air landings, along with 300 DFS 230 gliders (carrying ten men each) and 200 larger Go 242 gliders (each carrying twenty-three men or a light vehicle/gun). Also to be included were two dozen Messerschmidt Me 321 Gigant gliders capable of carrying up to 200 fully equipped paratroopers or a 25 long tons (25 t) tank. These were to be towed by the new He 111Z (Zwilling) five-engine modification of the He 111 medium bomber

The Regia Aeronautica (Italian Royal Air Force) would contribute approximately 180–220 transport aircraft, mostly three-engine SM.75s (carrying 24–28 men each), SM.81s (carrying 12–14 men each) and SM.82s carrying 30–34 men each). Given the 90 mi (140 km) distance between Axis airfields on Sicily and the drop zones over Malta, it was possible for the motorized transports to make four round-trips per day. They were to drop one Italian and one German airborne division onto the southern side of the island.

The paratroopers had to secure the high ground behind the invasion beaches, and seize a nearby airfield for Axis transport aircraft to land on with another division and supplies. Airborne units for the invasion included the German Fliegerdivision 7 (11,000 men) plus the Italian 185th Airborne Division Folgore (7,500 men) and 80th Infantry Division La Spezia air landing division (10,500 men); approximately 29,000 airborne troops. Preparations for the airborne assault included construction of three glider strips 25 mi (40 km) south of Mount Etna on Sicily.

By Sea:  The seaborne assault force comprised 70,000 Italian ground troops who were to make amphibious landings at two points on the south-eastern side of the island, in Marsaxlokk bay, with the main effort falling upon a site named "Famagosta beach", and a smaller secondary landing at "Larnaca beach". Also to be seized were the lesser islands of Gozo and Comino. Amphibious feints would be directed at St. Paul's Bay, Mellieha Bay, and north-west of Valletta near the old Victoria Lines, to draw British attention away from the real landing sites. The main assault convoy was scheduled to begin landing on Malta just before midnight on the first day, after the airborne forces had landed in the afternoon and secured the heights above the beaches.

The bulk of the first-wave assault troops would come from the Friuli Infantry Division (10,000 men) and Livorno Infantry Division (9,850) of the Italian XXX Corps. Also included were 1,200 men from the 1st Assault Battalion and Loreto Battalion (both drawn from the Regia Aeronautica) two battalions of San Marco Marines (2,000) three battalions of Blackshirts (1,900) and 300 Nuotatori (a commando unit of San Marco marines specially trained in ocean swimming and beach assault). Armoured support comprised nineteen Semovente 47/32 and eight Semovente 75/18 self-propelled guns plus thirty L3 tankettes (comparable in size and armament to the British Bren Gun Carrier).

The follow-up convoy would be mainly made up of troops from the Italian XVI Corps: the Assieta Infantry Division (9,000) and the Napoli Infantry Division (8,900) along with attached artillery assets (3,200).

It would also include the remainder of the 10th Armour Regiment (3,800). The Superga Infantry Division (9,200) plus a battalion of Blackshirts and a small detachment of San Marco Marines (1,000) were to be in position to land on the smaller island of Gozo in the early morning hours of the second day.

Additional armour intended for Herkules included 2.Kompanie/ Panzerabteilung z.b.V.66 (zur besonderen Verwendung [for special use]), a German unit partly equipped with captured Russian tanks. Ten assorted KV-1 [46 long tons (47t)] and KV-2 [53 long tons (54t)] heavy tanks were made available. At least ten Italian motozattere (landing craft) were modified with reinforced flooring and internal ramps to carry and off-load the Russian vehicles. Other tanks in the unit included captured Russian T-34 medium tanks, up-armored German light tanks (five VK 1601s and five VK 1801s) plus twelve Panzer IVGs armed with 75 mm guns. Twenty German Panzer III tanks were also offered for use in the invasion but it is not known what unit these were to be drawn from. Two days were allowed for the main amphibious assault and landing of the follow-up convoy, though this was dependent on quickly securing Marsaxlokk Bay to land heavier artillery pieces and a much higher tonnage of supplies.

Run... They got a board with a nail in it:  In 1942 the garrison of Malta consisted of 15 infantry battalions (11 Commonwealth, 4 Maltese) organised into four brigades totalling 26,000 men. Tank support was provided by the 1st Independent Troop of the Royal Tank Regiment, disembarked in November 1940, which was initially equipped with four Matilda II "Infantry Tanks", armed with 2-pounder (40 mm) guns, and two Vickers Mk.VIC light tanks, armed with two machine guns (all tanks as part of detachments from the 7th Royal Tank Regiment and the 3rd The King's Own Hussars). These were reinforced in January 1942 by an additional eight tanks (four Cruiser Mk I and three Cruiser Mk IV tanks, and one Vickers Mk.VIC light tank), with the cruiser tanks armed with 2-pounder (40 mm) guns (all additional tanks were as part of a detachment from the 6th Royal Tank Regiment).

