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.