by John Astell
The following counters appear in Balkan Front but are not used for that game. They are for eventual use in Grand Europa. Yugoslav: 1-pt River Flot AA= 1Dunav
Hungarian:
Greek:
Now that I've listed the extra counters, here's what they're for and how to use some of them. The Yugoslav and Hungarian river flotillas can be incorporated into the game. See the optional rule in TEM #17 on river flotillas. GREECEThe Greek 7-8 mountain division and 3-8* mountain brigades are the actual and hypothetical forces of the Greek government in exile. Western Desert/War in the Desert players can substitute the 3-8* Mtn X 1 for the 2-8* Inf X 1 Gk. (1 Gk was shown as infantry instead of mountain simply to avoid cluttering up WD with a bunch of mountain rules for one unit.) The Greek air units cover the Greek Air Force for 1939- 41, as follows. Greek Air Force OOB Sep I 1939
Jul I 1940
If France has not been conquered by the Axis:
If either France or Poland has been conquered by tye
Axis:
Jul I 1941 If Greece has joined the Allies and has not been
conquered by the Axis:
Sep I 1941 If Greece has joined the Allies and has not been
conquered by the Axis:
GA Increase +1 (?) Greek Navy The Greek naval units consist of the Greek Navy 1939-41, plus those ships manned by the Greeks under their government in exile after 1941. The Kiikis was an old battleship, the 1905-vintage former USS Mississippi, and was actually a training ship, which normally aren't included. Given the few ships the Greeks possess and the chance the Greeks could have brought the ship into service had they a pressing need, I included it. Naval experts and sharp-eyed Marita- Merkur owners may notice the Kilkis's sister ship, the Lemnos (ex 1905 LISS Idaho), is not included. It was hulked in 1937 and served as an accommodations ship thereafter. Unlike the Kilkis, there was no real chance it would ever become operational again. Initial Forces: B Kilkis (training ship; bombed and sunk April 1941) CA Averoff (full name Georgios Averoff, escaped to the British in 1941) CL Helle (sunk by an Italian submarine in August 1940) DD Ydra-1 (four Ydra-class destroyers: Ydra and Psara, both of which were bombed in and sunk April 1941, and Condouriotis and Spetsai, both of which escaped to the British and survived the war) DD V.G.-1 (two V.G.-class destroyers: Vasilefs Georgios and Vasilissa Olga. "King George" was damaged and sunk April 1941, raised and used by the Germans as ZG 31Hermes until it was damaged by aircraft in April 1943 and sunk in May. "Queen Olga" escaped to the British in 1941 but was sunk by German aircraft in Sept. 1943.) DD Aetos-1 (four Aetos-class destroyers: Aetos, Lerax, and Panther, all of which escaped to the British, and Leon, which was bombed in April 1941 and sunk in May 1941.) DC Thyell-1 (four Thye//a-class coast defense vessels. "DC" is used to signify small, destroyer-sized coast defense ships, as opposed to "CD," used for cruiser-sized coast defense ships. Of the four, Thyella was sunk by German aircraft in April 1941, while Aspis, Niki, and Sphendoni escaped to the British. Purists might break Niki and Aspis off as a separate class, but this is nit-picking.) TB Aigli-1 (Four Aigli-class torpedo boats, Aigli, Alkyone, Arethousa, Doris, all of which were sunk by German aircraft in April 1941) TB PIK-1 (Two nearly identical torpedo boat classes merged together: two P-class boats, Pergamos and Proussa, and three K-class boats, Kyzikos, Kios, and Kydonia. All were sunk in April 1941 by German aircraft.) SS Katsns-1 (Two Katsonis-class submarines, Katsonis and Papamicolis. Both escaped to the British, but a German sub-chaser rammed and sank Katsonis in Sept. 1943.) SS Prots-1 (four Proteus-class submarines, Proteus, Nereus, Triton, and Glavkos. Proteus was rammed and sunk by an Italian torpedo boat off Valona in Dec. 1940. The other three escaped the fall of Greece in April 1941 and joined the British, but Glavkos was lost in April 1942 and Triton was sunk by a German patrol craft in Nov. 1942.) Ex-British Vessels, Loaned to Greece 1942-45: DE Salms-1 (Salamis (ex Boreas) and Navarinon (ex Echo), both transferred 1944. While originally from separate destroyer classes, B and E, both were