Author	treadasaurusrex (Britain)
Method	VASSAL
Victor	Draw
Participants	Tankodactyl
Play Date	2023-02-26
Language	English
Scenario	AfKo043

This was an extended, 6-session, entertaining play-through with the deliberate & crafty Tankodactyl playing the advancing German side in a mobile firefight that we started last November. I played the British rearguard commander trying to stem the onrushing Africa Korps in what turned out to be a slightly frustrating, but hard fought draw. Happily both sides had armor units in this free-flowing, exit-based, scenario. We used the FOW, excess initiative, consolidation and extended assault optional rules, Since this was an introductory scenario for my rookie opponent, we skipped the AK random events table, but tried the following three experimental house rules: Standardized Movement for Mechanized Units All mechanized units may move through clear hexes at a movement cost of only 1 movement point (MP) per hex, instead of 1 1/2. Add one to this cost if moving up or down slopes hexes. Road Movement for Mechanized & Foot UnitsAll FOOT & MECHANIZED units may move on roads at the rate of 1/2 a Movement Point (MP) per road hex, just like MOTORIZED units. Dug In Units are Automatically in Limiting Terrain in Desert Games Unless prohibited by special scenario rules, ALL units that are dug-in on hill, slope or wadi & gully hexes are considered to be in limiting terrain and are spotted by enemy units approaching to within 3 hexes, or 4 hexes for reconnaissance units – unless they are marked with a spotted marker, see 8.22.

Both sides drew decent sets of leaders. There were 11 FOW-shortened turns of the 33 we played.

For the defending Tommies, this was a case of making a fighting withdrawal with fangs, in the form of several blocking positions and repeated counter attacks to try and slow the inexorable Axis flow to the east. As others have reported, the Germans were able to outmaneuver the blocking forces again and again thanks to their longer ranged gun, but not before having to repeatedly slow down & deploy their infantry to form combined arms attacks. The Tommies kept the 25-pdr gun back and as close to hex 3-2416 as was tactically possible hoping to be able to score some decent cross fire shots with British A-13 tanks, in a late game fall back situation. To begin, the Germans swing south en masse (right flank) and a fair amount of maneuver developed throughout our play-through. Naturally, the Rolls Royce A/C, Mark VIB light tank and the Pz-II platoon were all eliminated by the end of game turn 12. In the mid-game period, the Germans began moving their armor in a sweeping left flank advance to better flank the British strongpoints. Several, rather costly counter attacks with infantry and tanks cut off this threat. Both sides had too many casualties by the end of game turn 22, but we fought on until by mutual agreement we agreed to a draw.

There were no Australians that we could can find in the AK scenario book. Must have been the captured Italian tanks in this scenario manned by Aussie crews?