Artillery support came from the 12th Field Regiment, Royal Artillery with twenty-four 25-pounder 3.45 in (88mm) field guns, capable of providing fire support out to a range of 6.8 mi (11km) and covering most of the island while remaining in protected static positions. Malta's fixed defenses included nineteen heavy coastal guns (varying in size from 12-inch to 16-inch - although these Victorian era weapons were all decommissioned), 130 smaller coastal guns (6-pounder to 9.2-inch), and 112 heavy and 144 light anti-aircraft guns.

The smaller coastal guns were composed of:

• 10 × BL 6 in (150 mm) Mk XXIV, on Mounting, 6 in (150 mm) Mk 5 or 6
• 7 × BL 9.2 in (230 mm) gun Mk X, on Mounting Mk 7
• QF 4.5 in (110 mm) gun Mk II, on Mounting Mk I
• 18 × QF 6 pounder 10 cwt gun (9 × 2) 
• 30 × Ordnance QF 18 pounder

Hitler pulls one of his  many blunders: A date near mid-July 1942 was set for the invasion, partly to allow time to bring troops from other front line positions. Field Marshal Erwin Rommel supported the Malta plan and asked Hitler for command of the invasion forces. His reasons for supporting an invasion were to hinder the Allied troops fighting in Africa, as well as to remove the threat to the convoys heading to Italian-German forces with supplies, oil and men, all of which they were desperately low on. He prioritized the attack to such an extent that he was willing to move units from his front for the attack.

The head of the Luftwaffe, Hermann Göring, opposed the invasion, fearing it would turn into another near-disaster for his paratroops, as had happened on Crete. Field Marshall Albert Kesselring tirelessly promoted Unternehmen Herkules but even he was eventually dissuaded when it became apparent that too many air and ground units had been siphoned off to support the Axis drive into Egypt, diminishing any chance of success. With Hitler lacking faith in the parachute divisions after the Invasion of Crete, and in the ability of the Italian Navy to protect the invasion fleet from British naval attacks, the plan was cancelled.

And here we are, with this "what if" game....

The game: "Rock and A Hard Place" is published by High Flying Dice Games, LLC, designed by Paul Rohrbaugh with graphics designer Bruce Yearian, and a dedication of the game to John Burtt. This is the first time in all of my years of playing, that I have ever seen a dedication of a game to anyone. He truly must be very special.

EEK! It's SMALL!!   Don't be fooled by it's size, though only 4"x6" in size, this game is large in stature. It packs as much thinking and fun as anything coming from any large gaming publisher. Simple in concept and play, but requiring solid thinking for play. There's no slacking with this game.

On the front side is the game map and 17 counters, consisting of the German units with five German combat counters, one German leader counter, three glider/ruin counters and one Naval/Air support counter. The British counter set consists of seven British combat counters, and one leader. There is also one game turn counter. Additionally, Paul has included variant rules with two more counters for play - one is the San Marcos Marines Commando unit and the other is a Royal Navy unit.

On the backside is located the rules and of course the back side of the counters showing a reduced state (yes, step-reduction!), how to deploy units box, and a terrain key.

Any extras for the Game?

Heck yeah.  There are variant counters with an instruction sheet and a card set for the game. The card set is available for $*. Is it worth it? I believe it is.  I have it and find that I don't have to keep re-arranging my one poor old standard deck of cards all the time. Bad photo, but you get the idea.

The book on the side is called "Fortress Malta, An Island Under Siege 1940-1943" written by James Holland. It is a very interesting book on Malta and well worth the price.

Addenda Sheet:  And there is also an addenda sheet for the game. Mistakes happen, but it is terrible when a software program creates them. In this case Adobe. Here it is: (note this is incorporated in my review below.)

Rock and Hard Place

Addenda May 2018

Glider Landing (corrections):

1. A CD of < (less than or equal to) 4 results in the units on the glider being unaffected (the underline beneath the less than sign did not print).
2. A CD of > 5 through 10 (not 9) results in one on the glider being reduced.

Setup? What de fudge???  I asked the question of who sets up first, I was told it doesn't matter. However, think about it. The British would probably not be on full alert when the gliders came in. The enemy bombers over head daily would lull the garrisons into a false peace of safety while keeping their heads down. After the bombing, the "all clear" would be signal. Troops would go off to do what needed to be done, eat, sleep, etc. Since the flight of a glider is silent, it wouldn't be until the first groups of gliders coming in that someone would stop being surprised, that a full alert horn would go off, and poop would hit the fan. 

 

Intelligence would play a huge role here. General Student has said that the Germans and Italians had every square inch of Malta mapped out including walls, trees, phone poles, obstacles of all sizes and every unit in every position. Since this was probably the case (one thing the Germans did not do was skipped on was photo intelligence.  Hitler may not have had any intelligence (heh-heh, but his Generals and Admirals did.). It makes sense for the Brits to set up first and then the German picking out the gliders landing spots.

In my games, I do play with the British setting up first. But how you do it is up to you.

British units setup in any building hex. British garrison units deploy 1 unit in each objective hex (Battery 1 and 2 and the searchlight hexes). And the leader unit may deploy (stack) with any British unit at start. British regualr units are 3-3. British Garrison units are 2-2.

German units deploy two units per glider and the German picks his landing spots. Proceed to Game Play #1 "Glider Landing" to see if the gliders survive or not.

