This was a another of many desert hill assaults gone wrong, even for the defenders. Not one entrenchment was taken by commonwealth forces yet casualties were low in the attempt so Italy could not claim a victory either.

The Commonwealth had no OBA or any indirect fire support units to soften the enemy up before their approach whereas Italian indirect fire, coupled with the assistance of a German 88mm, was successful in disrupting, demoralizing and breaking up the leadership of the attackers before they made it to the hill. The attack was attempted from the northeast, bypassing most of the barbed wire hexes but the two engineers were late getting to the minefields, having to rally a few times as they were prime targets of indirect fire. Commonwealth units were pushed back from opportunity and indirect fire before they could successfully mount even one assault. Oddly enough, there were no Commonwealth foot unit losses the entire battle though one lieutenant was eliminated from compound demoralization. As time was running out by turn 19 I sent the brens in for support knowing that the 88mm could not miss eliminating one of them each turn (even snake eyes gets a hit with 0-rated armor) but also knew well enough that even at the rate of losing one bren a turn that Italy would not get the required 10 step losses to win. Also, the 88mm managed to eliminate 2 steps of Valentine tanks that attempted to assist foot units and quickly withdrew them after that loss.

By turn 24 it ended in a predictable draw with Commonwealth step losses only at a total of 8; 2 less than required for an Italian win. My personal play was more of a '2' but feel that overall the scenario is an average '3'. With a less cautious approach no doubt that the Italians would of won it, I just wasn't feeling suicidally brave with the Commonwealth force this time. For all the efforts of the attack just a mere 2 steps of Italian ENG units were eliminated and was not lucky or capable of knocking out the German 88mm. Also, none of the British leaders drawn had any combat modifiers to be able to combine direct fire values. This too was also a disadvantage for the Commonwealth attack. Also, 18 of 24 turns passed before there was even one step loss which made play unusual though perhaps boring; even the minefields weren't generating any results. Perhaps with a better British leader draw and a little more risk-taking the scenario would have been less of a yawn.

Author	triangular_cube
Method	Solo
Victor	Draw
Play Date	2022-12-28
Language	English
Scenario	DeRa020

This one really just doesn't work. Morale difference or no, the Brits have to cross the map, wire, and minefields while under artillery fire, to then assault and clear out up to 17 Italian entrenchments on a hill... with no artillery support of their own... in a short time. Oh and they cant use their massive amount of Bren carriers either because the Italians have a friendly 88 on the top of that hill that gets a free kill every turn they are in range, and the Brens alone are enough to trigger the Italian VCs.

Brits have no chance at all. So they choose not to engage, and force a draw. I really hate to play this way, because many Desert Rats have the attacking force's best option to just deny combat for a draw, so I generally have been forcing the attack. This one is so one sided that I called the scenario out for it and didnt.

A real dud, worst of the module so far. Pass on this one. I reserve ratings of "1" for mechanically broken or impossible scenarios, this is one of them.

Author	treadasaurusrex (Britain)
Method	VASSAL
Victor	Draw
Participants	Tubac52
Play Date	2023-03-06
Language	English
Scenario	DeRa020

This was another 1-session crapulent scenario in the Desert Rats package as others has reported in great detail. This one was so badly designed that by mutual consent, we bagged it on the 3rd game turn and settled for a boring draw.

There is no real possibility of the Tommies pulling off a win in this mess, due to very poorly conceived victory conditions. Both sides drew good leaders, in what might have been a good fight if this scenario had been decently play-tested.

Don't know why they bothered publishing this encounter. We both give this dog a generous rating of: 1.