The two Marc(k)s continue their adventure:

Fascist Aggression Continues! Europe overrun! African Colonies in Peril!

Nazis in Norway!

Hitler has sent his armies north into Scandinavia with an attack upon the country of Norway! Footage obtained from these battles shows this one near the Gratangen Valley on the Narvik Front. Here, Norwegian soldiers attempt a breakout to drive back the Nazis during a blizzard.

The Norwegians advanced steadily, dispersing the Germans slowly but surely. But a German Team with an HMG appears on the Norwegian side and blocks there efforts. Tracers zip through the blowing snow and the Norwegians prepare to advance but cannot do so in time.

Here we see the Norwegians, hampered in their efforts, a victory for the Fascist invaders!

Fierce Fighting in Fallen France!

From the cold and snow of Scandinavia, our next story takes us to temperate France near Gembloux. A small band of brave Moroccan soldiers attempts to hold a sunken road against a German assault.

This is footage of the stalwart Moroccan soldiers fighting for their European benefactors, arrayed at both ends of the sunken road, ready to repel the oncoming Nazis.

The battle is a short one, alas! The Germans sweep in on the left, tearing up the Moroccans with their heavy machine gun, taking the crossroads and then moving onto one end of the sunken road. The Moroccans fight fiercely but are wiped out. On the right, the brave defenders attempt to hold back the German press but are engaged, even as the enemy sweeps on through the battlefield. Horrible hand-to-hand fighting results in deaths on both sides. But the unstoppable fascists are able to eventually swarm the last bitter resistance and there is nothing left of the Moroccans but a few straggles who can do nothing but lay down their arms.

Behold the horrible end of these Moroccan defenders as they are literally swarmed by their German foe!

Singh’s Shellbursts in Somaliland!

Somaliland, August 1940, under the hot African sun. The Italian army seeks to reach one of the British held ports but must first clear out some Indian troops defending key passes.

This photo taken as the Italians prepare their opening bombardment shows the Indians in position on a dusty hill.

A withering opening bombardment by the Italian artillery marches along the hilltop, sending British army units scattering and dying. Following the rain of death, the Italians charge en masse put the left-hand slope of the hill.

The Indians, however are not to be outdone. As the Italians manage to continue their climb on the left and come around the front of the hill, Corporal Singh manages to secure his own artillery support! These bombardments fall among the Italian troops with great ferocity, causing them to cower in fear.

Vicious hand-to-hand- combat ensues at the top of the hill as the crest objectives trade hands several times. But by carefully aimed fire and support from behind their own lines, Corporal Singh and his men hold the hill and scatter the Italians!

A photo of the victory shows the meager remnants of the Italian assault.

As war grips Europe, how will the United States respond? Will we be drawn into these battles in foreign lands or will we maintain our careful neutrality? Will our Allies in Europe be able to withstand the fascist onslaught as countries fall one at a time into their clutches? Only time will tell.

Stay tuned for more news as it becomes available!

Game Notes
Scenario 110 is from C3i Magazine.
Each turn, two smoke markers are drawn and the smaller of the two kept as a hindrance which exists in all hexes, representing the blizzard conditions. The Norwegians steamrolled the Germans pretty well in the center. Their HMG not he far hill was hampered by the snow hindrance. On the left, I was able to get some men off and score points. Still, the Germans had a good lead and that meant the VPs swung only briefly to my side before slipping back and hovering near zero. The Germans got a Team with an HMG and I was ready to finish it off when Time came. I had Sgt. Ganz holed up in Objective 3 (which was worth a point) and if I had taken it, I would have won. I had the Advance and Ambush ready! Alas, Time came and I passed the initiative card once to avoid Sudden Death but the second roll ended the game. The Germans won with 3 VPs.

Scenario 16 is one of the Combat Commander: Mediterranean scenarios. 
Objective 4 on the left is worth 7 points and 5 on the right is worth 10. The French start with 30 VPs but when those objectives go, so do the VPs in a big way. My own French HMG was early on dispatched. The German squads and HMG manage to get in to the sunken road and take Objective 4. I was able to melee with 3 Ambushes I had been holding on to. I didn’t win but wiped out the German HMG. Then, a leader and squad of Germans which had gotten into the middle of the road did the same to me, taking out my two units with a melee involving three of their Ambushes! A brutal turnabout! On my right the Germans began pouring off the map but after having taken out all but two units, they were able to quickly overwhelm the last two units and force a French surrender. Historically the Moroccans fought to the last man. Well, that’s what happened in this scenario. (We went back over my notes from other games; I actually won this scenario against Marc, again as the Moroccans, a few years back.) What the French player needs most to happen is the Turns to fly past while they still have a lot of VPs.

Scenario 24 is also a Combat Commander: Mediterranean one.
The British had nothing in their hand that was helpful and their HMG was quickly lost to the artillery and advancing Italians. Things really changed, though, when the Brits got their arty. At one point, both sides were just two units away from surrender but the British pulled an “Elan Event and the squad and LMG with Corporal Singh was picking off Italian units broken by their artillery. A final blast of arty fire caused an Italian surrender which not even the Initiative Card could stop.

about the project in this introductory blog post. So far it’s a lot of fun.

Current standings are 2-3 in favor of the Axis.

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