On a positive note, this was not a total Italian defeat, at least not from the overall perspective; after all, though many Italian troops perished they stood what ground they had left and only forfeited one of three hills in the end. Many Italian leaders were lost, including the Colonel but a few actually, if not barely, survived this debacle.

If this were a regular PG scenario I would perhaps of given it a lower rating but the leader characters rules kept it interesting until the end. The LC rules slow play down a bit; this scenario was only 24 turns long but it took 3 days to finish.

As far as the actual battle went, I placed most of my Italian units on the Eastern hill, dug-in, encircling three 75mm artillery pieces, hoping that though it was not the most valuable hill in the terms of V.P.s, that it would keep the horde of British A9, A10 and MkVIb armored units at a distance for a while as it lay between the Southwest and Northern hills. I did what I could with dispersing the remaining troops evenly and made sure to keep the one 105mm, paired with a 65mm as far North as possible but still within sight and range of approaching British units. I was already prepared to lose the Southwestern hill eventually just because of it's proximity and smaller size so I only placed 2 HMG and 4 INF units there, enough to delay an advance for a while at least. This hill with it's paltry yet defiant defenders would hold out until 16:30/turn 15, when it was finally secured through British INF assaults. In the end it would be the only hill secured.

As far as the British attack went, it was almost textbook perfect. Not one Bren carrier, armored car or tank unit was lost though this was through reliance on the lowly INF, HMG and most of all, artillery fire from the 25-pdrs and mortar untils clearing the path for them to casually roll on up without any threat of A.T.fire. By scenario's end the British only suffered 4 steps of INF eliminated and one 25-pdr. That is what made this such a decisive victory, damage control and patience. But of course there were other factors contributing to this win and that was the role of the Leader Characters. Having one British Captain with the mortarman/artillerist skill made a significant difference with a +1 bombardment fire modifier and also, having a Lieutenant with the rifle combat specialist skill, with a +1 direct fire modifier most definitely helped turn some tables.

On the other hand, the Italian LCs did not fare so well; Two were seriously wounded and hospitalized (having to sit one scenario out) and lost many LPs along with morale and combat modifiers. However, that they survived is what made them brilliant in the face of certain defeat. The one Tenente would have been dead had he not purchased the survival skill as the original leader casualty result was a 5, which would of resulted in death or capture but the survival modifier of -1 changed that. The third Italian Tenente actually managed not not only survive getting killed, captured or wounded but trotted off the battlefield scoring a Croce al Merito di Guerra (War merit cross) and got promoted to Capitano, though with not many LPs left to upgrade any skills or abilities. But that is what kept this from being a total Italian loss, that no LCs perished. Halfway through the battle it seemed to be the prime objective -keeping the Italian leaders alive more than holding on to hills.

Anyway, I realize that this sort of PG play may not be for everyone but I have to give it a 5 out of 5 rating from my own personal enjoyment. It's not over for the Italians yet, the defense of Bardia is up next while two wounded Tenentes sit that one out in the hospital together perhaps dreaming of better times and a better Italy at least until Tobruk.

This time around playing 'Operation Compass' in Vince and I's early desert war campaign I had a tougher time at it playing with the British. This scenario does favor a win for The Empire just as the opening scenario, 'Italy Invades Egypt' strongly favors Italy. Of course Vince chose to deploy his Italians a lot differently than I did in my first solo play. One of the hills, in the southeast was a virtually giveaway as he deployed the bare minimum of the required forces there so as to concentrate the bulk of his units on the northernmost hill (worth the most VPs) while the third and smallest hill was tenaciously defended with a sizeable force of 8 dug-in infantry platoons. I divided my attacking force accordingly in proportion to his defenses.

I did not for one moment believe that I would be able to take all three hills, most especially the northernmost one but I had to make a go at it. This time around the British casualties were much higher, mostly in part to Vince's combined, on-board artillery units (1 x 105mm; 3 x 75mm and a 65mm) and some very efficient 20mm AA guns. The British attack was frustrating at first, especially against the smaller and more lightly defended hill. That one would not fall until there were just two turns left to play out and after that there was not enough time to move those units north to reinforce the main attack. Eventually I started to get some good shots in and towards the end of the battle I even managed to take a few chunks out of the larger hill's defenses with the most unlikely of combination of single and reduced INF units; getting consecutive M results on the 1 and 2 columns of the DF table while concentrating more of the heavier fires onto artillery units behind the front lines. With DF alone I was able to eliminate 2 of the 75mms that had helped eliminate quite a few of my infantry.

