Author	goosebrown (Britain, Maori, New Zealand)
Method	VASSAL
Victor	Germany, Italy
Participants	treadasaurusrex (AAR)
Play Date	2022-01-18
Language	English
Scenario	DeRa023

The 28th Maori Battalion with their attached section of Valentines from the 8th RTR moved west past Sollum into the wind as the lowering sand cloud on the horizon moved east to meet them. The day would obviously be a race between the wind and the Maoris. If the weather held and the wind stayed down, it would take an hour and a half for them to the jumping off line on the ridge to the south of the position west of the town. Although spirits were high, the German and Italian defenders had taken a defensive position on a small hill with good views of the town and the highway to the south. It wouldn't be easy to crack their interlocking fields of fire and it would be worse if the Khamsin blew in, reducing the visibility to the bare minimum.

The first action of the Maori in Libya was not going to be a hāngī with the Whānau.

The garrison of two threadbare companies of the 4th Libyan Labor Battalion and a company of the DAK had dug in on the hill and was praying for the hot desert wind as they watched the Maori advance to contact in road order along the coast highway.

Would the Maori or the sand get there first.

The tanks of the 8th RTR led the column with the task of bypassing the hillock along the main road then, once west of oasis position, to turn north toward the coast and gain an enfilade position on the enemy's right. The 28th battalion would move along the road and deploy around the south and east sides of the hillock then use their machine guns and mortars to prep for a general infantry assault that would force defenders to retreat into the arms of the RTR.

At first the sand held on the eastern horizon, a hanging cloud of darkness in a swirling wall, but by turn six, the sand rushed like a freight train toward the battlefield and instantly plunged it into a murk of dust and grime that scoured the world down to absolutely point blank range.

The 28th instantly adapted to the worsening conditions to deploy early into line of battle for assault as there would not be time to move and set up the mortars and machine guns to cover the assault. It was going to be cold steel and guts.

As the Maori deployed and moved to contact, the khamsin lifted for a couple turns and the DAK and their labor saw the 28th battalion, a wall of dark muscle and bayonet points coming for them.

On the Maori left flank the Valentines advanced to fire at the dug in colonial troops on the Italian right and succeeded in demoralizing a platoon creating a crack to exploit the next movement. On the Maori right, the mortars deployed at maximum range of the dug in DAK Oasis company ready to start supporting the infantry moving to contact. Two companies of the Maori advanced to contact on the east side of the hill in preparation for an assault. In the centre the Maori advanced to the foot of the hill and began to engage the Colonial troops on their left.

The DAK started to inflict damage on the Maori on the valley floor as they advanced on the hilltop position but the sand crashed back down and the world became the point of the bayonet and the dirt and grit of the desert. As the sand closed in the Valentines on the left forced an entire company of Italians to surrender to be hustled back to disappear into the sand in the direction of the east-west road. On the right, a two platoon detachment assaulted the colonial troops on the Axis far left. In the center, against the Oasis company, the Maori stalled while taking casualties.

In the next turn the Valentines moved into assault on two more platoons of the colonial labor battalion and remained engaged there. On the right, the eastern edge of the hill, the 28th succeeded in assaulting and forcing the Italians to surrender. More prisoners back to the road and captivity in Australia. The DAK though held firm and received the Maori assault as the entire battle turned into a hairball on all the sides. Maori on all the sides and the Axis hunkered down in the center of the hill.

Over the last two turns the Maori made progress and received the surrender of more and more Italian troops and some of the DAK but in the end, the platoon there on the corner of the DAK line, held on though totally surrounded.

20 steps of Axis units were destroyed and 10 Maori steps went to their ancestors, but the victory conditions are the victory conditions and the Maori made their way back to the start line with their heads bowed and carrying all the automatic weapons they could possibly carry.

