Cretan War - notes to myself.

I've been reading up on the Cretan War of the 17th century and thinking about the operational gaming opportunities.  This was a 27 year conflict between the Venetian and Ottoman Empires over the island of Crete and its valuable resources and trading links.  The Venetians were aided by a number of Christian allies whilst the Ottomans often employed Dutch and English pirates.

This was a largely naval war with amphibious landings and sieges which was decided by the fall of Candia, Crete's capital, a Venetian stronghold which was besieged for the whole duration of the conflict.  Ultimately, the war was about who could maintain the siege with supply lines from Constantinople and Venice witnessing naval battles, sieges and amphibious assaults.

This sounds a bit like operation Nostalgia, the WW2 operational game Mark and I have been contemplating for years.

It also sounds like a similar concept for a WW2 pacific operational game.

So, I could develop the terrain and have a number of other gaming periods as spin offs - always a plus when putting in the effort of terrain/army building.

I could get the fleets in plastic or metal/resin.  This is a 1/450 model from Revell which is close enough to fit in.

                     
The idea of doing the naval side of the game in 1/300 is appealing and who wouldn't want to fight an amphibious game with Venetians and Turks?

The operational game would follow the traditional set up with the Turks as attacker.  3B would be Candia and its fortified port.  3A would be the outer walls and the Ottoman siege lines.  The other tables would be small islands or larger ones depending on whether they are open or close terrain.  1C would be an outer Venetian fort.  Lines of supply will be crucial.  I may have one axis of attack from Constantinople and the other from North Africa.

Each side would have points to allocate for ships/troops/supplies.  The CinC's would allocate the forces with an opportunity every half hour to reallocate points on the hour.  If both sides choose to reallocate on the hour then a campaign year has concluded and the forces are reset but the positions remain held by the occupiers.

If one side feels it has an advantage then it can push on past the hour.  I may have to have an obligatory reset at lunch or if one side is just sitting on their positions then the umpire calls for a reset.

Just some ideas for me to refer back to in the future.