First of all, Happy ANZAC day to everyone in the antipodes.
Secondly, I hope to mark my return from exile in an attempt at play-by-post role-playing games by taking us all back in time to a battle that far too many people (in America at least) have forgotten (if I'm violating any kind of protocol let me know and I'll rectify it tomorrow or as soon as time permits).
19 May, 1941. Yugoslavia and the Greek mainland has fallen under the Axis juggernaut, but Allied forces on the small island of Crete continue to hold firm. Possession of this island gives the British a valuable naval and air base to continue operations in the seas of the Aegean and the skies of the Balkans. Capture by the Germans would provide a good jump-off point for further attacks on Cyprus and other areas in the Near East, as well as support for the ground offensive in Egypt. This will be the first large-scale airborne operation in history, as the dominance of the Royal Navy makes an fully amphibious landing impractical.
You can play as a Greek, Commonwealth, German or Italian soldier or sailor, or as a civilian caught in the middle of the conflict. Post your name, rank, personal gear and weapons and any other pertinent information. I'm gonna give a good bit of leeway in gameplay but I do have a few rules/suggestions.
1. Some knowledge of how armies operated and what tactics and equipment they were using in the summer of 1940 is to be expected (i.e. there's no SAS yet, and the AK-47 ain't been invented).
2. Overly exotic characters should be avoided. You can be NKVD agent from Texas if you want, but you'd better have a VERY GOOD reason for being in Crete.
3. Multiple characters are allowed, but interaction between them should be kept to a minimum (put them on different sides/nationalities/branches)
My character:
Name: Captian Adrastos Ioannides
Age: 32
POB: Hubbards, Nova Scotia, Canada
Nationality: Canadian/Greek
Languages spoken: Greek (native), English (native), Scots Gaelic, Spanish, some German
Role: Commander, B Company, 7th Greek Regiment, attached to the 14th Infantry Brigade (UK)
Location: Heraklion, Crete
Phyisical traits: small and sickly since childhood, but a fairly strong man on those occasions when he ain't sick or injured
Personality: reserved and somewhat absent-minded; an indecisive leader who can nonetheless show a great deal of initiative when such is called for. Cool headed in combat and good with a gun. Well liked by his men but not fully trusted by his superiors.
Weapons: Mannlicher-Schonauer 6.5mm M1903/14 Rifle, bayonet, .38 Webley & Scott Mark IV revolver; 14 rounds of rifle ammunition, 6 rounds for the pistol
Transportation: bicycle, would normally be issued a horse but none are available at the moment
Bio: Ioannides was born to a Scottish Canadian mother and a Cretan father in 1908. Raised in the backwaters of Nova Scotia, he worked on docks and fishing boats in the area until joining the Carlists in Spain during their civil war (though both a monarchist and a fairly devout Catholic, this was done more out of boredom than any religious or political convictions). Wounded by artillery after a few weeks in the field; no particularly auspicious combat record.
Releived from duty due to his wounds and a rather bad case of pneumonia (possibly Typhoid Fever). Lived for several years in England and Scotland, married, and returned to his native Greece in the early days of the Greco-Italian War. Fought in the Epirus sector with the 2nd Infantry Division, Greek First Army, and continued to fight on with a few dozen others when General Tsolakoglou ordered the army to surrender. Escaped the German encirclement and linked up with Austrailian troops at Thermopylae, fighting his way south with them until being evacuated from the mainland. Wounded twice during the campaign.
Arriving in Crete, he was assigned to the poorly-armed and poorly-trained 7th Regiment in the Heraklion Sector, assigned to protect the town itself as well the habour and beaches from any amphibious landings. His company consists of roughly 170 soldiers, 5 officers and 21 civilian volunteers (many with less than 15 rounds for their rifles), supported by a single Mle 1914 Hotchkiss machine gun.
Extended reading:
Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Crete
ORBAT: http://homepages.force9.net/rothwell/crete.htm, http://niehorster.orbat.com/500_eto/41-05-20_crete.html
Map: http://www.mlahanas.de/Greece/History/images/BattleOfCreteMap.jpg
Greek weapons, TO&E, etc: http://ww2greece.wargaming.info/, http://orbat.com/site/history/open4/GreekGroundForcesinCreteandTheirSmallArmsrev.pdf
British weapons, TO&E, etc: http://www.nzetc.org/tm/scholarly/name-012421.html
Secondly, I hope to mark my return from exile in an attempt at play-by-post role-playing games by taking us all back in time to a battle that far too many people (in America at least) have forgotten (if I'm violating any kind of protocol let me know and I'll rectify it tomorrow or as soon as time permits).
