July 28th 1943 - Sicily, Italy.
Following the chaotic landings of the 9th and 10th July on the southern coast of Sicily, Allied forces - split into two army groups comprising of the 7th US, under General Patton, and the 8th British with elements of the Canadian 1st, under General Montgomery - have regrouped and fought a tough and testing battle against German and Italian forces through the southern and western parts of the island forcing the Axis troops towards Mount Etna.
Both the British and US armies have now linked up with their Airborne elements and reached Agira and Nicosia respectively, but the Germans and Italians have established deeply entrenched positions and are fighting fiercely to avoid evacuation to Calabria.
Fighting as two separate US and British armies, the Allies' intent is to push through this impasse towards Messina and force a mass surrender of German and Italian troops before they have the opportunity to retreat across the Straight of Sicily. However, the Axis forces do not intend to give up the fight and are reinforcing their troops from the mainland in order to attempt a major counter-attack and defeat the invaders.
Italian resistance and fascist sympathisers are known to be operating in the area and elements of each group have been seen colluding with their respective forces. They are known to have excellent knowledge of the area and superb guerrilla fighting skills and will be important in the success of both sides' planning, defence and attack.
The Sides
20 German and Italians, any unit - usual CiA game rules for kit and weapons.
20 US and British/Canadians, any unit - usual CiA game rules for kit and weapons
5 Italian Civilians
Initially this is booked for 20 a side with 5 civilians although we will have a reserve list which will be opened up as long as the sides remain balanced.
The Venue ALL TBC.
Ex-Site's site at Maeshafn near Mold in Wales. An incredbily varied site incorprating moorland, heaths, water, woodland and a hill big enough to feel like Mount Etna!
Game will begin at midday Saturday – midday Sunday with an overnight ceasefire. All sides will be in one large camp which will also act as a safezone. Players wishing to stay on site on Friday 29th may do so with the usual camping and light social. You will need to be on site by 9am on Saturday to pitch camp, register and be ready for game on at midday.
Cost £45 including camping.
Booking thread now open.
Let me know what you think. It fits in with the site and with having the forces all in roughly one place, yet separate, and is historically pretty accurate.
As I've not been there for discussion with the site owner I'm not sure about the practicalities of costs, 24hr gaming and camping on the Friday so have made some assumptions.
Booking can be opened asap. Paypal or cheque now.
S
We can easily do 25 a side for this one but would start at 20 a side for booking purposes.
SS weren't anywhere near Sicily - see my other postings re sides. Partisans would be fun and could be in addition to 20 per side - say five extra partisans who would be Fascist on Saturday and play with the Axis then being typically Italian switch sides and fight for the Allies on Sunday (thereby avoiding confusion and allow them to see both sides of action).
I'll post up our thoughts on scenarios (based on real actions, what is possible on site, using the whole of the site) by the end of tomorrow night for your appraisal Stephen, subject to your site visit.
Our proposal runs from initial landings right through to German evacuation and keeps the Allied armies separate until the final battle...
The cost to us is £30 per player - I would suggest in the light of Haggard and Gunman prices we go for £45. Still bloody good value and give us some slack on prop building and pyro. 40 players x £15 = £600. We shouldn't be living hand-to-mouth and we shouldn't be subsidising games out of our own pockets.
I'm not sure on players camping on Friday night - wouldn't think it a problem but best to check with John first.
I beleive Friday will be fine ..the regulars do it I know .
OK, updated the original with those points and practicalities.
The back story I've written above is nothing to do with what we'll actually do with the game, but reading through the historical information I thought this would be a good place and time to set the game as it gives a specific point where Etna was in play and the three army groups were pretty close together.
I do like the idea of partisans, and the idea of them swapping sides does work well, I'm just not too sure how people would feel about that. Would they have a satisfying game if they were to be on the back foot on both days for example?
I'll ping John a quick PM just out of courtesy to ask about the Friday and introduce myself formally.
S
Partisans could have a slightly more flexible regen rule - regen on any 'flag' regardless of ownership. Thereby they will be more flexible, cover more area, be less predictable and be able to make a disruptive nuisance of themselves as in real life. They can fight alongside the regular army or independently, as they or overall commanders choose. Maybe they can be different tactically - partisans are only armed with pistols and grenades, for example.
It wouldn't matter to overall gameplay if no one took up the partisan option as they are a bolt-on and we don't have to write anything specific into the game for them to do. Also, it might be a role for John, his son and the other Ex-site bods.
Anyhoo, just ideas.
Before I forget, John's son asked if we would mind if he took photos over the weekend - I said that would be fantastic.
This from John:
Hiya, thats not a problem as we camp over most weekends ourselves when we have a game on, we have the container and cooker for everyones use, we are looking forward to you all coming over, we will sort some roadside signs out for you if you have any format for them please pass it on.
Anything you need just give me a shout ok.
So that's all fine. I told him we will use our own signs.
Kerstin was keen to have a blat during Bryansk but now she's seen what damage has been done to Blade and Rhys she's not so sure! 
So she may come along, depending on work commitments, to take some pics too.
So, are we ready to announce and start booking?
S
If we can agree on a price then yes as far as I'm concerned. If we make an excess on Husky then we can carry forward some cash to cover a members only Wotan-esque game which will be restricted numbers and so less able to make money for props.
Guy can't be on-line during the day at the moment so we might wait until this evening for his and Jay's comments.
Sides:
Allies: US (any uniform), Brits (any uniform) - total 20
Axis: Heer, Italian, Falshy, Lufty, (SS players in feldgrau, HBT or tropical - no obvious cammo) - total 20
Partisan: - total 5
OK, have put up a booking thread that I'm just going to edit for a second!
I'm fine with £45 for the price.
yep - new job = good boy on interet= no hours spent fopruming. We not for a while anyway , plus I've not got my own office anymore ...... 
Call me if it's urgent , otherwise this all looks good .
OK, in that case I'll post it up unless Jay has any major objections.
OK, going to post this within half an hour along with the booking thread.
S
No complaints here - all looks good as far as i'm concerned!
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