This scenario gives the German 90th Light Division an ardous task: to exit 20 steps off the north edge of map 5 starting from anywhere on map 4 below it and to eliminate 10 British steps in the process. The British win if the Germans do not and if they also eliminate 10 German steps. The British have a ton of Grant and Stuart tanks; Bren carriers; available OBA of 4 x 13; a decent amount of foot units along with one aircraft drawn each turn to wreak havoc on the German forces with. The Germans have a lot of foot units but just a few SPW251s for armoured transport and have to rely on one unit of 88mm AA guns and four units of 50mm AT guns to keep British armour at distance while attempting to somehow make a breakthrough.

Of course the British are able to enter the northern map from the east with the benefit of the road to attempt to block German units from making it past the southern hill area and have enough time to get their tanks and carriers off the road and towards the northwest edge where though still in range of the AT weapons, the firepower is reduced. British Foot units divided up; a small detachment stayed at the road, blocking any German transport while a larger force attacked the hill, getting close enough to spot for OBA against the 88 and 50mms. Early on, the German were able to eliminate a Stuart, a Grant and two steps of Bren carriers but soon enough; with the deadly combination of British OBA and aircraft all German AT capable weapons were taken out. And without AT weapons there was nothing stopping overwhelming numbers of British armour from both encircling and utterly devastating German foot units. I did not know how to protect these valuable AT weapons. Even once moving them out of sight of British leaders, on the other side of the hill, they could not be protected from British airpower; especially when the Hurricane II was drawn quite a few times. So once the 88 and 50mms were gone I knew it was over but played out the scenario until turn 29 of 44 when at that point there were only 18 German steps left on the map and very few of those in good order. At that point with less than 20 German steps remaining it was an unshakable British win. In fact, not one German unit had been able to escape off the north edge at all by turn 29.

I still give this scenario a '3' rating because there has to be some way for the Germans to win it but I just didn't have it in me. Keeping the German AA and AT guns in good order or intact is crucial but there is only so little space to hide and even then there are no safe spaces from aircraft. So with a potential 44 turns it's only a matter of time before those valuable guns are eliminated. No matter what I did with the remaining German foot units, whether keeping them together or scattering the they just kept getting chased down and decimated. I think this would make make a great challenge for a seasoned, veteran axis player but not an impossible German win.

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.

In this scenario the Germans must cross the width of one map (from south to north, setting up anywhere on the southern mapsheet) and exit 20 steps from the board while inflicting 10 steps against the British. The British enter the east edge and while the distance is farther, they have the road to assist. They must prevent the German exit condition while inflicting 10 steps. Suspecting a balance issue, I removed the British aircraft from the scenario. Tanks count double, trucks do not count. The Germans set up on the west edge of the southern map ready to run, and the scenario is on.

During the pre-mission brief Lt Col Welles made sure to remind his subordinate officers to beware German antitank guns. Following the last disaster when a frontal assault on an entrenched German line was obliterated by German antitank fire British commanders were repeatedly reminded not to commit the same error. Whatever else happens, do not drive the tanks into the teeth of German guns.

Col Auer advanced his 90th Light Division forces northwards. He hadn’t gotten far when dust clouds appeared on the eastern horizon. He had expected a British advance, but had not expected them to advance this quickly. He pushed his forces behind a hill, brought up the antitank guns, and began deploying infantry when the British tanks appeared in his front. And on his flank. And more were coming. Lots of British…

Both sides drew up against each other, Germans bailing out of trucks while British tanks surrounded the Germans on two sides. A couple of arty barrages on either side led to nothing, with German gunners holding position and British trucks carrying AT guns at the back of the caravan brushing off the shelling. Then it happened. British tanker Sergeant Laverty led his tanks right into the teeth of the German antitank guns. German AT fire was fairly ineffective, the desert heat playing games with the rangefinding equipment. But Sergeant Laverty’s tank was blown to smithereens, leaving unled tanks to mill about in front of the guns. The British trucks that ignored the German artillery decided to part and wait, still inside of spotting range. Another salvo from German artillery blew them to pieces. Word quickly spread around the British force that Lt Charles’ body was seen still sitting in one of the burning trucks.

Then mayhem broke loose. The German gunners found their range just as tanker Sergeant Fields moved more tanks into the death zone of the German guns, intent to help pull Sgt Laverty’s command out. British tanks began exploding everywhere. Soon three dozen British tanks littered the desert. Infantry moved up in Brens intent on hitting the German left flank, and soon Bren wreckage and British bodies scattered around the German left at near point blank range. The British reeled. While Stuart tanks continued to pressure the German right, the British right and center began to pull back. The British force seemed decimated (21 steps given double scoring for tanks) for minor German losses (3 steps).

Another surprise went through the British forces as someone approached who they thought was seasoned Lt MacMurray to inform him of young Lt Charles’ death. The Lt turned, and the messenger realized THIS was Lt Charles! Then where was Lt MacMurray? Could it be? Yes, it appeared Lt MacMurray was burning in the truck! The realization that young beloved Lt Charles was still alive while that seasoned coward MacMurray was burning seemed to lift the morale of the British forces. (We’re using personal characters in the campaign, and the British players mixed up whose Lt was where.)

At this point the British closed for an assault on top of the hill. The Germans met it with relish until two events: 1) the death of the highly capable Lt Gensch (not a personal character) in the assault and 2) the appearance of reinforcing British tanks. Lt Dok (a personal character) attempted to reinvigorate the German units in assault, but found himself facing a dozen British tanks alone as the three platoons with him broke.

By this time the British losses were very large (25 steps), but they were beginning to gain on the Germans (10 steps). Col Auer realized there was little chance of breaking through. Despite the huge losses the British forces were still significant. Too much infantry was being tied down in assaults, the British tanks were finally staying away from his AT guns, and Lt Dok was in trouble. Col Auer chose to yield the field of battle to the British, and pulled back. The British were exhausted, and could not manage pursuit. They accepted the victory as the Germans returned south.

We had a blast with this scenario, but even without aircraft the British force was just too large. Despite tactical errors costing the Brits significant forces, they still had plenty to act as a blocking force. In effect the Brits can shrug off massive losses. We discussed splitting the German force, but that would reduce German firepower while the Brits could potentially split their force and still have sufficient firepower. But in the case of splitting such a tactical error might afford the Germans the chance to get some steps off. Perhaps not 20, but at least enough to make the Brits sweat about losing. The scenario probably could still have gone either way, but the Germans were starting to wear down since they just did not have enough force. Eliminating the road on the map might also give the Germans a decent chance since their transport is mainly trucks while the Brits have 18 tank units. If it wasn’t for the British tactical error helping balance the forces, this scenario would probably deserve a 2 due to massive imbalance. But since we had a lot of fun, I’ll give this scenario a 3.