This 22 turn scenario has an attacking German force with 3 companies of infantry plus 2 platoons of Motorcycle troops, 2 Engineer platoons, 2 HMGs, a mortar, a 28mm AT gun, and in the armor department, a Pz II, 2 Pz IIIH, a Pz IIIJ, 2 Pz IVF2s, and a Pz IVH. There are 14 trucks to tow the 15 foot and gun elements, something that always leaves me wondering if this was an error, but I placed the mortar and an LT on foot trudging over hills and dales while everyone else rode. The US hold a 3-hex town with a company of infantry, an HMG, an Engineer and a mortar, and I placed the supporting 37mm AT gun, the 105mm gun, the M3/81, M3/105 on the hills on the central board to slow down and chip away at the Germans as they entered that board. Everything that doesn't start in the town can be dug in. The US gets 3 Lees entering on turn 1 and 3 more anytime turn 2 or later on a roll of 5 or 6. In my game, the last bunch of Lees entered on turn 6, well after the first batch had ceased to exist. US get a single 18 OBA to a pair of 16s for the Germans. The US had good luck initially with the 37mm AT taking out a step of the Pz II before being destroyed, and the 105 lasted several turns after initial German OBA hit the trucks that were to have towed it to safety, and finally a direct hit took out the guns. German armor moved slightly forward of the infantry but not so far ahead that the US troops were tempted to move forward and assault them. German armor and infantry swept the central board clean with 5 steps lost, having destroyed the first 3 Lees, and all the other supporting weapons and halftracks except for the M3/81, which had chosen to move back to the hill in the northwest to cover the town. The troop carrier M3s I stacked in the south and west town hexes, leaving trucks for the mortar and infantry in the north town hex. The last 3 Lee platoons moved past the town and tried to form a defensive line but had no effect on the Germans while the German armor practiced a good overwatch, with one unit stopped to fire while another advanced. Soon enough, all the US armor was gone, and the Germans were enveloping the town. Even the M3/81 fell to good long range tank fire, and there was only the troops in the town to hold on. The first German assault was with the motorcycle troops and an engineer against the northern town hex, defended by the mortar and an infantry platoon. The motorcycle troops stormed the town and in 2 turns eliminated opposition. Feeling lucky, another force with engineer, infantry and a panzer panzer platoon moved into the southeast town hex, where they faced an infantry platoon and an HMG with a good LT. Immediately, the Germans took 2 step losses, with the Panzers and the engineers being the units hurt, both of which failed morale checks, along with the officer leading them. With the town surrounded, it became a matter of swapping out good order units for demoralized ones, the German casualties starting to accumulate with the step losses, while the US troops held their ground. In the west side, the Panzers formed up just outside of town and pounded the US Captain, an Infantry and an Engineer unit, and after several turns, finally started making headway. By turn 18, the US consolidated the remaining troops in the southwest hex and continued to hold while the Germans ran the 7 steps needed for exit victory conditions, exiting 4 armor platoons at double the points while the rest of the German force kept on assaulting. At the end of turn 22, the US still contested the last hex of the town, but had no troops remaining who could move east down the road to keep the Germans from controlling the road from the town to the east. Having 2 of the 3 conditions met, the Germans claimed a minor victory. Because of the US leadership of 10-2-1 facing the German leadership of the same numbers, the slugging match for the town might continue for some time. Great game.

Author	goosebrown
Method	Solo
Victor	Germany
Play Date	2023-02-18
Language	English
Scenario	AAAD009

An Army at Dawn - Scenario 9 Bordj Toum

The American CCB had a serious problem. Two companies of infantry, with good artllery support and a short batallion of M3 tanks holding the vilage of xxxx against a combined arms thrust from the German 10th Panzer motorized infantry with good morale, motorcycle recon troops, tanks from the pathetic PzKwII to the PzKwIV with all sorts in between.

Since the Americans did not have enough to really stem the tide with a forward defense, so the American company on the north side of the road defending a roadblock of visible mines made a timely retreat back to Bordj Toum. The Americans on the south side of the road held their hilltop position in forlorn hope.

The Germans, blessed with enough trucks to carry everything, charged up the road toward the mine roadblock at the far approach of Bordj Toum and then dismounted while the armor pivoted to the right and took overwatch positions on the ridge to the north of the road covering the American retreat from their former positions.

Both sides traded artillery fire for the next half hour as the Germans consolidated their positions on the north side of the road. The same time the Germans sent their recon elements to the south to harass the remaining American troops there on the hill above the minefield on the road.

The Americans moved their M3s directly in back of Bordj Toum to the north and into the town itself where they took up position to hold off the German armor. The German armor moved off the ridge to the north of the road and attacked directly into the town with the PzIVs on overwatch taking well aimed shots at the American M3s. The next hour or so was a gun duel between the panzers and the M3s but slowly the M3's took losses and had to consolidate their positions in Bordj Toum itself which at this time came under infantry assault.