Game Play:   How it all comes together:
1) Glider Landing:  After placing 1 glider per landing hex, the German player draws a card for each glider for it's landing:

2) Ground Units:  Ground units can either move 1 hex or attack (not both). Two units of the same side may stack (a leader unit counts as 1 for stacking). Two opposing units may never stack. There are no Zones of Control. Wall - Combat and movement prohibited  unless at a Main gate hex-side. And combat is voluntary.

3) Combat:   Units have 2 combat factors, the 1st is the "Assault Factor (AF)" and the 2nd number is the "Fire Factor (FF)". All Combat (non leader) units have a range of 2 hexes. Units may fire into, but not through bldgs and wall. Naval and Air support can fire upon any British unit anywhere as they have no range limit. The German Hvy Wpn (Heavy Weapons) unit can do combined assault attack if stacked with another unit and performing assault (AF) instead of attacking on it's own. -2 is the modifier or -1 if reduced to the combined assault attack.

Instead of writing out the rules, I am listing their headings. Get the game, and you can have the rules and play the game :D .

4) How to resolved combat or movement via the card draw:
5) Air and Naval Support Units:
6) Objective Hexes:
7) Game Scale:
8) It all comes down to points for Victory or Ok, who wins the game?
9) Card Draw modifiers

10) The Bun's rating system:
Please note "fun level" as been re-named "enjoyment level" and a new "historical level" has been introduced.

1. Complexity of the game = LOW with moderate overtones.
2. Solitaire = HIGH (very little work is needed) 
3. Enjoyment Level = VERY HIGH
4. Nail biting = 8 fingers worth, starting on the 9th but it was saved. 
5. Historical Level - The game is only a small part of  Unternehmen Herkules, but an important part as this Fort overlooked the harbor and needed to be taken for the troops to land by ship. This game has the correct gliders and a correct OOB of both the landing German glider troops and British troops.
6. Length of typical full game = 1/2 hour (30 minutes) to 1+ hours.
7. Out of the dozen or so games, it is pretty much even. The German starts out strong, but "lady luck" has a way of wiping out the gliders. Then the CDs. They can hurt when one only gets odd numbered cards.

I do hope you enjoy this game.  For something so small, it is fun!  

 

Thanks for reading...
-ab out

Also I need to add, this blog is considered to be a living blog. Changes will be made to it as needed to clarify, correct errors or update with new information.   And I apologize, but this review may contain references to graphics that are no longer on this blog. Long story, but it was Google who removed them.

Unternehmen Zerberus 1942

Ah yes, another pocket game! This time it is the naval operation of die Kriegsmarine "Unternehmen Zerberus" (Operation Cerberus). This operation involved the German Scharnhorst class Battleships (Scharnhorst and Gneisenau) (actually, battle cruisers), the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen, and escorts.

How and why did it come about: In late 1941, Adolf Hitler ordered the Oberkommando der Marine (OKM German Navy high-command), to plan an operation to return these 3 ships to German bases, to counter a possible British invasion of Norway. A meeting was held in Paris on 1 January 1942, for the final planning of the operation. The short route up the English Channel was preferred to a detour around the British Isles, to benefit from surprise and from air cover by the Luftwaffe and on 12 January 1942, Hitler gave orders for the operation to be conducted.

Use the force Winston, use the force:  The British had and used many tools to learn about this operation. With the use of the Engima machine they were able to decrypt secret German radio messages, with the use of the RAF Photographic Reconnaissance Unit (PRU) to fly reconnaissance, and with the use of agents in France run by the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) to keep watch on these ships and report any damage caused by British bombers.

Operation Fuller, a joint Royal Navy and RAF contingency plan, was devised to counter a possible sortie by the German ships against Atlantic convoys, a return to German ports by circumnavigating the British Isles or a dash up the English Channel. The concentration of British ships in southern waters was inhibited by a need to keep ships at Scapa Flow in Scotland, in case of a sortie by the German battleship Tirpitz from Norway. The RAF had been required to detach squadrons from Bomber and Coastal commands for overseas service and also kept torpedo-bombers in Scotland, again, to be ready for Tirpitz. This did constrained their ability to assemble large numbers of aircraft against a dash up the Channel, as did the winter weather which reduced visibility and unpredictably shut-down airfields with snow.

One ship, two ship, three ship, hot damn:  On 11 February 1942, the Kriegsmarine ships left the port of Brest, France at 021:14 hrs and escaped detection for more than twelve hours, approaching the Strait of Dover without discovery. The Luftwaffe conducted Unternehmen Donnerkeil (Operation Thunderbolt) to provide air cover and as the ships neared Dover, the British belatedly began operations against the German ships. The RAF, the Fleet Air Arm, Navy and coastal artillery operations were costly failures.  

So, why were the British surprised?:  By 13 February, the ships had reached German ports, Winston Churchill ordered an inquiry into the debacle and "The Times" denounced the British fiasco. Some of the blame for this debacle can be blamed on several items - such as the ships leaving the French port on a moonless night, and the time of year and winter weather which all lead to reduced visibility. The RAF also had to contend  with  winter weather which did shut-down airfields.

