Author	treadasaurusrex (Italy)
Method	VASSAL
Victor	Italy
Participants	Tankodactyl
Play Date	2023-02-09
Language	English
Scenario	TaBa047

This was a 5-session play-through with the hard-charging, Tankodactyl leading the scuttling German combined arms horde. I played the Italian side in what turned out to be a rather unbalanced and too long (36 turns) scenario, where the Italians had a decided edge in AT assets. We used the FOW, consolidation, excess initiative, extended assault, smoke/illum optional rules. There were 12 FOW-shortened game turns in our 5 sessions. Both sides had light tanks aplenty, and both sides had decent leader draws.

Others have described this, fast-paced entry & exit battle, that displays the Italian Celere Division concept, perhaps at it's best. Many motorcycles and tankettes in this one. It is dominated by Italian 47mm AT guns, and their interior lines, which allows quick reaction to German moves, suitable to the Italians highly mobile force. The Italians quickly move into the town and onto dominating terrain in the hills on Map 2. As they begin to consolidate, the Germans com eon in a 2-pronged advance, which the Italians quickly infiltrate in the north, at the cost of some tankettes. The Germans in the southern prong are shot up and their advance, unexpectedly stalls with considerable morale issues. Meanwhile, Italian AT fire begins to decimate the Pz-I mob in the north and the Italian victory points accumulate rapidly.

The balance of the overlong scenario was characterized by aggressive play by the Italian MTC and sacrificial tankettes, coupled with a great many AT gun shots that stymie the Germans on both sides. This eventually results in a costly Italian victory!

This one is fun-to-play, and could probably have gone either way in our play-through. I give it a 3 for fun, but it should have been more balanced since it is a theoretical battle. In general, my opponent suffered from more than his fair share of bad luck in bothe morale recovery and combat die rolls. Between us, we threw 28 combat 7-die rolls. As is, this scenario is probably better suited to SOLO play.