Author	treadasaurusrex (Germany, Italy)
Method	VASSAL
Victor	Germany, Italy
Participants	goosebrown (AAR)
Play Date	2022-01-18
Language	English
Scenario	DeRa023

This was an exciting, 2-session, online play-through with a skilled opponent leading the Maori/British side. The second session lasted just more than 4 late-night hours. I had the unfortunate and ill-equipped, Italo-German force charged with holding out for 20 game turns. We played this one without the unscalable fog of war rule. This was an interesting learning experience for both sides as the weather intervened decisively during the game, forcing changes in operational plans and tactics on both sides. Among the highlights of this play-through were: 1) a fine approach march and a methodical movement to contact orchestrated by my opponent; 2) the surrender of an entire company (6 steps) of the Italian 4th Libyan Labor Battalion to my opponent's lone tank platoon, caused by an over-eager Italian Tenente leading his men out of their trenches to attempt a close assault; 3) the loss of the Allied Commander of the attacking Maori force due to unlucky morale throws while leading his men in a close assault; and 4) oops, we forgot to invoke the leader decapitation rule when the Allied Commander was eliminated.

From the beginning, it was clear that this is another poorly-designed and not properly play tested scenario. The scenario instructions require the extremely powerful, Maori and Commonwealth force to eliminate ALL Axis units north of hexes numbered ##10 or higher. There is no minimum level of Allied or Axis step losses required as part of the victory conditions and no mention of the need for the Commonwealth force to occupy the town of Sollum. Technically, the latter objective was the primary mission of this portion of the Operation Crusader offensive. I rate this scenario as a 2.

Desert Rats has a random events table that is triggered by both sides throwing identical initiative determination dice. In our effort, this caused 2 incidents of sandstorms, one of only 3 turns duration, and one that lasted 9 game turns! This sandstorm event forced the fighting to be particularly fierce as spotting distance, and consequently weapon range, were reduced to only 2 hexesI Allied supporting and prepatory fires were dramatically reduced by this misfortune, as was Axis mortar and HMG fire. This required the continuous application of ferocious Maori "cold steel" close assaults, against a resolute hilltop defense centered on Hex 0624.

All this aside, this scenario proved to be an intense, but fun-filled, desert shoot 'em up with a patient and flexible opponent. By the end, 10 steps of fine Maori infantry and one leader was eliminated on the Allied side. The Axis force lost 20 steps and 3 leaders. All that remained of the Italo-German force at the end, was a half-strength, disrupted, German infantry platoon, an intact HMG unit and a single Africa Korps Captain. The final result was a hard-fought Axis victory that resembled the 1836 Siege of the Alamo.

Author	triangular_cube
Method	Solo
Victor	Britain, Maori, New Zealand
Play Date	2023-03-06
Language	English
Scenario	DeRa023

This was a very quick playing maneuver scenario in which the Allies attempt to run down abysmal morale Axis dorks and roll for surrender calls every chance they get. The Axis, having no chance to do anything else, must split up into as many small groups as possible with their limited leader pool and flee to all corners of the map and hope to slip around enough to outlast the clock. Standing and fighting would be a fruitless endeavor as they will surrender nearly instantly to the Allies, and have no hope of achieving a kill count victory.

As it worked out, the Brit tank moving up the road rolled into contact with the Germans after a few turns, thanks to that road movement rate. They all failed the first surrender rolls. Then it cut east into a group of retreating Italians who also failed the first surrender call. Maori moving up the road pursued the last group of Germans to the west, while those advancing up the coast cornered the last group of Italians who surrendered to INF after a brief burst of DF.

Not much here, but at least it was fairly unique. I don't see the Allies ever losing this one unless they are truly careless when setting up their net and let the Axis slip behind them more than once.

Germans set up on northern hill while Italians set up in an east-west line starting at the town. New Zealanders advanced along the road and split up with half their forces heading north to attack the Germans. Northern force circled around Germans and attacked from the north. Germans were quickly demoralized and fled south. Italian units were systematically eliminated, however units in the town put up a stout defense. With seven turns to go the Italians had eliminated five New Zealand steps to secure victory, but with three turns to go all Axis forces were eliminated, gaining a draw for the New Zealanders. This was a scenario that could go either way, but wouldn't be much fun for the Axis player in a two player game as his only goal is to not have all his units eliminated.