It took 3. sessions to finish this face-to-face play through. As noted by others, the Allied side must take and hold 4 hill hexes that are substantially fortified by the Italians via entrenchments held by multiple infantry and artillery units. The reinforced Australian battalion-sized task force was formidable given their very high morale and the 4 platoons of supporting Matilda Infantry tanks. My steadfast opponent led a powerful defense with interlocking fields of fire and had considerable luck in his combat die rolls. With surrender rolls, his luck was not so good. Generally, when the Matildas got close, the fraidy-cat 1st Battalion 70th Regiment and the CCNN troops were very apt to surrender en masse.

This scenario was a close one and the Australians barely managed a victory on the last - bad visibility turn. Movement to contact was very long given the short (16 turns) allotted and the desperate lack of Allied transport - in spite of the 3 Bren carrier units! As others have said in their AARs, these APCs are quite useful in assaults. Advance planning and attack sequencing are crucial for the Allies - something that a rookie like me is still trying - and mostly failing - to master. Thankfully, we did not play with the dreaded Fog of War (FOW) rule which can play havoc with any kind of decent attack sequencing. This was especially true with the 2-hex hilltop entrenchment held by a stout and reliable Italian battalion that fought to the end and refused to surrender. In the end, all 4 hills were captured by the Allied side, who lost 9 steps doing so. One more step loss and the Italians would have won!

On the other hand, the Italian side lost 28 steps that surrendered and another 17 were destroyed holding their positions. It was a heck of a race to get the Australian infantry to that last hill, but it can be done -- if the dice gods are with you. There is very little time to do a lot of assaulting and the tanks must lead.

My rating of 3 is generous as this scenario is bound to be an unpleasant task for the Italian side. Adding a two or more turns at the start of this scenario would make it much easier for the Allied player to secure all 4 hills. To equalize this, the Italian side might be given a couple of minefields and at least 1 more HMG unit.