Invasion of Italy: Naval Firepower
By Mike Bennighof, Ph.D.
February 2006

For an undertaking as solemn as the Allied return to Europe, the planning for the early September landings at Salerno had a definite ad hoc nature. Not until mid-August was the target firmly decided. And the level of naval support for the landing also remained indefinite until Operation 119694_avalanche was actually underway.

The major concern was the attitude of Italy’s armed forces. The Allies planned to land whether or not Italy changed sides; that the Italian government made its choice on the day before the landings was a happy coincidence. But the naval planning still reflected the need to defend against an attack on the landing forces by Italian battleships and cruisers.

His Majesty’s Monitor Abercrombie.

Invasion of Italy, our game of the Salerno landings, was the very first game we published, and in some ways it shows. The game system has a very nice method of handling artillery fire, in which each artillery battalion is represented by two game pieces: one for the unit itself, and one for the fire support it lends. You place the fire support marker on the hex where the artillery fire is targeted. It has two sides: Place it on the front the first time it’s used, flip it over the second time. After that, the unit is out of ammunition. Once it’s replenished, the process starts over again.

The Allied player also has a large fleet of warships to lend support. The Royal Navy brings two battleships, two monitors, five cruisers, four destroyers and a destroyer escort; the U.S. Navy adds four cruisers and four destroyers.

We only provided one game piece for each, a mistake that at the time we couldn’t do anything about. Players have to remember either where the ship is located at sea, or where its fire support is allocated on land. While that seems to have worked — the game’s been out for a dozen years and no one has ever complained (and wargamers most definitely know how to complain and have very long if highly selective memories of game company sins, real and imagined), it’s always annoyed me.

Warships operate in a slightly different fashion than artillery. If the dice are kind, their ammunition can hold out for the entire game, though this is unlikely. If the shells run out, they have to sail away to get more, and return three days later ready to commit more violence.
As a fix for those with short memories, today we have support counters for the warship pieces. Place the support counter in the hex in which the ship will use its gunnery strength. Leave the warship piece (the one provided in the game) in its sea hex.

In the game, we greatly simplified the appearance of Allied warships. Initially, the bombardment forces assigned to the 9 September landings were fairly weak. German air attacks on the first night of the landings spooked the admirals after torpedoes narrowly missed the battleship Valiant and carrier Formidable. Force H, with four battleships, two fleet carriers and eighteen destroyers, stayed out to sea to watch for the Italan fleet until the 12th, when they sailed to Malta. Force V, the cruisers and escort carriers assigned to direct cover, left for Palermo on the 12th.

When German counterattacks threatened the beachhead, Vice Admiral Algernon Willis ignored his cautious instructions and offered to risk any and all of his heavy ships to protect the soldiers. Two cruisers joined the gun line on the 14th, two battleships on the 15th and three more cruisers on the 16th. Willis alerted his remaining ships (two more battleships and two cruisers) to be ready to add their support, but Fifth Army did not call for them.
As a variation, change the set up and appearance of warships as follows. The following are available at game start:

1. Northern Attack Force. Ships of the Northern Attack Force may only support British ground units.

• MN Roberts
• CL Delhi
• CL Mauritius
• CL Uganda
• CL Orion
• DD Laforey
• DD Lookout
• DD Loyal
• DD Nubian
• DD Tartar

2. Southern Attack Force. Ships of the Southern Attack Force may only support American ground units.

• MN Abercrombie
• CL Philadelphia
• CL Savannah
• CL Brooklyn
• GB Flores
• DD Bristol
• DD Edison
• DD Ludlow
• DD Woolsey

The following groups are available as reinforcements.

3. Boise. Each turn starting on 9 Sept AM, the Allied player rolls two dice. On a result of 10 or more, the following appears as a reinforcement. She must be added to either the Northern or Southern Attack Force.

• CL Boise

3. Agnew Group. Each turn starting two turns after Boise has appeared, the Allied player rolls two dice. Add one to the result for each Allied HQ which has been eliminated and for every 10 Allied steps that have been lost. On a result of 10 or more, the following appear as reinforcements. They must be added as a group to either the Northern or Southern Attack Force.

• CL Aurora
• CL Penelope

4. Bisset Group. Each turn starting four turns after the Agnew Group has appeared, the Allied player rolls two dice. Add one to the result for each Allied HQ which has been eliminated and for every 10 Allied steps that have been lost. On a result of 10 or more, the following appear as reinforcements. They must be added as a group to either the Northern or Southern Attack Force.

• BB Warspite
• BB Valiant

5. Force V. Each turn starting four turns after the Bisset Group has appeared, the Allied player rolls two dice. Add one to the result for each Allied HQ which has been eliminated and for every 10 Allied steps that have been lost since the Bisset Group’s appearance. On a result of 10 or more, the following appear as reinforcements. They must be added as a group to either the Northern or Southern Attack Force.

• CL Euryalus
• CL Scylla
• CL Charybdis

6. Carcac Group. Each turn starting four turns after Force V has appeared, the Allied player rolls two dice. Add one to the result for each Allied HQ which has been eliminated and for every 10 Allied steps that have been lost since Force V’s appearance. On a result of 10 or more, the following appear as reinforcements. They must be added as a group to either the Northern or Southern Attack Force.

• BB Nelson
• BB Rodney
• DD Fantasque
• DD Terrible

7. Power Group. Each turn starting four turns after the Carcac Group has appeared, the Allied player rolls two dice. Add one to the result for each Allied HQ which has been eliminated and for every 10 Allied steps that have been lost since the Carcac Group’s appearance. On a result of 10 or more, the following appear as reinforcements. They must be added as a group to either the Northern or Southern Attack Force.

• BB Howe
• BB King George V

Note that the British DE Blackmore from the game is not used, but there are several additional ships, plus support counters for the existing ships. You can download the new support and warship counters here.