Introduction

The first hurdle was deciding why the Italians had Divisional Artillery and no one to Spot for it (no Regular Leaders), as well as why the British had 3-Inch Mortars and no one to use them on (though it was ultimately just possible to disrupt an Italian tank with Bombardment Fire). As the scenario clearly envisaged the use of the OBA, for this battle, we agreed the Italian tanks having Tank Leaders could Spot for OBA. Using the OBA as Pre-Registered (as in Beyond Normandy) was also a possibility, but my opponent, playing the Italians, didn't like that idea. The Mortars took up space.

As a side note, we used the Divisione Ariete counters from the Avalanche Press download, and they looked brilliant on the board.

The Plans

As Jay mentions in his AAR, the beginning of this fight appears a bit slow, but this is, in my opinion, deceptive. In point of fact, the decisions the Italian and South African Players make during the manoeuver phase of the scenario are decisive.

The Italians

The Italian player chose a long approach, threading through the defile between the South African positions so as to avoid AT Fire. He deployed all his armour in a single concentration, and moved it en masse until he drew abreast of the backs of the hills. He then split his tank column in two and went after both 18-Pdrs, thinking to take them in a sweeping attack from the more lightly defended rear. He would pound any unit that fired with his Divisional Artillery. His objective from the outset was the 18-Pdrs.

The South Africans

The South Africans have the opposite problem, with only the 2-Pdrs and the 18-Pdrs having any hope of hitting the Italian tanks, unless the Italians are clumsy enough to let the South African infantry assault them. Mobility is extremely limited, with the 2-Pdrs able to move one hex per Turn by being manhandled. So if the Italians rush the position, Moltke's Dictum is starkly brought home, and the game is likely decided in a few Turns of ferocious combat. As my opponent is often recklessly aggressive, this seemed likely. But the South African strength is really in their Leaders. Those Leaders may not be of particularly high quality, but there are plenty of them for this scenario, and they can be deployed so as to allow the South Africans to maximize the mobility of the 2-Pdrs and the hitting-power of the 18-Pdrs. I deployed my 2-Pdrs foreward, stacked with two Infantry platoons and for the sake of doctrine, protected by a HMG platoon and a covering infantry platoon. The 18-Pdrs were protected by a further three infantry platoons, including one guarding the rear. The 3-Inch Mortars were adjacent to the 18-Pdrs for the sake of appearances. My plan was to try and hit the Italians as they rushed whichever Hill they choose to attack with my 2-Pdr, following up with my 18-Pdr, and then try and execute an Assault as the Italians skirted my infantry positions. Because my opponent is usually shy of Assault combat, I did not expect him to come right at my 2-Pdrs.

What Happened

The Italians moved slowly across the desert and into the defile between the two hills, frustrating South African gunners by staying well out of range. The 18-Pdrs and 3-inch Mortars opened up on the Italians, but this was really little more than harassing fire, and no appreciable effect was had on the Italian advance. The South Africans were not slow to react to the Italian attack, however, their infantry platoons straining to manhandle the 2-Pdrs back along the crowns of the kopjie to get into firing position should the Italians wheel and strike up the flanks. Italian Divisional Artillery kept up a suppressing fire on the South African 18-Pdrs, which several times scattered the inexperienced South African crews.

Once the lead tanks had drawn abreast of the rear of the left-hand hill, the Italians split into two forces, then swung around and attacked both hills from the rear-flank. Unfortunately, this brought them into the field-of-fire of the South African's guns, with both the 2-Pdrs and the 18-Pdrs able to strike at the thin-skinned Italian tanks. The attack on the right-hand hill was a fiasco, with all three tank platoons wiped out before reaching the hilltop. The attack on the left-hand hill faired somewhat better, as it managed to hug the hill line and get clear of the line-of-fire of both South African guns. With four tanks already lost, the Italians had only one Tank Leader left; the necessity of leading from the front cost the Italians dear. With their last four tanks emerging onto the hilltop, the Italians were at last able to come to grips with the South African guns. Unfortunately, the loss of so many command tanks had drastically reduced the speed at which the Italian tanks could act or react, so the South Africans were afforded ample opportunity to bring their 2-Pdr and 18-Pdr into action, and to close up their infantry platoons on the slow Italian tanks. Two more tank platoons were smashed by the South African guns and assaulting infantry platoons, before the final Tank Leader, dazed by several hits to his own tank and the loss of half of his platoon, was at last able to order the sole tank platoon remaining in action to assault the enemy 18-Pdr. This it did, but by now South African infantry platoons had swarmed back to the scene of the fight, and the 18-Pdr was protected by a well set-up HMG platoon and an infantry platoon. The Italian tank simply could not overcome the strength of the defenders, and the resulting defensive fire paired it down to half strength. The South Africans, scenting blood, again acted quickly, and the pitiful state of the Italian attackers left them spectators at their own destruction. The 18-Pdr fired AT rounds into the remaining Italian tanks assaulting it, blasting them to pieces, while the 2-Pdr finished off the Tank leader with a close-range shot, just before more South African infantry platoons swarmed over him. Grenades rained into the Italian commander's tank, and the last Italian tank became a pyre.

Conclusion

Facing me, with my very conservative approach to casualties and deployment, the Italian tactic of a long approach march and then diffused attack was a poor decision. It gave me most of the scenario to adjust my defence to meet his slowly developing attack. With his excellent Morale and numbers, a better choice would have been concentration and rapid attack, followed up by exploitation; roll over the first position, and then roll up the second.

Even against a more aggressive opponent, the Italian plan of attack was poor. With no infantry and only two companies of tanks, the Italians simply don't have the forces to employ manoeuver against the more numerous, widely separated South Africans in their dominating terrain. There was nothing to hold the South African infantry platoons in place once the Italians began moving into the defile, and on the right flank, this proved disasterous, as the left-flank 2-Pdr had been manhandled into a position which let it set up flanking fire for both the right-flank guns; the results were hardly surprising. With one weak force destroyed, the Italians lacked the firepower to both suppress the South African infantry and attack and destroy the South African guns.

The Italians lost six of their eight tank platoons, including all of their Tank Leaders, rendering the two remaining half-platoons useless, even if they hadn't already been Demoralised, as they in fact were.

This scenario's Victory conditions seem excessively hard on the Italians. Given their lack of infantry (and by Rule, that makes their OBA useless), there is no way they can clear a hill of South African units, unless the South African player bungles the initial deployment, which is going to happen maybe one time with a new player.

I suspect the best the Italian Player can hope for is a draw.