Shortly after 1100 hours on January 25, 1943, Allied units from CCB of the 1st Armored Division moved east through the Ousseltia Valley in an attempt to open Kairouan Pass, which was protected by the 1st “Superga” Infantry Division. The Italians were dug in on both sides of the road with infantry/HMG in the west and 75’s in the narrow central valley that was also mined. They had 47’s and an ATR platoon along the east road. By noon, three Lee platoons and an infantry group had used the cover of the north ridge to move forward, but Allied progress was slowed in the south by the Italian OBA and fire groups in the southwest wadi. The US troops overran the mortar/75mm artillery position that protected the Italian north flank by 1245 and cleared the entire flank north of the road by 1330. However, US jeeps towing the 37’s hit the central minefield and progress was slowed. By 1400 hours, the US controlled the entire battlefield with the exception the Italian INF/HMG units now perched on the 40m southwest hill. American troops then began moving east through the lines, with all the Lee’s and 16 other units exited by 1500 hours.

The objectives of this scenario involve step loss and American unit exit. The Americans start with a large number of units and only have 16 turns to get them off the opposite side of the board, as VP’s are awarded to the Italians for all steps left on the board while the Americans only get a VP for each unit exited. So, in this case, a lack of haste makes waste. It is a difficult task since the board is 26 hexes wide and there are only sixteen turns, needless to say the mortars aren’t going to make it, and any hiccough will end the HMG chances as well (only one HMG ended up exiting by Turn 16). So, the Americans have to exit a number of units to make up for those steps that accrue to the Italians. Italian strategy rests on slowing the American unit progress by disrupting and demoralizing units, causing them to spend turns in recovery. The point to remember in Italian strategy is that US steps left on the board are equal in VP’s to steps that are eliminated, so producing maximum damage to slow units is preferred to elimination. If the American player gets too involved in eliminating Italian units, it will only lead to a loss because of all the Allied units left on the board. In this play, most Italian units were eliminated in either quick infantry assaults or bombardments to clear a safe path for the armor. The American also must leave wounded units for recovery until late in the turn, since fog-of-war severely limits the chance to exit units. In this play, FOW ended 8 of the 16 turns prematurely. The final VP tally was for the Americans, with 22 steps exited (3 Lee’s and 16 soft units) and 13 Italian step losses, while the Italians scored VP’s with 30 steps left on the map and 5 US steps lost. This resulted in a draw since both sides ended up with 35 VP’s.