Aftermath:  As the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau enter the North Sea, both hit mines and were damaged with the Scharnhorst being put out of action for a year. On 23 February, the Prinz Eugen was torpedoed off Norway, repaired, and spent the rest of the war in the Baltic. Gneisenau went into a dry dock and was bombed on the night of Feb 26/27, 1942 never to sail again, and the Scharnhorst was sunk at the Battle of the North Cape on Dec 26, 1943.

The Kriegsmarine judged the operation to have been a tactical success and a strategic failure, by exchanging a real threat to Atlantic convoys by German surface ships for a hypothetical threat to Norway.

Also this "Channel Dash" marks the 2nd (and hopefully the last) time in English history that an enemy naval force successfully navigated the English Channel (the first was in 1588 the Spanish Armada.).

The Game:   Operation Cerberus: The Channel Dash is pocket game #12, ©LPS, Inc 2011-2018. Designed by Paul Rohrbaugh with graphics by Dave Friedrichs.

 

The game is comprised of the game map, the rules and counters. Before cutting out the counters, take the game to a print shop and have the 4x6 game blown up to 11"x17", both sides. This will give you a decent size game map, easier reading rules, and 9/8" size counters, keeping the original 4x6 pocket game if ever needed for counters, rules or a new game board. (yes, as long as you have the game, you can do this.). 4"x6" needs to be blown up 251% to have the map fit 11"x17" and give you counters a little larger than 1" (makes it easier to hold and move).

Parts of the Game:  The game map is comprised of various charts and 9 movement areas (a German beginning square (Port of Brest), German ending square ( Wilhelmshaven and Brunsbüttel home ports), 7 movement areas (sea areas) and 1 British naval deployment circle that can attack sea areas #5, #6, and #7. Movement sea areas #1, #4, #6 and #7 are mined, representing the areas the British had air-dropped mines.

Both the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau hit these mines as they enter the North Sea.

There are seventeen counters comprising of three German ships and one counter representing various escorts, six various British aircraft, three British naval ships, one Vosper MTB, and three various markers. All counters have a flip side showing damage for the ships and aircraft. Players will also need one six sided die.

Setup:  For counters setup in the beginning of the game, you will need to use the British Alert Level (BAL) marker in space 1 of the BAL Track, the British Vosper MTB unit is placed in any area, the four German ships in the "starter box" (Port of Brest), and the Luftwaffe Air Cover (LAC) marker is placed on level 2 "effective" box.

Game Play:  Game play consists of seven steps that are repeated until the three capital German ships exit area #7 and enters the "end" box (German home ports) or sunk.  The steps are:

1. Step 1, BAL Determination (British). 
2. Step 2, LAC Determination (German). 
   
3. Step 3, RAF Air Strength Determination (British). 
4. Step 4, Royal Navy Intervention (British).
5. Step 5, Ship Movement (German 1st, British 2nd) and Mine Attacks (German only).  
6. Step 6, Air Attacks (German 1st, British 2nd).
7. Step 7, Surface Naval Combat (simultaneous fire)

Once all 7 steps are finished, another game turn begins.

Victory Conditions: 
Decisive Victory:
1) German wins by exiting all three Capital ships into the German ending square (home port).
2) British wins by sinking all three German Capital ships.

Marginal Victory
1) German wins by exiting two Capital ships into the home port.
2) British wins by sinking two German Capital ships.

Three items  need to be mention - 

1. Undamaged German ships can move up to 2 sea areas, but be warned - if a German ship encounters a mined sea area, then a die is rolled for the mine field attack and +1 is added to the mine field attack. If a ship hits a mine, then it has to stop in the mine area and is crippled (flipped over). Cripple ships can only move 1 sea area after that. 
2. If the German ships were moving together and move 2 sea areas, after the roll for the mine field attack,  if any German ship was cripple, the German player can stop all ships in that sea area (i.e. they do not have to move 2 spaces). 
3. Naval combat happens simultaneous. All ships have to announce their target before any combat is resolved.  Even if a ship is crippled or sunk, it still can fire at what it's CF was before it was hit. There is 1 round of combat per turn.

Time for the ratings:

1. Complexity of the game =  LOW.
2. Solitaire = HIGH (very little work is needed)
3. Enjoyment Level = VERY HIGH (the only thing missing is a pint of bitters and fish & chips! )
4. Nail biting = 9 fingers worth, starting on the 10th but it was saved. 
5. Historical Level =  High. The German ships are correct as is the British. :)
6. Length of typical full game = 15 mins to 1/2 hour.
7. This does make for very interesting play.  So, far out of 15 games, the Germans won 11 and the Brits 4.


8. Out of the 11 German wins, 7 were marginal and 4 Decisive.  Just the luck of the draw, as it always is, in game and real life.
   

Note: There was some kind of update in ATO #37, giving variant rules and die cut counters. Click here to download this variant.

Errata:
#12 Operation Cerberus (pocket game)

6. Air Attacks - clarification:
Note that use of the Bomber Ju-88 side of the marker always increases the current LAC by +1, even if it is already at 3. After resolving an air attack on British naval unit(s) flip the Bomber Ju-88 marker back over to its normal front side (the one that reads Luftwaffe Air Cover).