For the next two hours the Afrika Korps and it's tanks steadily pressed the Americans until they'd had enough and fled yielding the field to the Germans. Although the Germans took losses in the end, they were left in the decisive victory.

Although the Germans took losses in the end, they were left in the decisive victory and the American forces fleeing the battlefield.

Very good scenario. Great infantry assaults. Great combined assaults. Great armor Gongun duels. Fantastic and accurate artillery. Highly recommended would play again

On December 10, 1942 units of the German 10th Panzer Division pushed west along a muddy road toward the town of Bordj Toum. The town was protected by mines laid by the U.S. 16th Combat Engineers, and by US AT, HMG and infantry units that were positioned in the town. A number of other infantry, HMG and artillery units were situated on top and west of the northeast hill and around the west side and in the wadi that was south of the road. Shortly after 0800 hours, a Pz.IIIH platoon and a motorcycle unit were ambushed by opportunity fire from both a 105mm howitzer of the 27th Field Artillery Battalion and an M3/81 from 1st Armored Division, Combat Command B lurking behind the wadi.. The damaged Axis units obstructed the road, while other German units streamed west on both the extreme north and south flanks. Three US Lee platoons moved east to a positon just south of Bordj Toum, and at 0830 hours, three more moved east along the road to bolster the town defense. The pesky 105mm artillery platoon scored a second damaged panzer with a hit on a Pz.II that was scouting the south flank. By 0915, the M3/81 had been eliminated, and the combined mortar/105mm battery was disrupted from OBA. Active skirmishes were being fought on the northeast hill and around the south wadi. By 1000, the Germans had moved closer to Bordj Toum, overrunning the US 105mm emplacement, and an M3 that was assisting the units on the northeast hill fell to a Pz.IVF2. A Pz.IIIJ had moved close enough to the town to eliminate a Lee platoon on the ridge east of town. Over the next hour, German units closed on the town from the south and center utilizing the road, which only had decoy mines, for a faster approach. Panzer platoons had partially cleared the town, eliminating two Lee platoons along with an M3/105 unit. Capt. Howser led the US engineer, infantry and HMG units west out of town to avoid the marauding panzer units. However, an M3/INF/HMG group on the northeast hill was still holding fast and limiting troop movement along the road and north flank, and a lone US infantry platoon on the hill southeast of town was valiantly holding off the charging German ground units. The Germans continued to press, and by 1215 they had dispatched the remaining Lee platoons, eliminated the Lt. and M3 that were holding the northeast hill, and had the Americans on the run with a sole remaining officer, the Captain, in command of a demoralized mix of units. By 1245, the remaining unit in town, a 37AT platoon, was destroyed and the town was secured by the Germans. By 1300, the battle was essentially over, since the disrupted US units on the northeast hill were blocked by German troops had no chance to cut off the road, and the demoralized group on the northwest hill could not be rallied to attempt to either recover the town or stop the flow of German units west on the road. This ended in a major German victory.

The Americans started out strong and well positioned, but the overpowering number of both German officers and units, their superior morale, and the extra range for armor fire by their tanks made a difference. The map is a challenging one for the Germans to play because of both the limited “mud movement” and the role of the wadis. For a while, it appeared that the US might have a chance, as there were 10 fog-of-war turns, out of the 21 played, and four occurred in a row, ending turns very early and moving the clock along. But, then turns played out in full, the mines in the road happened to be decoys, and the Lee platoons couldn’t hit anything. The Germans moved quickly and were able to meet all three objectives of clearing the road of Americans, having control of Bordj Toum, and exiting 7 points (actually 10 by the end of Turn 21) for a “major victory”. Total steps lost were 30 for the US and 11 for the Germans, and initiative went to the Germans on 15 of 21 turns, many of which included multiple action segments to start the turn.

In this battle a reinforced company of American infantry, with a company of M3 Lee tanks, held off a disjointed attack by a battalion of German infantry supported by almost a battalion of tanks. The key tactical aspect of this battle was the mud, which forced the Germans to attack along the road in a piecemeal fashion, giving the Americans the chance to defeat the attacks in series. The Lees, dug in on heights north of the town, blunted the panzer attack and contributed to the defeat of the german infantry assault on the town. Ultimately the Germans withdrew after suffering over 50% casualties.

