Monday 13 April 2020

WW2 western desert campaign turn 2 - game 2 report

This battle report is the second game of the current campaign turn. This is a must-win game for the Axis forces who having previously seen their earlier attack by forces from the Ariete armoured division fail to make a breakthrough.

Campaign turn 2 continues.
Elements of the 21st Panzer division moved forward and soon found themselves attacking the positions of a refitted 7th Armour division (when the hidden marker was revealed on the campaign map).

The usual selection of terrain cards determined the tabletop and 3 game objectives. Elements of the 21st Panzer division will arrive at the top of the map. They will have few forces to deploy on the tabletop as: 1) their battle event has them surprised so 30% of their forces will arrive late, and 2) they also have another 30% of their unit involved in a flanking attack.

Game map and objectives.
The Allies battle event was advanced defence which was the reason Axis forces have a flanking force. The 7th Armoured division units are positioned well forward on the tabletop.

The tabletop layout and deployment shows how weak the initial Panzer force is.
The opening stage of the battle had German forces quickly take up defensive positions on the escarpment and hills. The Allies quickly launched an attack with all their armoured elements before other German units arrive.

Initial moves has the 7th Armour quickly engage the advance elements of the 21st Panzer.
Advance German elements are quickly placed under pressure and any thoughts of attack were quashed as they take up defensive position. An 88mm is positioned on the escarpment.
The German commander started to drip feed in his delayed forces as they arrived into the defensive line, and flanking forces were diverted to attack the Allied flank of their armoured attack.

The Allied attack while making good progress have to divert units to block German units arriving on the flank.
Germans rush all available forces, including flanking units, to help fend off the Allied armoured attack.
At the height of the Allied attack they get a foothold on the hill, one of their objectives.
The arriving German flank and reserve units were eventually able to turn back the Allied armoured attack. The Allies then pushed forward a few units from the town in an attempt to hamper and disrupt the German units as they attempt to push forward to take the Allied occupied hills.

The final stages of the battle as momentum changes in favour of the German forces.
German units regroup and prepare to attack the Allied defended hill and objective.
Having regrouped and brought forward artillery and AT guns to support the attack on the hill. German units began their attack after seeing off a minor attack from the town.

German forces are able to take the hills and a second game objective.
The longer shooting ranges of German guns puts pressure on Allied defenders. Who unable to just sit back were forced into making a series of attacks to disrupt the German assault. Smoke screens were used with some of the counter attacks.
So a narrow Axis success and the campaign turn will now go down to a third and deciding game.

I have played the next game and am trying to decided whether to post the report or the draft rules (a variant of Lock 'n' Load's Tanks on Tank game rules).

17 comments:

  1. Hi Peter,

    Another good battle. Could you please remind me how you determine the original OOB for the various Divisions as represented by the counters before you apply the scenario battle conditions?

    Regards

    Simon

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    1. Hi Simon, I have adjusted my approach on this to avoid any book keeping and will post soon details. The essence of the approach is to have an OOB then dice for each unit based upon supply status and game results. Thanks Peter

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  2. A slow start for Jerry but it almost seemed to play to his advantage by drawing Tommy in. On the campaign rules - the formation line ups seem a bit random. One thought I had would be to allow the Germans, after both sides have set up, to see the Allied deployment and swap one pair of units either in terms of their position or whether attacking. This would simulate their intelligence intercepts of Allied radio traffic which gave Rommel quite an advantage. Obviously later in the campaign this would flip round as his EW unit was captured, codes were changed and ULTRA started to have an impact.
    Please, let's have the draft rules first it will make it easier to understand how the games play out as I sometimes struggle to see why the advantage flips between sides.

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    1. As I am playing solo the hidden counters give a sense of uncertainty. As a rule you could allow one counter to be flipped on a dice roll of 4+ if intelligence was successful and accurate. I have added a link to the rules at top of blog. (I hope the link works).

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  3. Another great battle report. I am really looking forward to reading your rules variant. I have been holding off my own game wanting to see these first.

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    1. Thanks. I have posted the first draft of the rules. See links to rules.

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  4. A good AAR and lovely looking table. A close run thing for the Axis and as you say, the lack of range on the Allied guns is always an issue, but especially in this theatre.

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    1. Thank you. The lack of combat range is more noticeable towards the end of a game when there are fewer units. Allied units have the choice of charging forward or retiring.

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  5. Outstanding recap, Peter and a lot of work. The combination of game table shots and "in-action" maps is perfect. Only three battles in the campaign? I suggest you refight the entire Western Desert campaign in miniature!

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    1. Thank you kindly. This could turn out to be a long campaign, but it will knock off all the rough edges from the rules. First draft now posted and the campaign rules are being written up too.

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  6. I'm glad this is ending soon, its too seductive........

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    1. I may not have been clear in my posting. This is the end of campaign turn 2. The best of 3 games decide whether the attacker moves forward 1 zone on the campaign map.

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  7. Great game report. Throwing the first punch almost worked for the Allies. I like the desert scrub pieces, they look very effective.

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    1. The Allies came so close to stealing a quick victory. I am pleased the way the scrub turned out.

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  8. Here's a vote for the report, the rules can wait! Very interesting, looking forward to fight number 3 of turn 2. I thought the Brits were doing very well, but with the German flank deployment I should have been expecting it.

    V/R,
    Jack

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    1. Hi Jack, I got to the rules before reading your comment. As for the game, the aggressive defence by Allied forces almost paid off.

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    2. Ha, no problem at all, Peter, just thanks for all your hard work and sharing it!

      Indeed, it did. I was pulling for them ;)

      V/R,
      Jack

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