6. Air Attacks - discrepancy:
There is a difference between the postcard rules and the deluxe game rules with regards to re-solving Air Attacks as follows: The postcard rule states that hits are achieved with a DR < to the attacking unit’s CF and is correct.  The deluxe rules state it must simply be < the attacking unit’s CF, and that is incorrect. (correct is "less than or equal to").  Mea culpa, I had it wrong since this review has been up. 

Thanks for reading!
-ab out

 

Also I need to add, this blog is considered to be a living blog. Changes will be made to it as needed to clarify, correct errors or update with new information.  And I apologize, but this review may contain references to graphics that are no longer on this blog. Long story, but it was Google who removed them.

Dueling Eagles: Aerial Combat over Malta

The Game:  "Dueling Eagles" is an exciting pocket game from High Flying Dice, LLC, that covers the first couple of air raids by the Italians over Malta. With it being part of the "Eagles" series of aerial combat, it does share a lot of commonality with all the other Eagles' games.

"Dueling Eagles" is designed by Paul Rohrbaugh, with graphics design by Nils Johansson. It took me about three mins to find a map of Malta and I was able to find the area that Nils used for the game map - the "Grand Harbor" but more specific "French Creek". Right down to the forked ship dry docks. (that's a plume of black smoke, btw.)

It is an introductory level game, with one page of rules and an equal small amount of counters with three aircraft each for the Italians and the British, three AAA markers, a game turn marker, altitude markers, and a target marker, for a total of 18 double-sided counters. It is played on a very beautiful 8x8 grid game map of Malta's Grand Harbor area. Of course one needs to supply a deck of cards (or order the card set made just for this) and a 1D6.

One can order this card set for $*, but I would strongly urge you to buy the card set when you buy another game or buy four games and can get this game card set for free.

I seem to be always pushing these card sets and here is the reason why - besides having the action points correct where one does not have to do the math, they do have nice art on them, and things like (for example) Italian can attack any AAA. Basically, they replace the math and having to remember red or black face card rules, etc. The cards make life a little easier. Reminds me of a jingle that a certain fast food restaurant who shall remain nameless stole from me, so many years ago (bun wishes!). If I remember the words right when I wrote it so long ago - "Take life a little easier with High Flying Dice Game card sets".

Now, I hope you are wanting to get this game, but how? It's a pocket game and the majority of them are free and given away when one buys a game from either LPS, Inc or HFDG. Aye, there's the rub.... 

Game Setup: Setup is a breeze, as is all pocket games. With only 18 counters to worry about, it takes a mere 90 seconds to set up, as compared to the hours to figure out what to play, lol.

1. Grab your coffee or high octane soft drink, a deck of cards (or the Dueling Eagles Card set), a 1D6, and the game. Pizza or chips is optional. Don't forget to sleeve the cards!
   
2. Shuffle the card deck with one joker. 
3. British player picks the three sides that are friendly. 
4. British player places two AAA in corners of these sides and places one AAA in one of the center four squares.
5. British player places the "target marker" in one of the center four squares, but not the same square as the AAA marker.
6. Italian player places his three aircraft on his side board edge in any square, at any level.
7. Lastly, the British player places one non-ace Gloster Gladiator and the Fulmar aircraft in any square on the British side board edge, at low, medium, or high level, opposite of the Italian Players aircraft.
8. The Ace Gladiator enters at any friendly map edge at the start of turn 3.
9. Italian player gets the first card draw (CD). If a joker is drawn, dis-card and ignore it.

Actions:  Since a deck of cards is used for both movement and combat, one deals (sorry for the pun) with Red face cards, Black face cards, Red suits, Black suits, action points, math, and other stuff.  All cards are used except do remove 1 Joker out of the deck. Of course, the purchase of the genuine HFDG card set for this game (oh brother, here he goes again!) takes care of having to remember all this.  Also, don't forget to download the Action Point player's aid available for download, as some of this information is on there, too, just not as pretty. But in the mean time, here we go for:

Movement:  The Italian player uses the black suit and the British player uses the red suit of cards.

1. No player's aircraft can spend more AP's than it's attack factor.
2. The Italian player has first card draw (CD):
3. Any aircraft that exits the map are out of the game.

Air Combat:  Combat is voluntary.

1. If attacking, an aircraft must:
1. Move at least 1 square or change level before attacking.
2. Aircraft can only expend 1 AP per CD to make 1 attack.
3. Aircraft have a weapons range of 2 squares. 
4. No combat is allowed if the aircraft being attack is in the same square.
5. Attacker must designate the defending aircraft and the attacking aircraft.
2. To resolve combat, see the rules.
3. For AAA, consult the AA rules in the game under "AAA".
4. Same for Bombing. I don't want to print all the rules here.  :)
   

Game Length:  The game lasts for four turns

1. 4 turns (or card deck shuffles) OR
2. ends early when no opposing aircraft are on the map OR
3. for the British player all AAA is suppressed.
4. The game turn ends immediately when a joker is drawn for movement or combat 
5. or all cards have been drawn.

 Winning:  After four turns have been played the game ends.

1. the Italian player wins.
1.  If the Br.20m bomber successfully bombs the target or
2. the Italian player has destroyed any of the British aircraft without losing any Italian aircraft.
2. British Player wins  if the target marker is still on the map or if the British player destroys more than 1 Italian aircraft.
3. Otherwise the game is a tie.

