Massacre of the Acqui - Scooner size campaign for Chain of Command - Part 2 (Structure)

2.0 Structure

2.0.1 Structure Overview

Historically the conflict between German and Italian forces broke out on the morning of 15 September 1943 and concluded with the surrender of Italian forces on the morning of 22 September 1943 (8 days).

This campaign broadly uses the ladder campaign system from ‘At the Sharp End’. The ladder is made up of 9 rungs, 4 rungs under Italian control, 4 rungs under German control and 1 neutral rung (at the start of the campaign under Italian control).

One battle must occur per day so if the player with initiative chooses to consolidate and strengthen (where permitted) or give ground (where permitted), the initiative passes to their opponent and the opponent must attack the next rung closer to their opponents headquarters which is under their opponent’s control.

The Italian player starts the campaign with initiative and in control of Rung 0. They may either:

• attack German Rung 1 (German Staging Area);
• choosing to consolidate and strengthen their current rung (i.e. Rung 0); or
•  give ground (i.e. Rung 0) and the initiative to the German player. The German player take control of Rung 0 and then must attack Italian Rung 1)

The winner of the first battle (mentioned above) and every battle thereafter must do the following:

• if you attacked, gain the rung which you attacked
• if you defenced, remain in control of your current rung
• gain the initiative and choose to:

• attack the next rung which is under your opponents control
• consolidate and strengthen your current rung and give the initiative to your opponent
• give control of your current rung and the initiative to your opponent  (as per campaign special rules, return up to 2 casualties to your platoon (cannot exceed full strength)).

If you are given the initiative by your opponent (as they strengthened and consolidated or gave ground) you must:

• if they gave ground, gain control of the rung in which they gave ground on and then attack the next rung under their control; or
• if they strengthened and consolidated, you must attack the rung which they strengthened and consolidated.

The winner of a battle will have the initiative for the next battle. You can only gain control of a rung if you win as the attacker. If you win as the defender you retain your current rung. You always have to attack towards your opponents headquarters.

Rungs which are grey are originally control by the Germans. Rungs which are blue are originally controlled by the Italians. Rung 0 is neutral and initially controlled by the Italians.

Rung	Location	Scenario	Terrain Type	Consolidate & Strengthen allowed?	Give Ground allowed?
4	German Headquarters   Lefkada – Greek Mainland	S6: Attack on an Objective	Fortress	No	No
3	German Fallback Area   Fiskardo, Northern Cephalonia	S5: The Flank Attack	Costal	No	Yes
2	German Strong Point   Asos, Western Cephalonia	S3: Attack and Defend	Mountainous	Yes	Yes
1	German Staging Area   Makryotika, Central Cephalonia	S5: The Flank Attack	Encampment in Valley	No	Yes
0	Neutral Supply and Landing Area   Antisamos, Eastern Cephalonia	S1: The Patrol	Costal	Yes	Yes
1	Italian Staging Area   Grizata, Eastern Cephalonia	S2: The Probe	Mountainous	No	Yes
2	Italian Strong Point   Razata, Western Cephalonia	S3: Attack & Defend	Crossroads Village	Yes	Yes
3	Italian Fallback Area   Koutavo, Western Cephalonia	S4: A Delaying Action	Village (outskirts)	No	Yes
4	Italian Headquarters   Argostoli, Western Cephalonia	S6: Attack on an Objective	Town	Yes (Italians only)	No