Aims of the battle : The Allies are to hold onto by game end three specified hexes that cover the crossroads where the desert map.2 roads all meet, these represent the paths. The Axis are to clear all enemy from within 5 hexes of the crossroads. Any other result is a draw)

As the planned assault on Tobruk approached, Rommel ordered troops forward to secure the frontier between Libya and Egypt to prevent the British interfering once the attack began. Accordingly, following shelling and air-attack on the 25th, a mixed German-Italian force attacked the British battalion holding the top of Halfaya Pass. The position’s capture would force the withdrawal of the entire frontier force along the coast and at the same time provide far better defences should the British attack.

The British, in the guise of two battalions from the Durham Light Infantry would defend the pass and it’s crossroads. A giant Wadi layed at their rear. They had cleverly deployed in a hedgehog formation, four hedgehogs in all with Australian AT gun support in the centre. The Germans, rather than choosing the option of a frontal assault decided that a flanking attack would serve them better. By running along the British left flank and forcing the hedgehog nearest the crossroads, this would ‘turn’ the other hedgehogs and force a withdrawal from those positions. Capturing this particular hedgehog would also open up the road that ran through the Wadi Pass and assist the speed of the German incursion. With decent artillery support that wiped out a third of the Australian AT guns early on, the attack was launched at 1115 hours.

The Afrika Korps used a company of motorcyclists and a small task force in Hanomags to speedily make the flanking move. These would be supported by a platoon of PzIII tanks. Meanwhile, a battalion of Italian infantry also advanced from this flank with the mission of hitting the target hedgehog around the same time that the ‘flying force’ had drawn the DLI’s into a firefight. One other company of German infantry were kept in reserve far to the West to be used as a problematical advancing force on the British right flank later on.

The German artillery, other than causing casualties to the allied AT guns did not make too much of an impression after that despite a constant use for two hours. In reply, British artillery, short on shells and always with the threat of running out of ammo harassed the attackers, including destroying local mortar support and inflicting a few Italian infantry casualties. By 1330, the flying force was engaging the DLI’s and a firefight ensued with the defenders doggedly dug-in.

This struggle on the target hedgehog lasted for some two hours! The British MG support was neutralised with some losses, and slowly, the German infantry firepower (that also took advantage of the Wadi below them), APC support, artillery and the few tanks began to get the upper hand as some 230 losses were inflicted on the allies. With this amount of pressure, time told and the hedgehog was finally taken and the road to the crossroads opened. At the same time, the battalion of Italians had also joined the fray and were gamely adding their weight to the attack too with noticibly good officership inspiring their men.

The British lines to the front of the main battle, as planned had to, as a whole pull out from their other dug-in hedgehogs and gravitate to the crossroads to prevent a complete loss of position. The German reserve company and a platoon of PzII’s then began an outflanking move on the other British flank.

The Germo-Italian forces had successfully forced the British from their lines as hoped and to an extent had opened up the road by forcing the British off of it. What they had not done though was remove the British from the location completely. The clever interwoven and mutually supporting hedgehogs had ensured that there would be no over-run of the location and yet more battle would have to follow by the two sides perhaps on the morrow.

Axis losses were 45 German soldiers and 5 hanomags, Italians lost 100 infantrymen. (Or in game turns German = 1 step MTR, 1 step MTC, 1 step Sdkfz 251, Italian = 4 steps INF) The Allies were 230 British Infantry and a battery of Australian AT guns. (8 Steps INF, 2 steps HMG, 1 step 3pdr). The battle would be judged as a draw as the Axis troops had taken the crossroads but not forced the Allies far enough away.

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 is another scenario where I can’t find my details on how it played out, so I’ll cover it as a quick synopsis. The Brits set up a serious hedgehog near the victory hexes, providing a nasty nut to crack. They deployed a couple of Brens out front, but their one error was not setting and dug in soft targets in a forward position. While it would have given the Germans something to beat on, it would have provided great long range spotting for arty support.

Luckily for the Brits the Germans didn’t waste any time. The long range arty would have harassed the Germans and placed the German/Italian arty at some risk. The Axis player may have paid a small price for spending time using arty prep against the Brits while trying to flank the Brit position. But the German commander decided that the few turns of arty he did use was ineffective (it was) and hence a waste of effort. So he called for a frontal assault against a well prepared position. It was a slaughter. The Italians nearly made it to the Brit line, but collapsed just on the verge. This left the German approach on the Brit right the target of choice, and the Germans were likewise thrown back. Those few that made it into assault went down hard. The Axis force was chewed to pieces for the loss of a few Brens and a step of Brit infantry.

The German player left twelve to fifteen turns on the table. That’s a lot of arty prep fire opportunity. Had the Axis spent more time prep firing against the Brit line (especially against the AT guns) and tried some flanking maneuvers to prevent the attack going against the solid supporting fire portion of the Brit line they may have forced the issue, or at least made a good challenge of it. The Brit position in this game is very strong, and I suspect they have a slight edge if their OBA stays intact, particularly due to Italian morale. But this scenario looks very winnable by either side. This is a solid scenario that takes some patience, something the German/Italian side did not have.

Author	treadasaurusrex (Australia, Britain)
Method	VASSAL
Victor	Draw
Participants	sagunto
Play Date	2022-10-10
Language	English
Scenario	AfKo028

This scenario was a 3-session play-through with a rapidly-learning & sly newcomer to online PG. I was again serving my penance, and played the defending-but-tank-less Commonwealth side, while the Axis side had all the armor in this one. We played with the wretched defense-favoring fog of war (FOW), and with the excess initiative, smoke/illum, and extended assault rules.

The combined British & Australian force set up in a strong, well-dug-in, hedgehog position covering the required victory hexes. In the end, this position with its interlocking field of fire proved to be just barely too much for the onrushing, Axis horde bent on taking Tobruk. Alas, British OBA was spotty, but periodically accurate during this play-through and was lost completely on game turn 23.

The Italo-German infantry formations attacked with vigor from the beginning but had their attack sequencing thrown off when they came into close range and began their close assaults. Frequent disruptions, but not demoralizations resulted, thanks to the German's sky high morale. Inaccurate Axis OBA strikes and friendly fire episodes caused many Axis casualties, in addition to accurate & lethal British HMG direct fire. As the turns passed, Axis casualties increased dramatically and the frontal attacks became significantly weaker by the end of turn 17.

When it eventually developed, the Axis combined arms thrust was aimed more at the flanks of the Commonwealth hedgehog. The Tommies' AT guns began to score hit after hit on the headlong charge of Axis combined arms assault groups. By the end of turn 24, the powerful Axis attack had collapsed, for lack of sufficient infantry support and significant leader losses. As others have stated: "The Axis force was chewed to pieces," while total Allied losses included both Bren carrier platoons, 7 steps of infantry, 4 units of trucks, a single HMG platoon, as well as 4 leaders. By the end, the Axis had lost 8 leaders, suffered a decapitation, lost all but one of their attacking Italian infantry platoons, as well as all three German SPW platoons. Other Axis losses included their complete allotment of Pz-II and Pz-IIIG tanks, two platoons of German motorcycle infantry, and 4 steps of their Africa Korps' infantry. The final result of our encounter was a hard-fought draw.

In a perfect world, this relatively balanced, scenario could go either way. For an early AK scenario, this battle requires significantly more planning & target preparation fire than most. It also requires substantial patience and should be played without the turn-wasting, and attack-sequence-destroying malign influence of the FOW rule. In our play-through, 9 turns were terminated prematurely, which substantially helped the Allied side to survive an Axis frontal attack that nearly succeeded in winning the game. This one is probably better played as a solo effort and I give it a 3.