Saw a great Crete game (Command Decision) at Cold Wars that was supporting the new Command Decision scenario book (available among other places at On Military Matters):
OMM Book Number: 202650
Strangeway, Jake
WHEN OLYMPUS TREMBLED: Command Decision
An overview history of Operations Marita, Merkur, and Herkules covering the invasions of Greece, Crete, and the proposed invasion of Malta. 10 historical battles for Command Decision presented as game battles – from the opening drive into Northern Greece to the air assault on Crete, to the fictional drive across Malta to the capital of Valletta.
TO&E charts for all Greek Divisions in the Greco-Italian War and Operation Marita including organizational and equipment changes. Corps and army level non-divisional units in the Greek Army: numbers, types and organizations including corps and army artillery, cavalry, engineer and AA units.
In 1941 the German Army launched the invasion of Greece and then later the airborne assault on Crete. The two operations were both planned and executed quickly, and with almost disastrous results. The fighting on Crete was vicious, and the casualties among the German forces so great that it caused the cancellation of the last of the above operations – the invasion of Malta.
Unlike the invasion of Crete, which was rushed and undertaken against numerically superior Allied forces, the invasion of Malta was very well planned, and would have been done with overwhelming numbers. It is indeed fortunate for the Allied war effort that the operation was canceled.
1 vol, 78 pgs 2013 US, TEST OF BATTLE GAMES
NEW-softcover, available late August 2013 ……$26.00 plus postage:
Speaking of On Military Matters, just saw a book on the 1940-41 Greek Campaigns (Italians, then Germans) coming to the store in two or three weeks at $34 USD (15% off cover price of $40 USD) plus postage:
OMM Book Number: 203010
Carr, John
THE DEFENCE AND FALL OF GREECE 1940-41
On 28 October 1940, the Greek premier, Ioannis Metaxis, refused to accept a deliberately provocative ultimatum from Mussolini and Italian forces began the invasion of Greece via Albania. This aggression was prompted by Mussolini's desire for a quick victory to rival Hitler's rapid conquest of France and the Low Countries. On paper, Greek forces were poorly equipped and ill prepared for the conflict but Mussolini had underestimated the skill and determination of the defenders. Within weeks the Italian invasion force was driven back over the border and Greek forces actually advanced deep into Albania.
A renewed Italian offensive in March 1941 was also given short shrift, prompting Hitler to intervene to save his ally. German forces invaded Greece via Bulgaria on 6 April. The Greeks, now assisted by British forces, resisted by land, sea and air but were overwhelmed by the superior German forces and their blitzkrieg tactics.
Despite a dogged rearguard action by Anzac forces at the famous pass of Thermopylae, Athens fell on the 27th April and the British evacuated 50,000 troops to Crete. This island, whose airfields and naval bases Churchill considered vital to the defense of Egypt and the Suez Canal, was invaded by German airborne troops the following month and eventually captured after a bitter thirteen-day battle. The remaining British troops were evacuated and the fall of Greece completed.
John Carr's masterful account of these desperate campaigns, while not disparaging the British and Commonwealth assistance, draws heavily on Greek sources to emphasize the oft-neglected experience of the Greeks themselves and their contribution to the fight against fascism. 1 vol, 272 pgs 2013 UK, PEN AND SWORD
NEW-softcover, available mid September 2013 ……$40.00 DISCOUNT: 15%
Russ