Author	treadasaurusrex (United States)
Method	VASSAL
Victor	Germany
Participants	Daedalus
Play Date	2023-01-26
Language	English
Scenario	AAAD009

This was a 6-session play-through with the indefatigable, careful and cunning, Daedalus, as the attacking German Commander of a combined arms battle group from the 10th Panzer Division. I led a defending scratch task force consisting of untried elements of Combat Command B of the 1st Armored Division that were assigned to try and hold ground in the immediate vicinity of the 3-hex town of Bordj Toum. We played with the FOW, smoke, extended assault, tank riders and excess initiative optional rules. We experimentally used the following four house rules: 1) Road Movement for Mechanized & Foot Units All FOOT & MECHANIZED units may move on roads at the rate of 1/2 a Movement Point (MP) per road hex, just like MOTORIZED units 2) Standard 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. 3) 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 if enemy units approach to within 3 hexes, or 4 hexes for reconnaissance units – unless they fire or move. 4) Tank Leader Forward Observation Efficient tank leaders (full strength only) may spot for ALL artillery & air strikes in accordance with the normal spotting rules (8.0, page 19). Just as in the case of leader units spotting, this action does not require an activation. Nonefficient tank leaders may also attempt to spot for ON BOARD ARTILLERY ONLY by throwing a single die per attempt to spot a target. This action does require an activation. They spot the intended target on a die roll of 4-6.

The initial session (game turns 1-4) featured a large-scale, two-pronged, German movement-to-contact from the east edge of the battle map. The northernmost (weak-side) German probe turned out to be a feint that was supported by a motorcycle company on a scouting mission on the major east-west ridge on Map 78. The main (strong-side) German movement-to-contact came straight down the central road, aimed at the several weakly-held US positions on the adjacent 20-meter hill in the SW quadrant of Map 78. By the end of the session, there were only 2 Axis step losses, and none for the defending Americans. A combined FIVE, futile combat 7-die rolls were thrown.

The second session (game turns 5-6) was a nightmarish one for the outnumbered, defending American force. Two halftrack platoons, a SPM 81mm platoon, and a platoon of Lee tanks were eliminated by accurate, long-range Germans AT fire. A platoon of German Pz-II light tanks and a platoon of motorcycle scouts were also eliminated as the Axis force closed to decisive range on the 20-meter hill south of & adjacent to the road on Map 78. Only a single dug-in American infantry platoon remained on the north margin of that shell-torn piece of terrain. Step losses now totaled 10 for the US, and 8 for the German side at the end of game turn 6. No victory points had yet been scored by either side. The Americans threw FOUR, utterly futile combat 7-die rolls – all in crucial combat circumstances!

The 3rd session (game turns 7-11) was another grim one for the rapidly diminishing American force, with the loss of an additional 5 steps and a concurrent decline in initiative level. The remaining “speed bump” defensive positions on the 20-meter hills east 7 southeast of Bordj Toum were taken by the Landsers by close assault. The left flank German armor continued its wide sweep to the west – across the southern half of Map 79. These tanks scared off the remaining American forward observer from atop the 40-meter hill, who fled north to the comparative safety of the Bordj Toum. The German armored spearhead was now within easy reach of the west map edge. Total steps lost were now 16 for the US, and 8 for the German side at the end of game turn 11. The infantry-heavy central German prong was now concentrating on the 20-meter hill south of Bordj Toum. Across the valley, the German right flank prong’s Landser and motorcycle infantry was accumulating on the west edge of the east-west ridge on Map 78.

The fourth session (game turns 12-15) featured a continuing litany of death & disaster for the much-reduced American garrison in, and around, Bordj Toum. The clever Germans began circling Bordj Toum with their armored spearhead west of the town, neatly avoiding AT crossfire shots and eliminating the final American Tank Destroyer platoon in the town. Following their tanks, the Landser infantry also circled west to begin setting up an eventual rush to take the town from the west. During this session, a further 6 steps were lost by the US and 4 steps were lost by the Germans. A combined FIVE combat 7-die rolls were thrown – 4 by the US side! The updated casualty count was 12 steps lost by the Germans and 23 by the greatly-diminished Americans.

The fifth session (game turns 16-20) was an extremely grim episode for the defending Americans who lost an additional 12 steps to accurate, long-range AT fire, heavy bombardments, and in close assault combat. The besieging Germans slowly strangled the remaining US defenders in Bordj Toum, by creating two, west margin contested hexes of the three town hexes by close assault. The German left flank force finally became decisively engaged in a series of fire fights immediately east of Bordj Toum. The updated casualty count was now 17 steps lost by the Germans, and a whopping 35 by the almost-depleted US side.

The 6th and final session (game turns 21-22) featured incredibly bad die rolling for the defending Americans as they were overwhelmed in Bordj Toum. The only good news for the US side was that the sole remaining Lee tank platoon was able to occupy a single road hex east of the town. The result was a minor American victory in this unbalanced scenario. The final step loss count was 40 lost for the Americans and only 17 lost for the victorious Afrika Korps. In the end, there were 9 FOW-shortened turns, out of the 22 played.

I give this one a 2, mostly because it was fun to play with the mighty, Daedalus.