This scenario was played as a team event by my gaming group. I act as moderator and facilitator for each game, and I do not participate directly as a player. My listing of “winning” is based on the PG HQ site cannot support a neutral role in AARs.

This scenario is based around the advance of the Afrika Korps, as a German unit overtook a rearguard British unit. Both sides were mobile and contained armor. Objective was for the Germans to get off the far (very far) edge of the (very large) board while minimizing losses; for the Brits, kill Germans or prevent them from exiting. The Brits made a decent withdrawal as the Germans cautiously advanced. Whenever the Brits set up a mobile blocking force the Germans, with longer range, slowly turned the flank and forced a withdrawal. The Brits chose a decent spot for their main defense line, but failed to properly prepare their positions or to properly locate their most powerful unit, the 25lber. Both sides made maneuvers to the south flank, and while the losses suffered by the Germans were almost to the point of defeat, the Germans kept their losses to the max allowed by the victory conditions. The Brits took significant losses in the south, and they continued to expend their strength in counter-flanking maneuvers and thereby weakened their main line. The Germans inched up to the Brit main line and began pouring in fire from longer range while their armor cut around the north flank and headed for the exit point. The Brits kept in place on the main line, sucking up losses while never considering a move against a relatively weak German position. Inflicting even minor losses on the Germans could have brought the Brits victory, but they were already mentally defeated by this point and chose to take on the roll as cannon fodder. The poor placement of the Brit 25lb gun unit left the exit point uncovered, and the German tanks easily drove around the Brit guns and exited the map for the victory.

The Brits should have been able to pull off the victory, but a cautious German advance and a defensive mindset for the British left the British players mentally defeated. They could not comprehend launching an attack against the German line before it was strong enough to resist, and the superior German range just ravished the British units. Even if the Brits didn't have the moxie to attack, they could have at least dug in vs taking shots. If the 25lber had been placed in/near the exit, the tanks would have had to bring infantry to bust through, but the poor positioning left the exit uncovered with the Brits already accepting their fate as bullet catching devices. Defeating your opponent mentally can be as powerful as overwhelming force on the battlefield. I did like the scenario, though a strong Brit player should make this a nasty challenge for the German.