HUSKY No. of Turns: 21 Battle Posture: Axis = Defense Allies = Attack Per Turn Prestige Boosters: Axis = 71 Allies = 0 No.of Units Available for purchase: Axis = 2 Allies = 8 - The high number of objectives and their disperse nature gives the time advantage to the Axis. While roads do assist the Allies in movement, numerous cities breakup rapid advancement and allow for stubborn defensive stands around unimportant cities. No. of Objectives: 15 Axis: hold 2 objectives. - The Allies only begin with two objectives and they may require defending if the German player feels brave. Foggia may be too far of an objective to fall because of its remoteness in the north of Italy. The Germans are required to hold two objectives at the end of the game. Prestige: Axis = 1532 Allies = 533 - This disparity gives the Axis a large advantage. It allows the German player to contest Allied airpower by purchasing extra fighters. The beginning German ground units are of high quality and experience and the availability of probably the best cheap unit in the game in the L-47 Italian Anti-Tank at a cost of 12 gives the Axis a significant advantage. Allied only reprieve is the large number of objectives and their corresponding prestige bonuses along with many cities available for the taking. But these bonuses will be offset by the damage Italian Anti-tanks do to your infantry and tanks. New Unit Exp: Axis = 2 Stars Allies = 1 Star Air Superiority: The allies begin with air superiority by numbers only. The Germans begin with three FW190s and a few Stuka dive bombers. The Allies have two P-51B Mustangs which are about an even match with the FWs. This coupled with British Spit IXs and a single Mosquito Fighter/Bomber can wax the FWs in a straight on fight. But the Germans player may opt to contest the air and purchase more FWs because of the beginning high prestige count which can make the fight in the air more difficult. One thing that is vital to Allied success is air power and this is a necessity to win the scenario. Ground Superiority: The Germans begin the game with the best high end units in the Tigers and Panthers especially in their defensive rolls. Panthers do seem to be unusually vulnerable to shore bombardment but the Tigers are pretty impervious. The Germans also possess the best low end unit in the L-47 Anti- Tanks. The Axis can flood the area with tough to kill Anti-tanks with really the only limit being the maximum unit count. The Allies have little recourse. Their best cheap unit is the US M10 Anti-tank but at the cost of 120. Instead the Allied player is forced to bomb anti-tanks instead of the main-line stuff. AXIS: The Allies are ashore in Sicily and Italy is next. Husky--the invasion of Sicily and Italy by the Allies--is the first of the Western fight or flight battles: this means that your main option is whether to fight to hold your initial position or fall back to a more defensible location. This series of battles is about holding on grimly against an enemy that, at least in quantity if not in quality, has an advantage on land, sea and air. In Husky, the flight option is to pull back to Italy and try to set up a tough defensive line, preferably based on the inland cities out of the reach of naval bombardment such as Foggia and Totenza with infantry and antitank units entrenched and heavily bolstered by air defense units and artillery. The fight option is to hold in both Sicily and Italy (hard to do) or defend one and give up the other--pulling out of Sicily is the usual choice. Instead of fleeing from enemy landings, you try to drive them into the sea and keep hammering them with your limited but concentrated strength. Either way, you need to counter the overwhelming Allied air threat and you need to get more heavy tanks to help pick off weak Allied units. ALLIES: This scenario is an exercise in overwhelming the enemy by multiple amphibious invasions. Although your troops are less experienced, in all other respects you have advantages that you can turn into victory objectives taken. You can land anywhere you please on the Sicilian and Italian coasts and support your forces with air and naval bombardment. But don't delay in Sicily before getting serious about conquering Italy, and don't ignore the Axis air force. General Information: The weather is generally good until near the end of the scenario when rain tends to be in the forecast. The terrain is open at most places except in the center and north of Italy. Roads connect most of the cities. The most unusual part of this scenario is the Sicily/Italy crossing. Allied ships may position themselves on both sides of the crossing to inhibit easy passage by German reinforcements. Allied naval guns are a huge threat and historically allowed the Allies to win this one. Numerous cruisers can destroy tanks with a constant barrage. Their best effectiveness is to eliminate entrenchment values and decimate soft targets especially AA guns. Final Evaluation: Prestige Experience Axis -2 0 Allies +3 +2 This is a tough one for the Allies. Air superiority is not a given due to the high prestige of the Germans. Most players will go for the anti-tank defense of Sicily so it is imperative that air power be seized as soon as possible. A -2 to German Prestige could help even things up. (Note: It has been discussed recently that the Axis player may opt to voluntarilly limit the amount of anti-tanks purchased. Twelve is a reasonable count. If this is the case, Axis penalty should be -1.)