PANZERLEADER IN ITALY
by Bill Farone

	THE GUSTAV LINE: Situation Cassino (5/11 through 5/18/44).

	The Polish under Anders, the British under Kirkman, the French under Juin and the Americans under Keyes formed an attack force of 100.000 men to be used as part of 'Operation Diadem' to attack along the Gustav line from Minturna, near the west coast, to east of Cassino. One of the bitter battles of the first day was the attack of the 3rd and 5th Polish Infantry Divisions against five strong German regiments around the Cassino stronghold. The German units included the 100th Mountain Regiment, the 1st. 3rd and 4th Parachute Regiments and a Parachute Mountain Battalion. 

	Map Configuration: PanzerBlitz boards I and 2 are used with board 2 placed west of board I, such that the long edges of the boards are adjacent. This puts the fictitious town of Golod on board 2 in the NW and Uschas on board I in the SE. To orient the boards into history, hill  132 around  Bednost is point 593 and hill  129 represents point 569. The famous Cassino Monastery is represented by Golod. Hill 135 is Phantom Ridge with the space between it and hill 132 representing 'The Gorge'. Hill 126 is Colle St. Angelo. Victory Conditions: The objectives for the Allies are to capture the Monastery and Colle St. Angelo. The Allies must hold one of the Golod squares and the square marking hill 126 by the end of the game  Tactical Victory. If all the squares in Golod are held along with hill 126 and three tank units are exited off the north edge  Decisive Victory. The Germans win by avoiding Allied conditions of victory (Tactical Victory) or doing this plus controlling the squares marking hill 135 and hill 129 (Decisive Victory). Game Length: 15 turns. Set-up: German units set-up first on the boards  no German units of any type can set-up south of hex row X. One of the German 150mm(H) artillery units must be placed on the square marking hill 126 and the other in one of the Golod squares marking the Monastery. No German mines, blocks or forts can be north of hex row M. Allies enter on turn one, moving first, anywhere on the south edge of the boards. Not all Allied units need enter on Turn I at the Allied players discretion. Special Conditions: The game uses PanzerLeader rules and units. The 'Stream' hexes on the PanzerBlitz board are treated like those in PanzerLeader which is  appropriate  for  the  war  in  Italy.  The  ford  hexes  are considered 'bridges' in the PanzerLeader system with entry and exit in the direction in which the ford hexsides are oriented. German Forces: (2) Nebelwerfer rocket launcher units, (4) 20mm(H) arty units, (2) 88mm(A) arty units, (2) 20mm Quad(H) arty units, (4) 75mm IG arty units, (3) 75mm HOW(H) arty units. (2) 105mm HOW(H) arty units, (2) 150mm HOW(H) arty units, (2) 150mm IG(H) arty units, (3) 81mm M units, (3) 120mm M units. (8) Rifle inf units, (2) SMG inf units, (4) truck units. (3) mines, (3) blocks and (4) forts.

	Allied Forces: (18) Rifle inf units, (4) Armored-inf units, (4) UK Engineer units. (3) MG inf units, (2) 25-lbr HOW(H) units, (2) 105mm HOW(H) units, (2) 155mm HOW(H) units. (2) 76mm M
units. (1) 107mm M unit, (3) 81mm M units, (9) Bren carrier units.(6) truck units, (3) M5 Stuart tank units.  (5) M4/75 Sherman (UK) tank units. (2) M4/105 Sherman Assault guns, (3) M3 Scout car units.

	Player's Notes: In the actual battle, the Poles almost made it in this first attack, pushing past Phantom Ridge in the east and to point 569 in the west. By the time they got this far they were so depleted in strength that a general withdraw) was ordered on the afternoon of May 12. Over the 12 hour period of the attack the result was a German tactical victory (by my definition above).
	In playing the game through several times I realized that it is an extremely complicated situation with the German gun emplacements and locations of reserve infantry being critical. The key to allied success appears to be in neutralizing the German infantry after which the guns can be knocked-out.
Hitting the guns with direct fire rather than CAT is also to be considered because German indirect fire called into squares adjacent to emplaced guns protected by infantry can stop an advance if the CAT is not successful. In any event, neither side can afford less than an all out fight on the line because superior
allied mobility should win if the Allies can get past hex row M in force.