similar in characteristics and remade as destroyer escorts; hence they are grouped together.) DE Adrias-1 (four Type 3 Hunt-class escort destroyers: three in 1942, Adrias (ex Border), Miaoulis (ex Modbury), Kanaris (ex Hatherleigh); one in 1943, Pindos (ex Bolebrook). Adrias was written off as a total loss in Oct. 1943.) DE Krite-1 (two Type 2 Hunt-class escort destroyers, both in 1943: Krite (ex Hursley) and Themistocles (ex Bramham). DE Apostl-1 (four Flower-class corvettes in 1943: Apostolis (ex Hyacinth), Kriezis (ex Coreopsis), Sakhtouris (ex Peony), and Tompazis (ex Tamarisk). SS Pipns-1 (four U-class submarines: two 1940/ 41 short-hull subs, Amfitriti (ex Untiring) and Xifias (ex Upstart), both in 1945; two 1941/42 long-hull subs: Pipinos (ex Vledt) in 1943 and Delfin (ex Vengeful) in 1944.) YUGOSLAVIAThe Yugoslav air units are eventual reinforcements for the Yugoslav air force. The Hurri 1 represents Yugoslav license production of the British Hurricane and would appear Sep 1 41. The Do 171(b is a more-heavily armed version of the Do 17Ka, both being licensed versions of the German Do 17E, and would appear Nov 1 41. The IK-Z was an improved model of a domestic fighter and would have followed the Hurricane production, appearing Jan 1 42. The Yugoslav Navy comprises existing and planned ships from 1939-41 plus a British corvette loaned to the Yugoslav exiles. Initial Forces: CL Dalmajc (Dalmajica, the former Imperial German Navy Niobe.) Although a training ship, like the Greek Kilkis it had the potential to be used operationally. In April 1941 the Italians incorporated it into their navy as the Cattaro. When Italy surrendered in Sept. 1943, the Germans took the ship and renamed it the Niobe once again, but soon thereafter transferred it to Croatia, where it became the Zniarn. No doubt the Partisans were waiting for their turn to capture and rename it, but the Croatians managed to strand it in Dec. 1943, whereupon British MTBs obligingly torpedoed it.) DD Dubrovnk (one destroyed leader, the Dubrovnik. April 1941 to the Italian Navy as the Prernuda, then Sept. 1943 to the Germans as TA 32, who scuttled it April 1945.) DD Beogd-1 (three Beograd-class destroyers: Beo grad, Zagreb, and Ljubljana. The Yugoslavs blew up the Zagreb to prevent its capture, but the Italians grabbed the other two. Ljubljana became the Lubiana and was sunk off Tunisia April 1943 by British aircraft. Beograd became the Sebenico until the Germans took their turn at owning it in Sept. 1943. As the TA 43, it was sunk by artillery fire in Trieste harbor by Tito's forces.) TB T1-1 (two TI-class former Austro-Hungarian torpedo boats, TI and T3. Both went to Italy, na m es unchanged, in April 1941. The Italians returned the T1 in Sept. 1943 to the Yugoslav Navy. The Germans got the T3 in Sept. 1943, renamed it the TA 48, and watched British aircraft sink it in Feb, 1945.) TB T5-1 (four T5-class former Austro-Hungarian torpedo boats, T5, T6, T7, and T8. All went to Italy, names unchanged, in April 1941. T5 was turned over to the Yugoslav Navy Dec. 1943. The Italians scuttled T6 Sept. 1943. T7 fell to the Germans Sept. 1943 and went to Croatia (name unchanged?); it was sunk by British MTBs June 1944. T8 was sunk by German aircraft Sept. 1943. SS Osvtk-1 (two Osvetnik-class submarines. Osvetnik fell to Italy April 1941, becoming Francesco Rismondo; in Sept. 1943 the Germans captured and then scuttled it. Smeli also went to Italy April 1941, as Antonio Baiarnonti, and was scuttled by the Italians themselves Sept. 1943.) SS Hrabri-1 (two Hrabri-class submarines. The Italians took the Hrabri in April 1941, did not commission it because of its poor condition, and later scrapped it. Neobojsa escaped April 1941 and joined the British.) Planned Ships: DD Beogd-2 (two Beograd-class destroyers, names unknown) Ex-British Corvette, Loaned to Yugoslavia 1944: DE Nada-1 (Nada, ex British Flower-class corvette Mallow, transferred 1944) Back to Europa Number 18 Table of Contents Back to Europa List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1991 by GR/D This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles covering military history and related topics are available at http://www.magweb.com |