The Fliegerkorps at Stalingrad?

[KG_Cloghaun]

Operation Mercury is very significant given the fact that large airborne operations were never conducted again by the Germans. If the Enigma code had not been cracked, Major-General Freyberg would not have had advance warning of the invasion & the FJ's wouldn't have suffered the losses they incurred the 1st day. Although the Germans were also operating on faulty intell & unwisely attacked Maleme airfield (thinking there were only 5,000 British on the island).

My point is that had the Germans suffered far fewer losses at Crete, could we have seen the Germans conduct airborne ops later in the war? Consider Student & the XI Fliegerkorps dropping in on the east bank of the Volga in the fall of 42' to cut off reinforcement to Stalingrad.

What other battles might the Fliegerkorps have been used in a "plausible" way to affect the outcome?

[KG_Jag]

Malta--encore to Crete!

The taking of Malta by the Axis, changes the war in the MTO and not in a good way for the Allies.

[KG_AGCent]

Without knowing too much about the forces in the area, I would say Leningrad in late '41 or early '42. Airborne forces were far from being utilized to their fullest by the germans, IMHO. When the germans owned the air in the early part of ww2 on the Ost Front they would have given the opportunity to leverage their flexibility in opening and securing bridgeheads, curtting off reinforcement and retreats, etc. Their true flexibility and staying power would have only been realized with the addition of the pfaustpatrone and Panzerfaust. Add to that the securing of an air bridgehead, flying in the Gebirgsjaeger with their highly mobile but heavier support weapons would make a great combination.

In fact I think I will try this in my next Hearts of Iron game.