This is the final installment of my three part series on TANK LEADER. Unless of course, I hear from fans of the game who would like to see more in later issues of the STRATEGIST. This is a four player game and uses components from the DESERT STEEL and WEST FRONT TANK LEADER games.

3. Axis and Allies:

The backbone of Axis resistance in Sicily has been crushed. Advance elements of Allied formations race toward Messina to cut off retreating Axis units. An ad hoc Italian battlegroup finds itself tinder pressure and the commander radios for help. A German armored unit comes to the rescue.

Map: Use WEST FRONT map B
Year: 1943

AXIS
Italian formations

Within five hexes of 2020
65th Inf. Reg. (504)
HQ/65th (505)
1/65 (506)
2/65 (507)

Within three hexes of 3018
HQ/GF (509)
32 Bersg. Batt. (512)

On hex 2621: A/21 Cav. Sqd.(513)

German formations: Enter turn five from hex 2230
1st Panzer Batt. (160)
A/1(161)
B/1 (162)
C/1 (163)
D/1 (164)

ALLIES

US formations: Enter turn three on hex 2201
13thTank Batt (321)*
A/13 (322)
B/13 (323)
C/13 (324)

British formations: Enter turn one onhex 1005
9th Royal Tk. Reg. (418)
A/9 (419)
B/9 (420)
11th Hussars Sqd (435)
A/RNF (415)

Battle Conditions:

Game Length; 15 turns
Visibility: 12 hexes
Season: Summer
Contour: rolling
Area: wooded urbanization; normal
Road Net: moderate
Smoke: No smoke points are available
Strikes: The Allied player receives 2 air strikes and two on call artillery strikes. The Axis player receives three on call artillery strikes.

Special Rules:

The American tank battalion uses the 1943 TO&E from DESERT STEEL but is equipped with Shermans instead of Lees.

Victory Conditions
Allies receive one victory point for each Italian unit destroyed and two for each German unit destroyed. Axis receive one point for each Allied unit destroyed and a bonus of five points if less than three Allied tank units exit from hex 2230 by the end of the game. A tie is an Axis victory.