Panzer Grenadier Battles on October 31st:
Go for Broke 2 #6 - Ciorland Red & White #20 - Northern Pincer
Go for Broke 3 #6 - Ciorland Leyte '44 #9 - Drive for Carigara
Go for Broke #6 - Ciorland
Errors? Omissions? Report them!
Bir Bu Meliha
Desert Rats #14
(Attacker) Germany vs Britain (Attacker)
Formations Involved
Britain 22nd Armoured Brigade
Britain 4th "Black Rats" Armoured Brigade
Germany 15th Panzer Division
Germany 15th Rifle Brigade
Germany 8th Panzer Regiment
Display
Balance:



Overall balance chart for DeRa014
Total
Side 1 3
Draw 0
Side 2 0
Overall Rating, 3 votes
5
4
3
2
1
3.33
Scenario Rank: --- of 939
Parent Game Desert Rats
Historicity Historical
Date 1941-11-20
Start Time 14:00
Turn Count 30
Visibility Day
Counters 82
Net Morale 0
Net Initiative 2
Maps 2: DR4, DR5
Layout Dimensions 116 x 88 cm
46 x 35 in
Play Bounty 142
AAR Bounty 166
Total Plays 3
Total AARs 1
Battle Types
Inflict Enemy Casualties
Meeting Engagement
Conditions
Reinforcements
Terrain Mods
Scenario Requirements & Playability
Desert Rats Base Game
Introduction

After the morning action, 21st Panzer Division arrived at its resupply point to find that the muddled German logistics system had no fuel or ammunition ready to meet them. Her sister division, 15th Panzer, was also there as ordered and ready to move out, and so it went forward alone to meet the British armour.

Conclusion

Fighting died down as darkness fell on the battlefield. Each side believed they had badly hurt the other, but post-war analyses showed the British took the worst of the exchange, with 15th Panzer losing no tanks at all that could'nt be repaired on the site. However, the temporary loss of 21st Panzer to staff incompetence robbed the Afrika Korps of its chance to wipe out 4th Armoured Brigade.


Display Relevant AFV Rules

AFV Rules Pertaining to this Scenario's Order of Battle
  • Vulnerable to results on the Assault Combat Chart (7.25, 7.63, ACC), and may be attacked by Anti-Tank fire (11.2, DFT). Anti-Tank fire only affects the individual unit fired upon (7.62, 11.0).
  • AFV's are activated by tank leaders (3.2, 3.3, 5.42, 6.8). They may also be activated as part of an initial activating stack, but if activated in this way would need a tank leader in order to carry out combat movement.
  • AFV's do not block Direct Fire (10.1).
  • Full-strength AFV's with "armor efficiency" may make two anti-tank (AT) fire attacks per turn (either in their action segment or during opportunity fire) if they have AT fire values of 0 or more (11.2).
  • Each unit with an AT fire value of 2 or more may fire at targets at a distance of between 100% and 150% of its printed AT range. It does so at half its AT fire value. (11.3)
  • Efficient and non-efficient AFV's may conduct two opportunity fires per turn if using direct fire (7.44, 7.64). Units with both Direct and AT Fire values may use either type of fire in the same turn as their opportunity fire, but not both (7.22, 13.0). Units which can take opportunity fire twice per turn do not have to target the same unit both times (13.0).
  • Demoralized AFV's are not required to flee from units that do not have AT fire values (14.3).
  • Place a Wreck marker when an AFV is eliminated in a bridge or town hex (16.3).
  • AFV's do not benefit from Entrenchments (16.42).
  • AFV's may Dig In (16.2).
  • Closed-top AFV's: Immune to M, M1 and M2 results on Direct and Bombardment Fire Tables. Do not take step losses from Direct or Bombardment Fire. If X or #X result on Fire Table, make M morale check instead (7.25, 7.41, 7.61, BT, DFT).
  • Closed-top AFV's: Provide the +1 modifier on the Assault Table when combined with infantry. (Modifier only applies to Germans in all scenarios; Soviet Guards in scenarios taking place after 1942; Polish, US and Commonwealth in scenarios taking place after 1943.) (ACC)
  • Tank: all are closed-top and provide the +1 Assault bonus, when applicable

Display Order of Battle

Britain Order of Battle
Army
Germany Order of Battle
Heer
  • Motorized
  • Towed

Display Errata (4)

4 Errata Items
Scen 14

Scenario does not note when initial German force enters the board. Presumably this is turn 1.

(triangular_cube on 2022 Dec 17)
Overall balance chart for 20

The reduced direct fire value of the Heer HMG became 5-5 starting with Fall of France.

(plloyd1010 on 2015 Jul 31)
Overall balance chart for 486

The Pz IVe appearing in the original Panzer Grenadier game had an Anti tank value of 4-7. As of Afrika Korps (2002), continuing onward through the 3rd and 4th edition games, the anti tank value has been 4-4.

(plloyd1010 on 2016 Jul 25)
Overall balance chart for 63

The morale and combat modifiers of German Sergeant #1614 should be "0", not "8".

(Shad on 2010 Dec 15)

Display AARs (1)

Desert Rats #14
Author triangular_cube
Method Solo
Victor Germany
Play Date 2022-12-17
Language English
Scenario DeRa014

On the surface this looks like another poor scenario with the Brits taking on a combined arms force with nothing but armor. It actually does play differently, which made it somewhat interesting.

Brits start with a long, thin screen of Stuarts opposing entering German armor. Similar to the past, there are IIs, IIIs, and IVs. The IIs hide in the corner while the IIIs and IVs advance into the Stuarts. The Stuarts immediately fall back and try to keep their gaps. The hope is that they can establish the flanking shots for crossfire once their reinforcements come in.

The Stuarts keep dancing, and the Germans keep chasing. I may have been a bit overconfident in the German armor after the last few scenarios, and drove the Stuarts right up to the edge of the map, well ahead of their reinforcing infantry support. The fleeing rabbits even spread the Germans out a bit, as I said, I played to aggressive. Then they hit their reinforcement roll.

Bad as they may be, 32 steps of armor surging onto the board is a lot more than you realize until it is there :). Brits are able to force their way in and cause chaos on the western board through sheer numbers. They end up knocking out most of the IIIs and half of the IVs before the German fall back to their infantry cover. As night begins to fall it ends up in a stalemate, as the Brits have enough tanks to scare off the German armor, but still cant move the infantry bodies off the board.

If the VCs only measured the steps, with Germans counting double, this would be pretty fun and balanced. Unfortunately the Brits also must clear all Germans from the board, so while both hit their step loss requirements, it ends in a German victory due to INF bodies.

0 Comments
You must be a registered member and logged-in to post a comment.
Errors? Omissions? Report them!
Page generated in 0.212 seconds.