Panzer Grenadier Battles on March 29th:
Spearhead Division #16 - Final Accounting
Leave the Italians in the box
Author dricher (Germany)
Method Face to Face
Victor Germany, Italy
Participants unknown
Play Date 2014-03-29
Language English
Scenario DeRa041

This scenario was played as a team event by my gaming group. I act as moderator and facilitator for each game, and I do not participate directly as a player. My listing of “winning” is based on the PG HQ site cannot support a neutral role in AARs.

Lt Col Auer led the column towards the hill. He spread the units out, avoiding the road as he suspected the British were waiting in ambush on the other side of the flanking hills. He planned to come over the hill and catch them from above. But the British weren’t waiting passively. Lt Col Auer was surprised by the sudden appearance of British armor atop the hill, overlooking his truck mounted force. He immediately ordered the offloading of his guns, but too much of his infantry was slow to receive the dismount order. His tanks were in advance, so he would have to rely on them to destroy the British tanks.

The German tanks opened up, but the surprise of being caught off guard from above threw off their aim. Not a single British tank was destroyed, and five platoons of British armor opened fire on the loaded trucks. Five platoons of German engineers and infantry were blown to bits. Bodies and trucks littered the desert. Lt Col Auer, looking through his binoculars, could plainly see the British (players) high fiving each other in celebration. Little did they realize their celebration was coming to an end.

Half the German infantry was held back in reserve, and was not in a position to support the offloaded guns. While some heavy machine guns and a couple of other platoons were nearby, the Germans were caught off guard and in a weak position. Had the British infantry chosen this moment to rush the German guns it could have been a quick end of the German force. But instead the British infantry stayed over the crest of the hill, and the British tanks began to withdrawal. German 88mm fire blew apart a platoon of Stuarts. British forces on the flanking hill and the rear guard along the road began to advance on the battle site. The Germans began to establish their line at the base of the hill. Aerial reconnaissance showed the British troops were digging in just over the crest. The Germans sent half their tanks up the hill to flush them out.

The British infantry, along with their Bren carriers, rushed the German tanks, surrounding them and cutting off retreat. The Germans responded with artillery, aircraft, and machine guns, blowing a hole in the British envelopment. From then the tanks played a cat and mouse game with the British forces, who repeatedly attempted to envelope the tanks. German 88s repeatedly smashed Bren carriers, while artillery and air attacks rained down on British infantry. British tanks succeeded in getting flanking shots off on the remainder of the German tanks, but near misses weren’t enough, and the Germans escaped. British tanks, Brens, and infantry fell in numbers, scattered across the landscape. More aircraft attacked the reserve two pounders, making hash out of many of them. The British morale finally broke, and the British Colonel and Major agreed it was time to retreat. The British fell back, leaving the field to the Germans. A few parting shots by the Germans came to naught, but the battle was already over. The Germans remounted and continued their advance.

After reading AARs located here and taking a good look at the scenario, I decided to remove the Italians from the scenario. Everyone agreed keeping the Italians would have changed the scenario from a challenge for the Brits into an impossibility. The scenario still seemed sided towards the Germans, but there were several moments that could have made a German win more of a struggle. Unfortunately, even after plastering ten steps of Germans on trucks, the Brits never once won the initiative roll. The Germans always had a free hand to spoil the British plan. And the British never scored another step loss on the Germans, while the Germans destroyed seven steps of Stuarts, four Brens, and seven steps of other units, along with three leaders. The Brits still had significant forces, but artillery and air were causing so much problems the Brits never would have been able to stop the Germans exiting ten steps. The initial German casualties made the Brit players confident enough to advance on the Germans, but no so confident to charge them while five German infantry platoons were still off board. Had they mixed it up quickly while the German guns were getting positioned they may have stood a chance. Instead they regularly positioned themselves to get a gain with a successful initiative roll, a roll that never appeared.

Adding back the Italians would kill this scenario. My rating is based on no Italians. There was still a German bent to the scenario, but at least it was playable and provided fun for the group. Keeping the Italians would reduce my rating and result in what would seem to be a nearly unplayable British position.

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