Rhodes [capture]

[sPzAbt653]

Playing the 653H Mod, me Allies vs. Computer Axis
January 1943, and I'm moving thru North Africa toward Tripoli,
I air recon Crete and see it is not occupied, so I decide to
grab it. Next I am thinking about Rhodes, which was important
to both sides during he war, but I don't know if it's worth
my effort to take. I mean, what do I get for it ? Just then,
I get this message. Wow ! Now I know it is worth it !

[sPzAbt653]

I start my preliminary setup, getting ready on Crete and
sending two BB's from Alexandria to shell and blockade
Rhodes, when WHAM ! The Regia Marina shows up and sinks one
of my BB's and runs the other one off.

[sPzAbt653]

With my remaining BB cowering in Alexandria, I use the Strat
to Bomb Rhodes, and the Tac to hit the Garrison there, but
both have no effect. The highlighted Fighter will fly CAP
automatically [great feature], but there appears to be no
Axis air units in the area. I load a Mech onto AV's, and
wish I had moved a few more BB's to the area before I
started this operation.

[sPzAbt653]

Opening move of the actual assault on Rhodes - I moved a Sub
to block the port. The Italian BB was 'hidden' so the Sub
stumbled into it and suffered losses and ended its' movement.
A bad mistake on my part, I should have used Air Recon first.
Next the Strat hits Rhodes, and you can see by the inset that
combined with the BB attacks last turn, Rhodes itself is down
to '0' Supply. If the Sub is succesful in blocking th port,
then the Garrison will not be able to reinforce. The UK BB
moves up to block any Italians that move up, but it looks
like a suicide mission. Now the Mech that was loaded last
turn hits the beaches and attacks the Garrison, causing it
3 losses.

I also load up the other Mech that was on Crete. It can't
help on Rhodes because there is no room, but I flew Air Recon
over southern Greece and see no land units there, so maybe
next turn I can hit there.

[sPzAbt653]

Ok, some Italian BB's showed up and put a hurt on the UK BB,
but he still floats ! They didn't push the UK Sub away from
blocking the Rhodes Port, so the Garrison there can't reinforce
as high as he might, although the Resource of Rhodes itself
repairs to '1' from '0', so the Garrison can repair from '2' to
'4'. But note the inset lower left, the Garrison is very low
on Readiness and Morale, and this will greatly affect its'
ability to withstand combat.

So this turn I start by moving my '1' BB back to Alexandria,
then attack the Italian '4' BB with my Sub and Dive Bomber
[Maritime Bomber] and the BB is destroyed. Next I hit the
Rhodes Garrison with the Tac. It causes no loss of strength
but lowers those Readiness and Morale Levels a couple points.
Now to use the beached and out of supply Mech to attack the
Garrison. Keep fingers crossed ...

[sPzAbt653]

... YAY ! The Garrison evaporated ! The Mech can't move due
to Low Supply [only one Action Point], but next turn it will
take Rhodes. Now I use the other AV'd up Mech to take Salamata
on Greece, and load the HQ on Crete onto Transport and ship
it to the Salamata port. It can't unload until next turn because
the port has been damaged and is rated less than '5'. The Mech
on captured Rhodes will load up later and join the other on Greece.

End of Story

[sPzAbt653]

P.S. Apparently the Turks were unimpressed by my AAR. They didn't swing even 1% in my favor [:(]

[Grotius]

Great AAR, but what's up with Turkey's non-reaction?

[BillRunacre]

I'll take a look and see if something needs amending. Thanks for reporting it.