Credits Supermarina is in a real sense a combined effort that began over a year ago when I started talking to several individuals. Others volunteered information, and in some cases, people sent in ideas and OB information out of the blue saying things like "I think GRID should try to make a naval system that we could use with the desert games..."

Design: Winston Hamilton

Research/design: Joe Hayes, Tom Johnson, Jason Long.

Research and Assistance: Paul Dunnigan, Mike Faletti, Bruce Wright.

SM is set in the Mediterranean starting in December of 1940 and ending just before Torch for several good reasons. First, the naval units of the Italian and British navys are at a manageable level. After Torch the Mediterranean becomes an Allied pond. Second, the only time frame that the Italian's had a chance to do something was during this period. With the restriction on fuel and the increasing level of Allied victory in the desert war, the Italian navy became irrelevant to the operational picture. Italian navy units appeared to be operating under the cloud of Royal Navy propaganda and a terrible lack of direction on the part of their high command.

In the few instances where the Italian navy did sortie, it ran away when it thought the Royal Navy was about to eat it up. Wrong! The Italian Navy could have dominated certain sectors of the Mediterranean if it had the command structure and determination to do so. Several units of the navy proved effective, and in oneon-one battles it did very well.

SM is a module, more than any other in the series, that gives you the ability to see the impact of the "what if" scenario. The real handicap of fuel is maintained as was not a factor that Italy could control. They relied on the promised fuel from Germany to help keep their war machine running. When forced to make choices, the navy lost. I believe that this is another example of the poor planning on the part of the Germans with regards to strategic view of World War II. Had they given the Italian Navy more fuel, and had Rommel used the air borne troops he was given to attack Malta, the ability the British to defend Egypt and the Suez canal would have been very much different indeed.

SM, in this form as a playtest, sets the stage for a overall system. Each part of the naval system will have to be flexible. As we develop this system to reflect the naval operations in the Narvik game, there will have to be changes. I don't believe that they will be big change once we have the bugs worked out of this naval system we should have the basic pattern that we can use for an large body of water (maybe even the Pacific?) and the only modifications will be for special rules or to reflect some special conditions.

Now lets talk about submarines. We don't have an sub counters in this naval system for a very good reason. This naval system is an adjunct to the ground game. It is operational in nature. Submarines are a tactica weapon spread over a very large area. In ground term subs represent (at best) a battalion sized unit. In this theater a submarine flotilla would not work. The German's had about 16 subs operating at any give time. The Italians had a huge number that could be operating, but didn't perform normal duties under Europa terms.

I believed that their presence should be felt, but having to keep track of all of these units, taking the time to move and interact with all the other naval units, an having to adjust the effects is not worth it. The sand that subs throw into the rules does not justify their presence. They are now a table and they can have an effect on the game, but they will not slow the game down. Think of them as wet ants that we are doing without.

We will publish and give to all the member of the association a finished product sometime towards the en of the year if the development process works as we expect. This module will have rules, two color map mounted counters, charts, and whatever else needed t complete the project. As we develop the remaining naval modules for the North Sea, Black Sea, Baltic, an the rest, we will give them to the members as well.

Finally, this is a chapter out of Grand Europa for those of you who want to play it. It opens another front, so to speak, in the war. Hope it works well. Remember, this a playtest. We would like to hear constructive suggestions, advice, and options. Enjoy.

Supermarina Naval Operations in the Mediterranean

Design Information
Rules
Designer's Notes
British and Greek Royal Navy Order of Battle
Italian Navy Order of Battle
Allied Counters (extremely slow: 455K)
Italian Counters (slow: 186K)
Game Charts (monstrously slow: 720K)
Map 1 (very slow: 244K)
Map 2 (very slow: 273K)
Map 3 (very slow: 276K)
Map 4 (very slow: 263K)
Map 5 (very slow: 277K)
Map 6 (very slow: 248K)