I was also able to eliminate all of the L6/40s in two different attacks, the second platoon of them almost escaped my slower moving A10s and I believe almost every hit was from the maximum range with reduced firepower. There were also many cases of plain cold-blooded attrition from both sides literally murdering weakened and demoralized troops trying desperately to either recover or escape certain doom. Whatever it took to generate step losses which were also VPs. My Rolls Royce armored cars were particularily efficient at mowing down fleeing infantry. I think Vince and I both had a few streaks, back to back, where we piled up quite few losses on each other. Some turns ended quite abruptly from fog of war rolls while others seemed to drag on without any results other than a few morale checks. Vince also managed to eliminate my highest ranking leader, Colonel "Blimpty", along with a Major, both in charge of the main attack. Funnily enough, despite the decapitation and catastrophic loss effects this seemed to only infuriate my lower-ranking leaders and foot units as it was only then that they really started to get decent shots in. My main attack line had been broken and reformed and was amazed that it held together as good as it did. There were some quirky moments there as one British INF unit recovered and returned to the front lines at least twice, each time getting demoralized from opportunity fire, fleeing and then having a Captain push it back to only suffer the same fate and eventualy did suffer a step loss. If there had been more time then I'm sure it would of returned for a fourth round of punishment.

At the end of the battle losses sat at:

Italian- CAP(8-0-0), 19 INF, 2 x 75mm, 4 L6/40 and 2 trucks.

British- COL(9-0-1), MAJ(8-1-0), 12 INF, 2 HMG and 1 x 25-pdr.

Final VPS were: Britain-45, Italy-25

As far as the campaign goes after two battles it is close. Italy still leads overall with 63 CPs with Britain trailing behind at 60 CPs. I will leave the rest of the details from this battle for Vince to sort out as I have less than 7 hours to get some rest before I battle it out against the Soviets against Wayne in the morning. I rated this one a "4" not so much because it was my first win in a shared play but because I felt it was quite a challenge to keep my nerve and be patient against my opponent while also having quite a few laughs as well. I didn't really expect to do as well as I did in the end and thought a British victory, though certain due to the odds, would be more marginal.

This game was the second scenario of nine in the First Desert Campaign in C&C2 that Brett and I are playing.

The scenario represents the opening of the British attacks in Operation Compass. In this particular game, they are charged with capturing as many of the three hills that are being defended by the Italians as they can and also to inflict casualties. The Italians are the same,in reverse. Hold the hills and inflict casualties.

The set-up is an interesting poser. The British force composed of no less than 24 INF plns plus A9/A10 tanks and some other MG laden AFV's amongst other units will enter from the south edge anywhere they wish. The Italians are required to place a minimum of 10 steps on each hill, thus thinning their forces. Also, the two smallest hills are right on the south edge and thus susceptible to early attack. The biggest hill and worth most points is much further up towards the north edge and worth the most points to both side.

Taking the above into account, I decided to forsake one hill by placing the minimum and fastest troops on it that could pack up and leave for the biggest hill as soon as the game started. The other hill I placed 8 platoons of infantry and hoped they could hold off a good portion of the British force for at least 12 turns (half the game). The idea being that a much weaker British force would make the attempt on the main hill and therefore be easier to hold off. The main hill itself was defended by 11 INF plns, 4 HMG plns, 2 AA and 5 Artillery units. They had dug in around the road on the hill and would await the British to try and scale the slopes.

As the British attack begun, the 8 Italian platoons defending the south-west hill soon saw that the Allies were sending a useful size force against them, including Armoured cars and MkVI tankettes for extra MG support. The process of trying to reduce the Italians here began by turn 3 (1330 hours).

