I am now playing the Invasion of Malta 1940, a game of my own design. It took years to gather the info (for example, is it Operation C3 or Plan DG10/42? And as Jeff stated, "While strength are initially determined by quantifiable factors (strength, weapons, etc.), subjective factors are introduced at the end (training, morale, etc.). Play testing often is the final determinate for unit values." Play testing is a challenge when Italy never invaded Malta. I used instead the June 10, 1940- Janury, 1941 combats of the British/Italian conflict in North Africa for play testing to determine combat results. Those results had a margin of error of 1-10%, with an average of 2-3%. That's very good. However, accurate games tend to reproduce historical problems. This game exposes them.
Some details. There is no paper/cardboard/hex mapboard or game pieces. The game uses a monitor screen of a Google map of Malta, giving distance down to a foot and elevations to within 5 meters. The game master is Microsoft's copilot which calculates movement, LOS, bomb and shell damage, turn about time on aircraft (reloading, refueling, safety checks, pilot briefing/debriefng, time to target, time over target, and time to return.). You can get troop unloading times, supply unloading times, drinking water unloading times, water consumption, parachute supply, including amount to drop, expected breakeage, and number and type of aircraft needed to drop. This is all calculated in one second. Turns are accurate to within 15 minutes, meaning turns can be as short as 15 minutes or as long as your next planned move. Copilot also plays the British, and understands it well, so you can play the game by yourself. You can even ask copilot how to use the terrain to conceal your troop movement, including lighting conditions, and have the answer in one second. You do need to read the manual or co-pilot will assume your Italian troops are as well trained as the British when they have no infiltraton training at all or that 1st KOMR is a crack battalion.
I obtained German gliders (Hitler offered assistance) to take the 9.2 inch gun at Fort Bigemma.
I declined to attack Fort Campbell. Too many bombs and no guarantees of hits. I also declined to land at Buggiba as it's covered by Fort Campbell and the bay is too shallow on the west end.
Other bays had underwater concrete blocks with spikes spaced 20 feet apart. Moto braggozis can fit between them, but likely need some light to see them by.
I made changes to the Italian paratroopers. Instead of one 600 man batalion, I used 6 companies of 96 men, each with an 8mm HMG, 4-45mm mortars and one 81mm mortar. An RF 3M radio with a miserable 3-5 km range was added (Not a strong point for Italy). I added 4 five man teams with 45mm mortars for observation drops (two with radios). I also used the two Libyan parachute battalions, organizing them into 400 man units with each battalion equipped with three 8mm HMG, 12-45mm mortars, and three 81mm mortars and 30 days training in their use. Lybian troops didn't speak Italian, read maps or able to use a compass. They must be landed within sight of their objective and, once they take it, cannot be moved. I had two months to make these changes and dropping HMG's amd 81mm mortars had been possible since 1938.
Invasion date was set for August 30, 1940. That date was selected to allow Vittorio Venetto to lay in its guns and train paratroopers with their new weaons. It could not be delayed any longer due to weather. New codebooks were issued for the invasion to keep British codebreakers from interferring. 38 (not 80) moto bragozzis were assembled at Punto d'embarco Scilla in Barco, Italy as it was not being watched. 5 Sesia class landing ships were at Augusta, Sicily. Unfortunately, the date chosen corresponds closely to the HATS convoy, but I have no way of knowing that. Still, I do expect Admiral Cunningham to arrive within 48 hours (6:00 AM, September 1). He actually arrived at 12 noon.
Prelanding, I looked for camouflaged guns (There were four towed 6" guns). Found none, However, there were only three hills/ridges that offered sufficient elevations and they totaled 6 possible positions for 8th battalion and two positions for 2nd Battallion. So I knew where to look for them. I found an unprotected inland OP post that would direct their fire but every manned pillbox could so.
The night before, I had 12 Ba.65's strafe Mellieha Bay's anchorages, their 12.7mm MG's able to sink small boats.
Next post: The Bombardment Phase.
