"Attacking the Soft Underbelly: Invasion of Sicily/Italy, 1943"
Despite Stalin's objections that the Allies' "second front" should be in France, the US and Great Britain elected instead to attack what Winston Churchill dubbed "the soft underbelly" of Germany's empire. In May of 1943, the Royal Navy began shelling the German occupied Mediterranean island of Pantelleria, which sits halfway between Allied occupied Tunisia and the Axis controlled island of Sicily. Operation Corkscrew knocked the first stone out of the Axis dike. This tiny leak would eventually turn into a deluge that shattered the Axis when Italy, seeing the writing on the wall, suddenly deposed Benito Mussolini and signs an armistice with the allies in secret.
Set up: This loosely represents late July 1943, after the Allied landings on Sicily. Patton and Montgomery have steadily pushed the German and Italian forces back until, at last, the Axis perimeter has shrunk to a pocket along the eastern edge of the island, with Messina at its back. The Germans face their own Dunkirk, as they attempt to evacuate their forces across the narrow Straits of Messina. The Allies control all of Tunisia, along with the fleets controlled from the ports there, as well as Malta, the island of Linosa, and the western half of Sicily. The axis controls Pantelleria (not historical, but should prove interesting), all of Italy, and the eastern half of Sicily. Only the Allies will have CV's, but the Axis will have two cruiser fleets and a couple of troop convoys (8 x DE's with LVT's enabled). NOTE: Only cruiser fleets and convoys will have LVT's enabled, not the CV fleets. It should be noted that not all A/C available in this setup were actually used at this time or place in history, but are included for game balance.
Arena Settings:
Icons: Short
Fuelburnrate: 1.5
Radar: Bar-dar @ 50 mi., dot-dar @ 10 mi.
Downtime Mult: MA-standard
Victory Conditions: Evaluated 12 AM EST each day; arena reset if Allies are meeting both of their objectives at that time. If only one objective is met, it is considered a draw and the fight continues. If Allies are meeting none of these objectives, it is an Axis victory for that day, but the arena is not reset.
Allies (Bishop)
Objectives -
1) Capture Messina and completely occupy Sicily.
2) Establish foothold in Italy by capturing at least three airfields, one depot or v-field, and one port.
Aircraft/vehicle availability:
Allied forces -
From CV fleets: F6F, F4U-1, TBM, Sea Hurricane (Hurr-IIC)
From Cruiser fleets and Amphib Convoys: LVT(2)/LVT(4), PT
Tunisia and Linosa (A71): B-17, P-47D-11, P-38L
Malta: Spit-V, Hurr-IIC, B-26, C-47
Sicily and Italy (when captured) airfields: P-47D-11, P-38L, Typh, Mossie, B-26, C-47
All ports: PT
All bases: Pnzr-IV, M-8, M-3, M-16
Axis (Knights)
Objectives:
Prevent any or all of the Allied objectives, or capture Malta and Linosa
Axis forces -
Cruiser fleets and Amphib Convoys: LVT(2)/LVT(4), PT
All airfields: 109F, 109G-2, 109G-6, 190A-5, 190A-8, 190F-8, Ju87 (IL2), Ju88, c202, c205, C-47
All bases: Pnzr-IV, M-8, M-3, Ostwind
Special Rules:
1) The c202 and c205 are available to both sides at airfields on Italy proper.
2) There are no perked aircraft or vehicles, period!
Sabre
CT Team