Addendum:  Amazingly, this game is free of any type of errata.

I have found though that when the rules in the pocket games don't state something, it is pretty much safe not to worry about it and just play the game. 

There might be some ambiguity (pretty sure 99.99% of not having any ambiguity at all) in one or two rules, but they are usually answered somewhere in the rules. And of course, any disagreements can be worked out with both players either just agreeing, or drawing cards (highest wins of course) or a friendly roll of the die, before play begins or a friendly duel with either swords, pistols or fisticuffs... hmm, best to stick to the rolling of the die.

I need to add, that Mr Colin Parker graciously allow the use of his painting "Faith, Hope and Charity" on my review. It is one of the few paintings that draw me in so close, it is like I am on an Italian bomber seeing these Gladiator aircraft flying at me. It is awe inspiring.

 

A bit of history, mate...  Malta is 17 miles long by 9 miles wide comprising of several islands. At the time of June 1940 Malta had a population of around 250,000 with all, but 3% to 4% of the population being native Maltese. Of these, most of the inhabitants lived within 4 miles of the Grand Harbor, where the population density was more than six times that of the island average. Among the most congested spots was Valletta, the capital, and also the political, military and commercial center, with about 23,000 people that lived in an area of around 1/4th of a square mile. Across the Grand Harbor, in the Three Cities, where the dockyards and the Admiralty headquarters were located, another 28,000 people were packed into 1/2 square mile. It was these small areas that suffered the heaviest, most sustained, and concentrated aerial bombing in history.

 

Malta’s strategic location made it a key stronghold in the Mediterranean theater from which the Allies could wage their North African campaign and from which they could launch their eventual attack on Italy. On June 10th, 1940 (the day after Mussolini declared war on Great Britain) Italian bombers attacked Valletta and its harbors. The Regia Aeronautica began the aerial bombardment of the island from airbases in Sicily. On the first day, 55 Italian bombers and 21 fighters flew over Malta and dropped 142 bombs on the three airfields at Luqa, Hal Far and Ta Qali. Later, 10 Italian Savoia-Marchetti SM.79s and 20 Macchi C.200s flew over the island, with no air opposition.

A total of eight raids were flown on that first day. The bombing did not cause much damage and most of the casualties suffered were civilian. No interception of the raiders was made because there was no RAF force ready to meet them. There were several airfields, the problem was lack of aircraft. RAF Hal Far, RAF Luga and RAF Ta'Qali were operational, with only RAF Luga having Tarmac runways. The others were grass or sod/hard packed dirt and affected by the weather.  Besides having airfields, there were several seaplane bases, of no use to the defense of Malta.

Even without adequate aircraft, at least one RAF Gladiator flew against a raid of 55 Savoia-Marchetti SM. 79s and their 20 escorting fighters on 11 June. It surprised the Italians, but the defenses (AAA), almost non-existent on the ground and in the air, failed to impede the Italian force. On 12 June an Italian aircraft on a reconnaissance flight over Malta was shot down.

At the time of these first air raids, the defending fighters on Malta consisted of obsolete Gloster Sea Gladiators, in the Hal Far Fighter Flight. Ten Gladiators in crates for transit were assembled and no more than three aircraft flew at one time. These were called 'Faith', 'Hope' and 'Charity'. The pilots for these aircraft came from flying-boats and other aircraft with no experience of fighter operations. One Gladiator was shot down but the rest managed to shoot down several Italian aircraft.

Most of the things I am not touching on is how the island almost fell, or how the people were starving and the brilliant timing of a naval convoy that was torn to pieces by wolf packs made it with enough food and supplies for the population.

Here are a few books you might find interesting:
Fortress Malta: An Island Under Siege, 1940 - 43* (Hardcover) by James Holland
ISBN-10: 1401351867 ISBN-13: 978-1401351861

Siege: Malta, 1940-1943 (Hardcover) by Ernle Dusgate Selby Bradford
ISBN-10: 0688047815 ISBN-13: 978-0688047818

Malta During World War II - The strategic role of the island during the conflict.  by Charles Debono (paperback and this is the curator of the Malta Museum. If anyone knows the history, it is this man) ISBN: 978-99957-67-39-6

*note - book in my library

Time for the ratings:
Complexity of the game =  LOW with med moderate overtones.
Solitaire = HIGH (very little work is needed)
Fun Level = VERY HIGH (the only thing missing is Prosciutto San Daniele!)
Nail biting = 8 fingers worth, starting on the 9th but it was saved.
Length of typical full game = 1/2 hour (30 minutes) to 1+ hours.

Out of the 5 games I have played 1 Italiano win, 2 Brit wins, and 2 draws. Both sides won and lost, It is pretty even, just the luck of the draw, as it always is, in game and real life.

Adapting the Game to miniatures:
With the game map having squares, it would be very easy to adapt this game to miniatures. 

Thanks for reading!

-ab out 

 

A riddle for the mind...

What was tougher than any US Special Ops, deadly in or out of water, likes flowers, so bad-ass that other countries had to have the same type of unit and they loved blowing up stuff?

Go on, think about this.

Give up?