The other hill was quickly abandoned by the Italians and the rest of the British force trudged toward the main northern hill. No casualties were suffered by either side until a British 25pdr battery was eliminated by on-board Italian artillery at 1345 hours. At 1600 hours, Italian AA guns cut down two steps of advancing British infantry. The battle was now beginning to come to life and the British inflicted casualties themselves at 1445 hours when they caught up with a retiring Italian infantry platoon that had vacated the south-east hill and made short work of them in an assault.

The battle soon settled down to two British firing lines at both the south-west hill and the main northern hill. Artillery fire was being exchanged on board also and the British A class tanks contented themselves chasing down the Italian L5 tankettes. This phase of the game really lasted from 1415 hours till the end at 1845 hours.

The south-west hill lasted in place as an Italian defence way beyond turn 12 and was threatening to hold throughout the game. But slowly, small chinks were scratched into their defence as platoons were whittled down by the British fire. Those Italians that decided to flee were somehow always cut to ribbons by opportunity firing Rolls-Royce armoured cars and MkVI tanks. One fleeing platoon did manage to escape this fate but like the others, was eliminated further on. The last Italian platoon here was removed on turn 22 having just failed to keep position on the hill till turn 24. What they did achieve of course was to deny British strength for an attack on the main hill.

No attack seriously developed on the main hill at all. Of the 22 Italian INF steps on this hill, only 1 was eliminated. 3 x ART batteries were removed, but that was all. In return, a rather ragged British line faced it. This line had lost its COL and a MAJ and did not once advance nearer than 400 yards to the Italian defences.

So the Italians had denied the 15pts bonus for the Main hill capture and also kept 10pts themselves for holding it. But with the loss of the other two hills, this made for a 16-10 point score in the British favour. All this would have been well and good for the Italians IF, as I had hoped, I could keep the defeat to a 15 point loss (which was my target). However, the last 4 turns, the British managed to eliminate 9 step equivalents !! This made the final points tally Britain 45pts, Italy 25pts. That last phase was a little diappointing for me from the Campaign angle, especially as my on-board artillery of 30/42/55 point bombardments had only knocked out around 4 steps over the whole 24 turn game. So, a major British victory in points, but Italian morale holding as the main line held.

Casualty count was:

British - 14 FOOT, 2 OFF, 1 GUN

Italian - 19 FOOT, 1 OFF, 3 GUN, 4 AFV

On-Going Campaign score is Britain 60pts, Italy 63pts

For rating I give this a '3' as a campaign game. As a one off game it may be too slanted towards the British (like scenario 1 was for the Italians). But the 2 x campaign scenarios look like they have been develped to balance each other ? We move on to Bardia in scenario 3 where the tough old 'Diggers' are required to extricate more defending Italian infantry from entrenchments.

This scenario was played continuing the campaign with leaders. The three British lieutenants made it though although two were roughed up a bit. With the Italians all three were killed or captured in the battle. The battle itself is favored for the British on the attack and with better morale, but the Italians need to hold three hills that are not mutually supportive. The Italian force is split into three groups, two on southern hills and one group on the northern hill. The are dug in and have the advantage of height, but the British have options to maneuver better on-map artillery, morale and leaders.

In the play the British advanced in two groups at angles to both southern hills to minimize Italian defensive fire. The were able to close on both hills and throw the Italian forces into disarray quickly. Both groups running and leaving just a couple of platoons to defend. But those platoons held out for 3 hours before surrendering and they also took down several British platoons. Both British forces move to the northern hill while other tried to mop up the last Italian platoons. While the attacks whittled down the Italians the casualties on the British side were high as well. There was equal exchanges of step losses and failed morale checks on both sides. This favored the Italians for a time, but the British surviving units were to much for the Italians and the ultimately took all three hills.

As for the leaders Lt. Wright continued to build leadership points. Initially, helping direct artillery fire, then helping on the assualts on the south west hill and north hill. Several rallies rounded out his experience. He avoided morale failures during the battle. Lt. White did not advance his leadership as he had some morale failures that wiped out his gains. The new lieutenant, Brown also broke down under fire, but rallied and help to rally other troops to get him close to breaking even.

On the Italian side,Tenente Gallo was killed in defending the northern hill. Tenete Costa was captured on the south western hill and Lombradi was also captured on the hill. Both will sit out the rest of the war in a prison camp in Egypt.