This is a pretty interesting scenario, with lots of historical references To research if you're interested in all the background. I made a few modifications for added accuracy and was playing solo so didn't really care who would win! I have the 1 RTR coming in from the East edge and not the road and put the 2/3 AT unit Near the North edge to the east of the road. I put the 25 pounders just to the west of the road in a line. I also had the Germans starting from the El Adem road so it takes a little longer to get to the gap in the AT ditch. Goschen's House was a ruin occupied and fought over on the 14th just about 2 hexes North East of R32. I put a permanent dugin marker to represent this minor feature in hex 1126.

The scout platoon didn't survive long at the start of the game but the Lt made it to the 8MG Bn. Posts R33 (1430) just to the west of the gap was the first melee and then R32 (1327). The MGs made fairly slow progress into the gap with R32 and and R30 (1230) being particularly bloody. I called down a lot of arty on the own positions of the outposts in the hope the exposed Germans would suffer worse being exposed. In general this was true but it lead to an early collapse of R33 due to a bad round of friendly fire.

The panzers breached the wire around 3:15 and the two reserve companies were both released. I pushed all of the armor toward the 25 pounders just to see if I could outdo history! Upon arrival there was a fierce melee in one hex, but the Germans lost 4 steps of armor to one battery of guns destroyed. I had managed to haul the 88 into the cauldron and this was set up before dawn. However the noose looked to be closing on the german armor and I decided to bail out. I quit the game after 0600 with a general withdrawal of the tanks but most of it would get out. No doubt the Aussies would regain all the lost ground with daylight and armor in support. At best the Germans only cleared two outposts but had some local success at Goschen's House. B Company got beat up pretty badly there and didn't soften it up with arty enough beforehand.

I suppose this wasn't really a game but a historical reenactment but is still a great scenario! I'd like to made a custom map for this one as I think the German armor penetrated much deeper into the fortress before encountering the Blue Line. If playing an opponent I'd be likely to commit the Panzer IV's to clearing out a few outposts before dawn for the combined arms bonus.

Well worth a play!

The Australians, knowing that the road would probably be vital to advancing German armor, set up their 2 lbrs and 25-lbrs along the road to the north. The German plan was to bombard entrenchments and assault/capture five of them before Australian reinforcements arrive, and get armor off the map to the north. Facing the Germans were AT ditches, wire, and mines. It looked daunting for the Germans.

In the first hour, the German scout platoon was able to direct artillery on one entrenchment; however, the Australians maintained their composure. The scouts would soon have some company as the German 8th Machine Gun Battalion arrived at midnight.

At this point, the German plan was to have the 8th MG and supporting artillery attack the center of the Australian defensive line and create a breach in the line of AT ditches and wire. The 5th Panzer Regiment would arrive soon, and would attempt to push through on the road, using the limited visibility to minimize losses from the AT guns. In the end, this strategy backfired.

Just as the 5th Panzer was arriving, the 8th MG had largely moved through the AT ditches and entered the wire. Opportunity fire from a couple of entrenchments was ineffective. The situation at 0300 found two entrenchments being assaulted by the Germans. Instead of taking time to fill in AT ditches while under fire, the 8th MG surged forward and cleared some wire in the center. They lost a couple of steps in the process. Meanwhile, the 5th Panzer approached the road (one of only a couple of places where there was no AT ditch), and would soon encounter the 2 lbrs dug in along the road on the other side of the wire. The Germans by now had also lost all three increments of off-board artillery due to unfortunate die rolls.

At 0345, the Germans were still assaulting two entrenchments and setting up for another. The Australians got a break as a favorable die roll permitted both B and D companies to move toward the entrenchments being assaulted. Meanwhile, the German armor was running through the gauntlet of 2 lbrs and actually lost a platoon of PzIIIFs in a crossfire. The 25 lbrs on the other side of the hill to the north waited for the survivors.

The loss of some armor and a few infantry steps due to artillery, had resulted in enough steps lost to meet one of the Australian victory conditions. If they could prevent the Germans from taking more than one entrenchment, and keep remaining armor from exiting to the north, they might be victorious. Dawn was approaching, and the increasing visibility will certainly be a factor.

At 0400, the German armor survived opportunity fire from the 25 lbrs as they ran the gauntlet and exited the map. Two platoons of PzII were destroyed by accurate AT fire just inside the defensive line. In the center, the Australians were stubbornly hanging on as three of the entrenchments were being assaulted. Dawn was breaking at 0530, and the German continued to face tough resistance at the three entrenchments, at times with only a single reduced unit fighting off German assaults (several great die rolls). By now, Australian reinforcements (Companies B and D, and armor) were arriving. At this point, it did not look as if the German could take the five entrenchments, but they might earn a draw if they could get two of them.

The situation at 0930 found the German desperately assaulting five entrenchments, but none were successful. By sending all armor units off the map, they left none to support the assaults on the entrenchments. The assaults bogged down into a long game of attrition; the Germans were losing a lot of steps in the process as the Australians reinforced the entrenchments with armor.

The Australians won the battle. They had not allowed any entrenchments to be taken, although five were contested at the end. They had also eliminated over 24 German steps (four times that needed to meet the victory condition). It would be interesting to try this long scenario again, but use the panzers to support assaults before moving north.