Thursday 17 January 2019

WW2 Western Desert Game Report

In the post today arrived the secondhand book "The Life and Death of the Africa Korps" by Ronald Lewin. It is a book I once owned in the past but for some reason I let go. The book is to support my current interest in the WW2 Western Desert battles. Over Christmas and New Year holidays I managed to paint all the 6mm models I had, German and British, and have now ordered by next batch of models so I can add Italian forces into the mix and to make up a campaign.

A recent purchase arrived this week
Last weekend I was able to set up a WW2 game based upon the One Hour Wargaming scenario 9, Double Delaying Action. Where British forces must both stop the advancing German forces while at the same time retiring forces off the board. Because the Tank on Tank rules have limited action points the British only had to move onto the road (providing German units have not blocked the road).

British Forces
German forces
The scenario had a turn limit of 15 turns and to win the British had to successfully retire a unit on turns 4, 6, 8,10, and 12. While the Germans are required to take control of the buildings and have control of the road.

Opening positions
British artillery indirect fire proved very effective
The northern German force encountered accurately shooting from British tank units
A tank dual begins as armour from both sides close in
Another British unit prepares to retire
The tank dual continues with British forces getting the upper hand as a german motorcycle  reconnaissance unit tries to  out flank by going further North through rough terrain.
With their northern assault stymied the southern assault on the buildings begin
German units capture the buildings
British units engage to ensure the road remains in their control
German forces push forward
German air support arrives
The last British unit defending the road is eliminated with artillery fire.

The game ended in a draw with both forces achieving their victory conditions.

Force movements

13 comments:

  1. I am really enjoying the look for your desert table.

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    1. I am pleased the way the mat and terrain features work. I just need to create some marsh terrain and an escarpment to cover the terrain options for a future campaign.

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  2. Yep, a clever visual and highly functional.

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    1. Thanks, the terrain works well for me and can be setup very quickly. I think I need to work on my photos some more to mix up the look a bit. A few more close ups me thinks.

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  3. A great report on an atmospheric terrain!

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  4. Thank you. All the terrain is scratch build.

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  5. Hi Peter- it all looks great- well done indeed...are all your Vehicles and Armour made by IRREGULAR Miniatures? Is the Stuka also by IRREGULAR and at 1/300th Scale? Cheers. KEV.

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    1. Hi KEV. All the models are Heroics and Ros (www.heroicsandros.co.uk). Thanks, Peter

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    2. Thanks Peter- yes, Heroics and Ros- great models- will look up the site. Cheers. KEV.

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  6. Hi Peter,
    Good to read another of your WW2 desert AAR. Please carry on the excellent work. Regarding books on the desert campaign I would highly recommend the following:
    1) Desert War: The Battle of Sidi Rezegh by Peter Cox. (Written by a New Zealander, whose father fought there in 1941).
    2) Brazen Chariots by Major Robert Crisp. (Operation Crusader 1941 - first hand account from someone who actually fought there in tanks).
    3) WW2 Desert Tactics by Paddy Griffith Osprey Publishing.
    4) Battles in Miniature: A Wargaming Guide to the Western Desert Campaign by Donald Featherstone. I think you have this one.

    Regarding your battle mat, which colours did you use? Household emulsion on canvas?

    How are your modified Tank on Tank rules working out? Considering any "tweaks"?

    Any other WW2 rules you would recommend?

    Thank you,

    Peter

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    1. Hi Peter,
      Thank you for the list of books. I will keep a look out for them.
      For the mat I used watered down emulsion paint (the paint samples size) and mixed in a cheap dark brown acrylic from an art shop. I had to test mixes to be sure on colours before application with a sponge.
      As for WW2 rules I have previously based them on one-hour wargames. I did consider the WW2 rules from Panzer8 (https://web.archive.org/web/20160808235815/http://panzer8.weebly.com/rules.html) but have not played them because I have been very taken by Tank on Tank. So far the modifications mention in a post 29/12/18 are working and I have for the most part been just trying to finalise the unit stats.
      Regards, Peter

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    2. Hi Peter,
      I looked again in my library and would also recommend the following books, which may be of interest to you, as you previously said you intend to fight a WW2 desert war campaign:
      1) The Desert War by Alan Moorehead - The classic trilogy on the North African Campaign.
      2) Tobruk by Michael Carver - covers the Crusader and Gazala battles.
      3)The Desert War - Then and Now by Jean Paul Pallud.
      4) An Infantry Officer with the Eighth Army by Major H P Samwell M.C.
      5) The Diary of a Desert Rat by R L Crimp. My late father enjoyed reading this book, as it brings out the myriad routines of living and fighting in the desert.

      I really do enjoy reading about the various campaigns and battles and then conducting small unit actions on the wargame board.

      You are correct the "Tank on Tank" rules are VG for armoured desert engagements with infantry and anti-tank support.I will have a look at the Panzer8 rules. I looked at your WW2 rules based on OHWG and AH Panzerblitz. They are of interest thank you. One small point on sequence of play: I assume the order should be:
      1) Game Clock.
      2) Artillery & Mortar Fire.
      3) Movement.
      4) Combat.
      5) Reorganisation.
      I have put movement before combat as you state within your rules: "Only units that have not moved during the movement phase can engage in combat." Only a minor point.

      I assume combat range for all units is a maximum of two squares as per your Observation rule.

      Regarding your AAR which I do enjoy reading, can I request an OOB to understand the balance of forces within the engagement?

      Many thanks and carry on your excellent work.

      Peter.

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    3. Thanks for the extended book list. I will check out the library catalog. It has been a while since I used the grid based WW2 rules. The rational behind the order I think was: you could lay down a barrage before advancing or combat, and
      units not involved in combat could take advantage of combat results.
      I will add some order of battle to the game reports. just being a bit lazy while testing out the rule variations.

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