Operation Hercules - Malta 1942

For Crisis Point this year myself, Andy and Richard put on a couple of games based on the proposed German/Italian assault on Malta in November 1942. The rules were Battlegroup with most of the stats from the Tobruck book

Day 1 was the airborne landing and the attempt to seize an airstrip.


Italian Aircraft over the table


The runway, defended by an infantry platoon and a couple of bofors guns


All quiet on the rest of the table, British reinforcements will arrive on the roads on the opposite side of the table to the airstrip.




A "nice" clear area for the para drop


But several teams from the first platoon ended up in rough ground an suffered higher losses as a result


The situation after the other two platoons (one German the other Italian) had dropped. The Germans landed successfully, but the Italians managed to drop a lot of their unit in the olive groves.


British forces trying to relieve the airstrip


The airstrip about to fall, the Germans have taken most of the nearest end.


Not quite in time, a Matilda arrives


Preparing for Day 2, we skipped on from a beach landing to their attempt to meet up with the successful airlanding forces

The landing beaches - the defences have been cleared and the combined German and Italian follow up forces had to break out.


The approach for the Gebirgsjager from the airstrip.


The British defences line is along the road between the two villages


The British right flank taking a hammering from the Gebirgsjäger


A KV-2 rumbles up from the beach, a British 25pdr managed to immobilise it shortly after and later on it was abandoned






A successful shoot out for the British Armour against Italian Semoventes
between I
So a day of two halves both left flanks were successful

The theme for Crisis Point this year was the Mediterranean and I took a few pictures of some of the other games

Menton - French Italian acion in 1940


Song of drums and shakos - the French Revolution in Northern Italy.


Cold War Gallipoli