19 May, 1941. Yugoslavia and the Greek mainland has fallen under the Axis juggernaut, but Allied forces on the small island of Crete continue to hold firm. Possession of this island gives the British a valuable naval and air base to continue operations in the seas of the Aegean and the skies of the Balkans. Capture by the Germans would provide a good jump-off point for further attacks on Cyprus and other areas in the Near East, as well as support for the ground offensive in Egypt. This will be the first large-scale airborne operation in history, as the dominance of the Royal Navy makes an fully amphibious landing impractical.
You can play as a Greek, Commonwealth, German or Italian soldier or sailor, or as a civilian caught in the middle of the conflict. Post your name, rank, personal gear and weapons and any other pertinent information. I'm gonna give a good bit of leeway in gameplay but I do have a few rules/suggestions.
1. Some knowledge of how armies operated and what tactics and equipment they were using in the summer of 1940 is to be expected (i.e. there's no SAS yet, and the AK-47 ain't been invented).
2. Overly exotic characters should be avoided. You can be NKVD agent from Texas if you want, but you'd better have a VERY GOOD reason for being in Crete.
3. Multiple characters are allowed, but interaction between them should be kept to a minimum (put them on different sides/nationalities/branches)
My character:
Name: Captian Adrastos Ioannides
Age: 32
POB: Hubbards, Nova Scotia, Canada
Nationality: Canadian/Greek
Languages spoken: Greek (native), English (native), Scots Gaelic, Spanish, some German
Role: Commander, B Company, 7th Greek Regiment, attached to the 14th Infantry Brigade (UK)
Location: Heraklion, Crete
Phyisical traits: small and sickly since childhood, but a fairly strong man on those occasions when he ain't sick or injured
Personality: reserved and somewhat absent-minded; an indecisive leader who can nonetheless show a great deal of initiative when such is called for. Cool headed in combat and good with a gun. Well liked by his men but not fully trusted by his superiors.
Weapons: Mannlicher-Schonauer 6.5mm M1903/14 Rifle, bayonet, .38 Webley & Scott Mark IV revolver; 14 rounds of rifle ammunition, 6 rounds for the pistol
Transportation: bicycle, would normally be issued a horse but none are available at the moment
Bio: Ioannides was born to a Scottish Canadian mother and a Cretan father in 1908. Raised in the backwaters of Nova Scotia, he worked on docks and fishing boats in the area until joining the Carlists in Spain during their civil war (though both a monarchist and a fairly devout Catholic, this was done more out of boredom than any religious or political convictions). Wounded by artillery after a few weeks in the field; no particularly auspicious combat record.
Releived from duty due to his wounds and a rather bad case of pneumonia (possibly Typhoid Fever). Lived for several years in England and Scotland, married, and returned to his native Greece in the early days of the Greco-Italian War. Fought in the Epirus sector with the 2nd Infantry Division, Greek First Army, and continued to fight on with a few dozen others when General Tsolakoglou ordered the army to surrender. Escaped the German encirclement and linked up with Austrailian troops at Thermopylae, fighting his way south with them until being evacuated from the mainland. Wounded twice during the campaign.
Arriving in Crete, he was assigned to the poorly-armed and poorly-trained 7th Regiment in the Heraklion Sector, assigned to protect the town itself as well the habour and beaches from any amphibious landings. His company consists of roughly 170 soldiers, 5 officers and 21 civilian volunteers (many with less than 15 rounds for their rifles), supported by a single Mle 1914 Hotchkiss machine gun.
Extended reading:
Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Crete
ORBAT: http://homepages.force9.net/rothwell/crete.htm, http://niehorster.orbat.com/500_eto/41-05-20_crete.html
Map: http://www.mlahanas.de/Greece/History/images/BattleOfCreteMap.jpg
Greek weapons, TO&E, etc: http://ww2greece.wargaming.info/, http://orbat.com/site/history/open4/GreekGroundForcesinCreteandTheirSmallArmsrev.pdf
British weapons, TO&E, etc: http://www.nzetc.org/tm/scholarly/name-012421.html
