The Road to Kozani - The Matrix Games version of West Front

Ptolemais, 110km NW of Larisa, Greece: [Best played as Axis] By the middle of April 1941, the British dream of a strong front in the Balkans was beginning to dissolve into a fighting withdrawal as morale amongst the Allied formations continued to plummet. Meanwhile, the Germans continued to press forward as their victories and confidence grew. Following the clearing of Vevi Gap on the 12th, the commander of the XL Panzer Corps, General Strumme, ordered the armored elements of the 9th Panzer Division to pursue the withdrawing Allied forces to Kozani. When the 33rd Panzer Regiment arrived in Ptolemais on the 13th, however, it found the battered 1st Ranger Battalion and elements of the 27th NZ MG Battalion in defensive positions across Dubalti Pass, supported by the remaining cruiser tanks of Brigadier Charrington's 1st Armoured Brigade. Determined to break through to Kozani, the German commander was faced with the decision of trying to force the pass or finding a way to bypass the strong Allied positions to take the defenders from the rear. Thus began the first and last tank battle of the Greek Campaign.