1941 - Operation Marita-Merkur - Century of Warfare, TOAW III, and TOAW IV

Scenario Briefing: Marita - Merkur 1941 *********************** Brigade-Division level scenario simulating the German invasion of Greece and subsequent airborne invasion of Crete (Operations Marita – Merkur) starting on April 6th 1941. The scenario is best played against a human player (PBEM) but can be played against the computer. The scenario starts with an overwhelming Axis defeat. For the Axis player it is a race against time to occupy the objectives before the end of the scenario. The scenario will end in Axis victory if Force 1 (Axis) is winning by 375 points, i.e. if most objectives are occupied. For the Allied player it is mostly a delaying action while trying to save the British ground units from destruction. Refs: The OOB came from “Invasion Balkans!: The German Campaign in the Balkans, Spring 1941” and numerous on-line sources. Some of the TOEs came from Todd Klemme’s Balkans 41 scenario. Attempts to contact Todd proved fruitless. ======================= Significant events: The Greek 2nd Army will surrender if Thessaloniki is occupied The Greek 1st Army will surrender if Athens is occupied The Yugoslav Army will surrender if Skopje is occupied Axis gets limited sea transport if Alexandroupolis is occupied so they can attack and occupy the Aegean islands Axis gets air transport after Athens is occupied or at turn 20. Allies get limited sea transport at Turn 7, which is increased at Turn 14 and then again after Iraklion is occupied. Axis gets significant victory points if they destroy the British, Australian and New Zealand units (W-Force). Crete has an exclusion zone which is removed shortly after Thessaloniki is occupied to allow British units to redeploy there. Egypt (distant hex) has an exclusion zone which is removed after Volos is occupied. If the Allied player wishes he can save his ground units by transporting them to Egypt but that leaves Crete unguarded. Axis suffers a significant victory point loss at turn 33 to simulate the effects of delaying operation Barbarossa. Axis has a theater option to deploy XIV Panzer Korps from Belgrade to Greecet at a significant victory point loss. The scenario will end in Axis victory is Force 1 (Axis) is winning by 375 points. COLORS: Yugoslav Army: Red on Blue Greek 1st Army and Air Force: Blue on White Crete Irregulars: White on Blue Greek 2nd Army: Grey on White British, NZ and Australian: White/Red/Blue on Brown RAF: Black on Brown Royal Navy: Green on Brown German Army: Red on Black SS: Black on Black German Airborne: Blue on Black Luftwaffe: Blue on Black Bulgarian Army: Red on light Green Italian Army: Red on Green Italian Air Force: Blue on Green