Why, it was one of the deadliest WWII commando groups ever assembled and trained, the Italian commando underwater unit called "Decima Flottiglia Mezzi d'Assalto", aka La Decima or Xª MAS (i.e. 10th Flotilla).  Essentially, it was comprised of four different parts during its fight against the British Royal Navy and Allied shipping with these being the Gamma Frogmen, manned torpedo craft, midget submarines, and assault motorboat craft. 

Mamma Mia, Con tutto questo, è tempo di mettersi in gioco!

Up for review are two solitaire WW2 Naval games about the "Decima Flottiglia Mezzi d'Assalto", aka La Decima or Xª MAS (i.e. 10th Flotilla). Though simple, both games comes thru with more fun than 90% of most Naval games ever made. And yes, I have a lot of them, and they are generally a rules lawyers dream. Not so with these two games.

"Depths of Courage: The Attacks on Algeciras Harbor July-Dec 291942" and it's companion "Depths of Courage: The Attack of Gibraltar Harbor Sept 1942" both by High Flying Dice, LLC. Both designed by Paul Rohrbaugh and with graphics by Dariusz Buraczewski 2018.

Both rule sets have 6 pages with 1 and 1/2 pages of actual rules, 1/2 page of scenario variants and 2 pages showing a sample of the game map and a page on how to read the counters.

1.0 Introduction (to both games):  One would think that trying to game an elite group of frogmen would be hard to do. But for High Flying Dice Games, LLC, it seems like it was as simple as baking a cake.

Decima Flottiglia Mezzi d'Assalto has been brought to life finally, within these two games, and "Depths of Courage: The Attacks on Algeciras Harbor July-Dec 29 1942" (DOC:TAOAH) and "Depths of Courage: The Attack of Gibraltar Harbor Sept 1942" (DOC:TAOGH).

Before anything is said, both of these games are only concern with the Xª MAS attacks in the Bay of Algeciras using the 2-man human torpedo (S.L.C.). And there are at least another 4 or 6 (I lost track) planned for the "Depths of Courage" series of solo games. I do know one will concern the Brits, specifically Lt Cmdr Crabbe (UK) and his Chariots.

The game Depths of Courage: The Attacks on Algeciras Harbor Dec 29 1942 - July 1943" covers the attack by Xª MAS in December 29th, 1942 and the attack in May-July 1943.

While the game "Depths of Courage: The Attacks on Gibraltar Harbor Sept 1941 covers the attack by Xª MAS in Sept 1941. And for the most part both games share the same rules and play. It is in a small section of the scenario rules where the games differ. Pretty easy to play.

For those who may have forgotten or don't know where these two harbors are located, the harbors are actually across from each other - one is in British territory and the other is in Neutral Spain in the Bay of Algeciras.   (see graphic to the left).

Battle Campaigns of the Mediterranean: 

The Battle of the Mediterranean was the name given to the naval campaigns fought in the Mediterranean Sea between June 10, 1940 to May 2, 1945. Outside of the Pacific theater, the war for the Med was the largest conventional naval  actions during WW2. This was due mostly with the Allied forces struggle to supply and retain the key naval and air base of Malta.

By the time of the Sept 1943 armistice between Italy and the Allies, the Allies sunk aprx 83 Regia Marina (Italian Navy) warships for 195,100 tons and 83 submarines. Kriegsmarine(German Navy) losses in the Med from the start of the campaign to the end were 68 submarines. The Regia Marina and Regia Aeronautica Italiana (Italian Air Force) had sunk aprx 145,800 tons of Allied surface warships, with an additional 169,700 tons sunk by the Kriegsmarine. A total of 315,500 tons with the Allies losing 76 warships and 46 submarines.  Out of this,  "Xª MAS was responsible for sinking 86,000 tons of Allied warships and 131,527 tons of merchant shipping. Not bad for a very small, well discipline group of men.

One of the fallacies during and after WW2 has been the belief of the ability of the Italian Armed Forces. Most, wrongly accuse the Italians of  being terrible fighting men, lazy, and incompetent. This fallacy was perpetuated not only by the Germans, but also by the English and the US (even today so called "Special Ops" web sites still call them incompetent and give erroneous information on anything Italian related including the Xª MAS.).

However, Italian ships were very well design, as well as their subs and their aircraft. The individual infantry weapons, clothing, and tools were good. The average fighting man was just as brave and when well lead, gave a good account of themselves as would any other nation's soldiers would do.

And when battles were lost, the Italians learned, just like the US did (can you remember Kasserine Pass, anyone?) unlike the Germans, who failed to learn time and time again about the Russians.  Where the Italians did fall short is their food rations in requiring more water than any other country to cook and where did they fight? Yuppers, Nord Afrika.  

This unit was better than anything the Allies fielded.   Xª MAS was so good, that every country, once they found out about Xª MAS, had to have a unit like it. Even Germany put together combat frogmen after Hitler found out about these guys. The US put together the UDT frogmen that was used to great effectiveness in the Pacific and on D-Day. (and we all know what became of the UDT force - what?!? Skippy, you don't know? Why Skippy, they became the Navy SEALS.).

