Air Assault on Crete / Invasion of Malta: 1942

About this board game

Air Assault on Crete / Invasion of Malta: 1942 is a two-player strategic, battalion-level wargame with an approximately 240-minute playing time, published in 1977. It simulates the first totally airborne invasion in history, as German forces attack the Allied survivors of the ill-fated Greek Campaign.

The main game uses a traditional turn sequence built around air missions, bombardment, movement, and combat. Units have attack, defense, and movement values, along with stacking limits. Terrain effects and zones of control add familiar tactical considerations, while the absence of mandatory attacks gives players discretion over when to engage.

• Two-player strategic wargame
• Battalion-level scale
• Traditional turn sequencing
• Air missions, bombardment, movement, and combat
• Attack, defense, movement, and stacking values for units
• 520 counters

This package also includes Invasion of Malta: 1942, which recreates the hypothetical German-Italian invasion of Malta. Each game has its own mapboard and counters, sharing only a minimum of components with the other; both use the same basic rules system, with some rules specific to Air Assault on Crete.

A third scenario can be counted through the variant Assault on Cyprus from General magazine, Volume 18, Number 3. With its historical subject, substantial counter set, and Avalon Hill complexity rating of 5, Air Assault on Crete offers a focused simulation of airborne invasion alongside a separate Malta game using the same core system.