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| 2013 Ren maneuvering his Greek infantry company against the German offensive. |
Years back, Battlefront produced a campaign system called Firestorm for running competitive operational campaigns around its company/battalion level tactical miniatures wargame, Flames of War 3rd edition. I've always enjoyed playing miniature wargames more in an operational context, I thought the campaign system was excellent.
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| Map Key |
I've always been fascinated by the less well known campaigns of World War II - Greece, North Africa, Norway. I prefer those obscure and early campaigns to the heavy metal Eastern Front contest like Bagration. So when they came out with the Firestorm Greece mini-campaign I snatched it up and started painting a Greek infantry company to play the campaign.
I managed to convince several members of the the SAG club to play in 2013 and so the Firestorm Greece:2013 campaign was born. Here are the maps and some photos from the campaign, as well as the basic breakdown of what happened as I wrote them in 2013, slightly edited for clarity.
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| Turn 1 Map |
Turn 1 Results: 6 to 11 April 1940
In the first turn of the Firestorm: Greece campaign, the Axis forces had a rough time of it. German armor (played by Allen) attacked from Yugoslavia into the region near Thessaloniki (B4) but an Aussie company (played by Ken) defeated them with great loss of tanks. Fallshirmjaegers (played by Jim) launched an assault against the Aliakmon River line (B3) defended by Greek and British troops (played by Chris) but after a close fight, the German airborne troops were defeated as well. Mussolini’s legions launched an assault in Albania (played by James) against the entrenched Greeks (played by Paul & Ren) in Tirana (B2). It was a long, hard fight, reminiscent of a the mountain fighting in the Great War, with an artillery duel preceding an infantry assault, but the Greeks held firm.
The only bright spot for the Axis powers came on the Metaxas Line, where German mountain troops supported by armor (played by Chuck) broke through Greeks and Brits fighting in tandem (played by Mike). Insufficient Greek and British anti-tank weapons were central to the Allied defeat.
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| Turn 2 Map |
Turn 2: 12 to 17 April 1940
In the second turn the Axis forces did a bit better, keeping their hopes of a successful campaign alive. They launched strong attacks from Yugoslavia against the Aliakmon River line in the Greek mountains (B3 on the map) and from the conquered Metaxas line into Thessalonika.
In region B3, Greek infantry strongly supported by artillery and reinforced with British infantry (played by Ren) managed to hold off an attack by a German infantry company supported by panzers (played by Paul). However, a Panzerschützenkompanie strongly reinforced with panzers and SS-Kradschützen (played by Allen) defeated an Aussie rifle company (played by Ken) and managed to turn the allied flank. It was a tough fight but the Allies were forced to abandon the Aliakmon River defense line (B3).
Near Thessalonika (B4), the German Gebirgsjaegers (played by Chuck) were frustrated in their advance by a Greek rifle company (played by Wayne). But advances by an SS-Infantriekompanie supported by panzers (played by Matt) managed to force the Allies from the region regardless.
The Allied forces ended the turn with 80 victory points, versus 40 for the Axis. The Allies had a solid tactical victory at the moment, winning by 40 points. Historically, the Axis won the campaign by 100 points.
Nonetheless, Turn 3 looked grim for the Allied forces. The Germans and Italians have more reinforcing troops pouring through Yugoslavia and Albania, and the meager air coverage of RAF Hurricanes has been driven from their airfields in Southern Greece, or destroyed. And so the Luftwaffe flies unopposed over Greece now. The Axis forces have the time to turn the campaign around in the final two turns.
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| Chris and Matt look over a Greek battlefield. |
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| Allen observes his German motorcycle riders overwhelming Ken's Australians. |
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| Turn 3 Map |
Turn 3: 18 to 24 April 1940
In the third turn the German forces finally broke through and rampaged down the Aegean coast of Greece. Launching strong armored thrusts past Mount Olympus through Larisa and Volos (C4), the Panzers and SS infantry (Matt) defeated defending Australians (Ken) and destroyed the last of the British armor. The Kiwis (John) and Greeks did little better against Gebirgsjaegers supported by Panzers (Chuck) and the Hun’s forces blitzed through Thermopylae and the Marathon Plain. The surviving British and Greek defenders were forced away from the coast, into the hills near Kalabaka (C3).
Meanwhile the Fallshirmjaegers (Allen) executed a daring parachute assault on Attica (F2). The Greek defenders inflicted heavy casualties in the opening moments of the assault, decimating the Fallshimrjaeger, but the foolish Greek commanders (Paul & Ren) became over confident and ordered rash assaults on the paratroopers. The paratroopers in turn slaughtered the Greek infantry while their supporting Stukas plastered the Greek artillery. The Greeks committed their meager mechanized forces but the Fallshirmjaegers managed to hold out until their second wave swept through Attica and seized Athens.
The only bright side for the Allies was in the continual bloodbath of Albania, where the Italians launched another bloody infantry assault along the coast and the defending Greek infantry and artillery held without giving up any ground..
The Germans are now on track to win as completely as they did historically, possibly even exceeding the historical outcome if they can prevent the escape of the British forces. Their major handicap is with no Firestorm troops in Athens, they cannot launch an assault through Corinthia directly into the Peloponnesus. The only option is another airborne assault, but that limits their options in central Greece to seize Ioannina (C1) or to cut off the British retreat by taking Mount Atlas (D1).
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| Greek artillery on a hilltop position around a church. |
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| Germans prepare to assault the artillery position. |
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| Turn 4 Map |
Turn 4: 25 to 30 April 1940
In the end, the campaign mirrored the historical events. The Germans swept into the Peloponnesus, defeating the combined British and Greek defenders. British forces remaining in Greece were cut off and forced to surrender. The Italians failed to make any headway against the Greek defenses in Albania, but the German blitz made this irrelevant. The omnipresent Stukas easily neutralized the Greek and British artillery, and skilled, motivated German troops out-maneuvered defenders as they probed for weak points in the defenses.
I was hoping for an outcome that was less on point with historical events, perhaps an Italian blitzkrieg or a rousing Greek/Brit defense that shattered the Germans. But I guess this means the campaign was a reasonable model of the actual events. Anyway, I had fun and I hope guys did also.
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| Etaireia Pezikoy, my reinforced Greek infantry company. 2 Pezikoy (infantry) platoons, a machine gun platoon, a mortar platoon. Then, in support from the division a motor cycle platoon, a pioneer platoon, an artillery battery (75mm Skoda M1915 guns), a heavy artillery battery (155mm Schneider M1917 guns), an anti-aircraft platoon (40mm Bofors) and an anti-tank platoon (47mm AT guns). The Greeks had very few forces this well equipped. The guns were all towed by horses. |
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| I painted these guys up when I was just getting back into miniatures. If I play with them again I will definitely give them a wash, that would improve their looks dramatically. |