Xª MAS excelled at sinking ships in the Med. Whether they used the 2-man human torpedo, or the fast assault boats, or was one of the 50 Gamma frogmen with Limpet mines, they simply excelled.  BTW, S.L.C stands for Siluro a Lenta Corsa (Slow-running torpedo). The operators nicknamed it "Maiale" (Pig).

One of the strangest chapters in the units history is when the Italian Armistice was signed in Sept '43, part of the Xª MAS served with the Allies and part of them went north to the puppet state setup by the Germans and served with the SS in Northern Italy. These troops  became even more bad ass as they were used for hunting partisans, Yugo guerrillas  and dealing with them. I won't go into detail about them or the other half that stayed behind to support the Allies. Somethings, one has to look up and read for them-self and this is one of those times. Be aware, that both sides of this unit continued to sink ships, after Sept 1943, although no tracking records were kept of the tonnage destroyed. 

Suggested reading for more info: 
1. Italian Navy & Air force Elite Units & Special Forces 1940-45. By: P. Crociani & P.P. Battistelli, Illustrated by M. Stacey (Osprey Publishing, 2013)
2. The Black Prince and the Sea Devils: The Story of Valerio Borghese and the Elite Units of the Decima Mas. (Da Capo Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 2004)
3. The Royal Navy and the Mediterranean Volume II, November 1940-December 1941. Edited by David Brown, (2002).
4. Frogmen First Battles. By: William Schofield and P. J. Carisella
5. (Branden Publishing Company, Boston, 1987).
6. Sea Devils-Suicide Squad By J. Valerio Borghese, by Translated James Cleugh.

Game Maps: The graphics for both are truly a work of art.  Don't get me wrong, High Flying Dice Games has some of the best graphic designers out there, with each bringing his or her own unique talent to the company. But this person has that extra "humph", that naval games need. 

 

How many times does all one see is the same shade of  "blue", for water. BORING. And if you look closely at both game maps, you will see that the water changes shades. I noticed it right off.

I have never heard of this graphic designer before, but I did let Paul know how much I enjoyed seeing his work and to keep this person around and use them more often, especially on the next 3 or 4  or 5 Depths of Courage series games coming out.  I hope he does stick around, as I would like to see more of his game designer graphics in other games. Besides, Dariusz has the right stuff,  that I am calling this the "Dariusz- touch". Very nice work. 

Counters:

The same can be said for the counters too. I love the coloring of them! I can see the whole counter.

Again, soft colors, no direct red or green (except up in the left corner) but pale versions of those two colors.  The info counters and Xª MAS counters are readable, a little bit bigger than 1/2" (more like 5/8, I'm thinking).

Here are the front of the counters for the games. The difference in counters is the three capital ships in each game. The game has 11 counters representing Cargo ships (5) and Patrol Boats (6). The Italian counters are the S.L.C.'s (4). And of course the four various counters for keeping track of things. for a total of 22 front/back counters.

And as with all games that High Flying Dice Games sell, there is a card set available for $* to replace the standard card deck that is used.  

Note: $* price has changed and I am not sure what it is...

2.0 What else is needed?  One six sided die (1D6) and a standard card deck is needed (unless you buy the special card set for this series.).

3.0 Errata, oops, I mean Addendum:*
*NOTE - High Flying Dice Games fixed all the errors in the game rules and the game maps. I know that set the company back a little bit, but it just goes to show you that HFDG is quality. A lot of the major companies better take notice! If any addendum comes up, I will list it.

4.0 Final Impressions: The game play was nerve racking. The first game took roughly 45 mins as it is different from the Eagles system I have been playing for while and had to learn it. But after a couple rough starts and getting the small addendum from Paul, I finally was able to get into the swing of things. And played 3 games before sleep overcame my body last night. It's not so much that the game is hard to win, it has to be to have any chance of being a good game, but it is one of those games that grabs ya by the hairs of the chin and makes one play one more to see if a greater victory can be won.

There are very few games like that these days, but I tell ya, this is one of them. (the other ones seem to be other pocket games, notably Rattenkrieg, Dueling Eagles and Showtime Hanoi.).

The big difference between this game and it's sister game is that the "Scire" (a sub) can be sunk. If it is sunk, it will make it hard for the Italian player to win. I will look at the game later this week and write something up about it. But as it stands now, these games are a worthy addition to anyone's gaming library. Inexpensive (not cheap, as that takes away from the quality of these two games), fun to play, and will be one you will go back too, and so will I.

5.0 Now for my favorite part - my ratings:
Complexity of the game = LOW to LOW-Middle (decisions, decisions, decisions)
Fun Level = HIGH (the only thing missing is the the salty sea spray!)
Nail biting = 9 fingers worth, lost almost all of those nails...
Length of typical full game = 30 mins to ??? (slow poke!)

Out of the 3 games I played while writing this review, the Xª MAS won 1 minor victory and had 2 losses. I didn't care, as I had fun playing and the tension was there. I would never compare a game to what the actual combatants went thru, but I am wondering if it equaled at least a 1/10000% of what they experience for a nano-second.

The bun says get it, play it, enjoy it!

Thanks for reading!
-ab out

 

Also I need to add, this blog is considered to be a living blog. Changes will be made to it as needed to clarify, correct errors or update with new information.  Added graphics back, though I forgot where I got them and revised the review a little bit.