Benito Mussolini wanted the Greek Army out of Albania before Germany intervened. Per iL Duce's directive, General Ugo Cavallero (commander of the Italian Army in Albania) planned to attack down the Desnita River valley to seize the mountain pass dominated by Hill 731., then continue on to Klisura. Greek Army commander, Lieutenant General Alexandros Papagos, anticipated this move, and conducted a spoiling attack to secure the road through the Desnita valley. A key part of this plan required the 1st Division to capture the farming hamlet, Spi Kamarate, sited atop a conical hill overlooking the Berat-Kelyre Road.
Greeks used their 9-2 kill stack to obliterate 1.5 Italian squads while they split their force fairly evenly moving in from the east and west, with a couple squads sneaking up the middle through the gully. The guns were a major concern, so a fair bit of searching was carried out. The western force made enough headway on Turn 2 to force the Italian reinforcements to take the long way to the hill. The Italians pulled back their 9-2 kill stack from the southern edge of the hill, prematurely I believe, and I suspect this may have cost them the game. Turn 3 saw the Greeks mainly enter east central, with a stack making for the northern tip of the hill to interdict the reinforcing Italians. Turn 4 saw the Greeks take their first casualty when a HS was lost, but with the Italians now having lost 3.5 squads and an 8-0 they could afford the trade-off. The first Italian gun revealed itself shooting point blank at a full stack of Greeks that had crested the hill, only to whiff and lose concealment. It would amazingly survive DFPh, but not be so lucky during the following PFPh. But the rest of Turn 5 would not be so kind for the Greeks, with the inevitable 9-2 showdown going the Italians' way by pinning his counterpart and breaking two of the Greek MGers. Then a lucky 4+1 sent tumbling a whole stack of Greeks after their 8-1 leader mortally wounded. The ART made its first appearance and, much like the AT gun, failed to deliver. The Greeks then got some revenge on the bottom of the turn when they encircled, broke, and subsequently eliminated two Italian squads holding the south-central part of the hill. This would ensure the Greeks (at least temporarily) would be able to control the minimum 11 buildings. But they did better than that when some nice shooting softened up the north end of town, and were actually able to grab one building and tie up another in melee. Turn 6 saw the Italians lose their HMG for good (after having broken and repaired twice before) and, while they most likely would've been able to knock the Greeks back down to 10 buildings, with the Greeks getting last move and facing the prospect of surviving a fully restocked 9-2 kill stack they called it a day. Not a bad scenario, but I think the Greeks will typically face a tall order in being able to grab and hold the full complement of buildings.
2024-07-01
(A) Richard Jenulis
vs
Tycho Granville
Italian win
My Greeks were slaughtered moving up the hill. A combination of good play by my opponent and unkind dice sealed the Greek fate. I think the game could go either way and this scenario is worth the play.
2023-12-17
(D) Maurizio Mai
vs
Rolando Rinaldi
Italian win
Nice scenario. Enjoyed in three session of roughly 2 hours each. Several swings, the 9-2 Greek leader kept at bay the reinforcement of the Italians on the left, while the 9-2 Italian leader with the HMG set at the crossroads to secure fire lines on the approaching road. The game ended at Turn 5 when the Italian won two CC and create a 7-0 leader. I liked the scenario and willing to play again.
