Panzer Grenadier Battles on March 28th:
Spearhead Division #15 - Dillenberg
GGFF decimated at Bir el Gubi
Author Brett Nicholson
Method Solo
Victor Britain, India
Play Date 2013-09-04
Language English
Scenario DeRa032

The Cameron Highlanders and Mahrattas took a hiding in the morning hours of the attack (DR#31: Young Fascists: The Morning phase), perhaps due to underestimation of the enemy's will to fight or, more likely, attempting to take two hill positions before noon and make it back to camp in time for lunch. After maybe an hour's break or so the attack force set out again, this time with only one hill as the objective with a lot more time and a few more tanks to get the job done. This time, the Commonwealth forces would attempt to work together and link-up after assaulting the Southern hill from both the Eastern and Western flanks simultaneously.

The GGFF were ready for the attack, perhaps a bit smug about their earlier success and in no way concerned about tanks with their 102mm portee' gun repaired. They consolidated their battlegroup together determined to hold all posts and calmly observed the commonwealth forces approaching, lobbing a few mortar rounds at them to acknowledge their willingness to fight.

The Commonwealth forces this time decided not to send their Valentine tanks out right away and in fact sent them towards the vacant, Northern hill for cover until the 102mm could be dispatched. They set up a gauntlet of 2-pdrs on either side of the hill, spaced apart for crossfire, should the portee' give pursuit. Of course the Italian forces observed this and figured that their makeshift tank destroyer was doing them no good back at the hill and sent it out hunting. There was sufficient space between the 2-pdrs to pass through and no foot troops were going to slow down their advance to try and stop it. So a game of hide and seek began between the portee' and the Valentines. They moved around the Northern hill, both taking advantage of the upper hill areas blocking the line of site until one or the other was willing to engage the other. The Italians had the initiative advantage but became impatient. At 13:00/turn 5, the portee' gambled all and moved in range of the British tanks, allowing one platoon of them opportunity fire hoping that they would miss and that the fog of war would work in their favor. No such luck, the first shot from the Valentines sent the portee' into flames.

Meanwhile, back at the Southern hill, both the Cameron Highlanders and the Mahrattas have each lost a step of HMG units from opportunity fire. And, at 13:45/turn 8, in the confusion of battle, an Indian HMG unit fires on it's own troops, disrupting an adjacent INF unit along with a Subedar, not a British officer! However, the attack force manages to stay together and two battlefield promotions are given to the Indian forces, bringing two Naib Subedars into play. This must have had some effect on morale as by 14:15/turn 10, one of the enemy's upper hill posts is cleared from indirect fire support with sufficient time to clear the other five posts. At 14:45/turn 12, the first Indian asault is successful and a second upper hill hex is secured. The battle continues to rage on for another two hours with the GGFF resistance slowly crumbling and the Queen's Own Cameron's, not to be outdone by the Mahrattas, take their first hill position at 17:15/turn 22.

By 17:30/turn 23, the GGFF is surrounded apart from one hex left vacant for any Italian units that wish to give up and leave their posts. At this time the Valentines make an assault on their own against reduced and disrupted Italian with no chance of being eliminated in the process. British tanks alone clear two posts. At 18:15/turn 26, a sandstorm occurs which further aggravates the GGFF, affecting their recovery attempts and in desperation promote a Sergente on site (two random events back to back). By 18:45/turn 28, it was all over for the GGFF as the last unit, demoralized, is eliminated attempting to flee it's position. So the British and Commonwealth reach their victory objectives with an hour/ 4 turns, to spare -so what to do now? Well, there is still the Italian Colonel, demoralized, who managed to escape death or capture along with a Capitano; both lone leaders yet grouped together. So the Valentines decide to play a game of "Squish" while the 3-inch mortar units lob rounds at them. Surprisingly enough both leaders survive this for a turn or two then mortar fire eliminates the Capitano, leaving just the Colonel left. Valentine tanks are not successful in running him down as he makes for the Northern hill. At 19:45/turn 32, both the sandstorm and the game of "Squish" end with a GGFF Colonel left to tell the story of how valiant his young fascists were fighting to their last at Bir el Gubi.

A great play with a simple objective: kill them all, let Il Duce sort them out. At the end of play all Italian units eliminated save one leader. The Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders casualties were: One Major, 2 steps of INF, 2 steps of HMG; The 2/5th Mahrattas: 2 steps of INF and 1 step of HMG for a total of 7 step losses so even if they had failed in taking the hill they would have denied the GGFF a victory. I rated this a 4 for a fair balance of play and almost gave it a 5 but as a shared play, probably not as much fun for the Italian player not being able to move around much except with that one unit that's not quite sure if it's a truck, a artillery unit or a tank destroyer. A perfect scenario for solo play.

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