Afrika Campaign

[1ComOpsCtr]

Reference material may be found on this site:

http://www.naval-history.net/WW2RN07-194007.htm

I hope this helps.

Moderator

Bill

[jb]

We had our battle using the campaigns first scenario. It totally sucked being an IT for this one. The Brits or should I say the allies(brits scots,punjabs,etc) flank attacked the ITs right flank. A tank battle between M11s, A9s ,A10s, A13s, and MkVIs ensued. Time wise it would have taken 30-45 minutes of real time. The Brits lost 3 tanks in this battle(3 actual as we resolved the fire and results on a 1 to 1 scale),and the ITs lost 6. The ITs had about 25 L6s in this group (yes, I know Mk1 they didn't have them there,but hey...). The IT CO smelled a RAT, after this battle which was halfway into the board on the right flank was resolved. This resulted in him trying to get his 3 Infantry Bns that were now cutoff to retreat to safety. Too late, the Brit Hussars got to the edge of the board and cutoff the road. Only 1 IT Inf Bn managed to recieve and understand the withdrawal order before the door shut. All other IT Bns surrendered. It is of particular note that the commander of the IX tank Bn rallied the No2 company in the middle of the tank engagement when said company failed morale and was ready to skeedadle.
POINTS
Italian -- 1464 total, 132 lost in combat,978 surrendered,and 254 escaped.
UK------ 3027(incld 900 flank march) 123 lost in combat.

[1ComOpsCtr]

Afrika Campaign point totals to date:

Axis point total: -3440 (actual losses- Allied losses)

Axis Political Will: 438 (-62 for lost battles and points lost)

Axis Commander Rating: 4 (-1 due to surrenders of more than half force)

Allied point total: 2985 (Axis points (-Allied losses) +another victory bonus of 25 points)

Allied Political Will: 530 (+10 for victory)

Allied Commander Rating: 9 (remains stable)

Italian Losses (decision point was -3200 points) have triggered German High Command response... Allied victory has made their High Command very confident, ...they have detached troops to Greece since they don't need so many against the Italians.

[1ComOpsCtr]

Campaign update:

I don't have the point totals yet, but the Italians and their Libyan allies gave a much better accounting for themselves in the battle illustrated below. The Australian Infantry Brigade walked straight into the Libyan defenses and while they eventually overcame them, were severely handled in the process. The Northern Axis Brigade did not fare as well as the Southern force (which had regular Italian support I must add), and was eventually forced to surrender after being virtually destroyed.

The Southern attack was parried by an aggressive Italian move with their motorized Infantry Regiment and a coordinated attack by the Libyans out of their defensive position. The Libyan attack was spurred on by the appearance of Tanks in their open rear area. Now these were only Light MkVI's and Bren Carriers of one Squadron of the Australian 6th Light Horse, but the Italian commander didn't know that when he issued his move orders. The two forces (with the Light Horse nipping at the Italian's heels) conducted a running battle for quite a while with the only really telling damage coming from the Allied air and artillery support. The map illustrates the generally Northern movement of the battle, from the first major encounter in turn 8, through turns 9 and 10.

The pursuing Light Horse Squadron ran into the minefield that was originally defending the Italian's position and were stopped. All the MKVI's and a several carriers were lost to mines. Once the Libyan and Italian column started there was no stopping it until it found the remains of the Italian Light Tank and Motorcycle battalions digging in. The Light Horse remaining Squadrons with attached Anti-tank support had slugged it out with the Motorcycle and Light Armour battalions after completing their encircling move inflicting near equal damage until their attack just ran out of gas... literally.



In the end the Australian Brigade with its artillery and air support wiped out a Libyan Infantry Brigade forcing those few survivors to surrender not all that far from their original position. It was an expensive victory. Points to follow shortly.

http://commandoperationscenter.com/afrika_campaign.htm

Moderator

[1ComOpsCtr]

We have fought a couple of additional battles in the area indicated by the map above with interesting results. The Italians were able to blunt a portion of the Australian attack by counter attacking with a battalion of the motorized infantry unit that moved east to support the southern Libyan defensive position.

The Australians lost quite a bit of their infantry to good artillery fire from the defenders combined with the Italian support units. A dust storm has interrupted the battle, so it will be another week or so before we can finalize this first portion of the campaign...

The next set of maps and unit point totals will be posted after these battles are fought.

Moderator

[1ComOpsCtr]

Current point totals

Axis point total: -2453 (actual losses- Allied losses)

Axis Political Will: 457

Axis Commander Rating: 5 (steady-improving slightly)

Allied point total: 1973 (Axis points -Allied losses)

Allied Political Will: 520

Allied Commander Rating: 9 (remains stable)

Italian high command has requested assistance from the Germans due to the unexpected failure of their defenses. The Germans have hesitated because of the recent successes at slowing the Allied advance, but German reinforcements are being gathered and the Italians have sent additional armor toward the front.

The Allies have not quite been as successful as high command thought they would be so there has been a delay in pulling troops for the Greek campaign.

[1ComOpsCtr]

Here are a couple of pictures from the battle between the Australians and the Italians in the southern portion of the Allied attack. You can see some of the Libyan Infantry in the upper right behind the wire.



Here is an overview of half of the Australian Infantry Battalion if the first wave of the attack on the wire supported by a squadron of Matildas on the right and a squadron of Australian Light Horse Mk-VI's and Carriers on the left. You can see the defending Libyan Company with the Italian 47mm AT Battery holding that portion of the wire.



Here is a closer overview of the Australian Infantry and the Matildas attacking. Normally the labels of the front rank extends under the front of the stands behind but for this photo I spread them out a little so you could see the unit identification labels. Note the unit data card in the second photo. We use "Command Cards" to make the game run a little smoother and quicker.



Bill (Campaign Moderator)

[1ComOpsCtr]

Final battle of the first round...

As you can see from this map the Axis forces were pushed back from the southern portion of their defensive line by the Allied army arrayed against them, made up mostly of Australians with British support in this portion of the line.



The Libyans fell back quickly, not stopping until they reached an abandoned defensive position covered by minefields and a few intrenched positions. Only a few companies of excited Libyan infantry were brave enough to deploy outside that position at the insistence of General Maletti who needed infantry cover for his limited artillery and anti-tank resources. Group Maletti was down to a few mixed units of Motorized infantry and armor to try to stem the Allied tide as it rolled over the Axis defensive lines like waves against sand castles: ...unrelenting.

Maletti deployed his Motorized Battalion against the advancing Australians as seen in this picture. His light armor on his right, his infantry with their supporting weapons making up the center and left of his line. The picture below illustrates the right end of the Italian defensive line. The Battalion of L3-35's is deployed to refuse their right.



At the bottom right of the picture above and in the picture below you can see the Australian attack line just prior to the beginning of the dust storm that basically stopped all action on this front for an hour. (time between the first and second games)



During the dust storm C Squadron of the 6th Australian Light Horse (ArmCavRegt) pushed on despite the limited visibility becoming separated from the battery of 2lb Portees assigned to provide more killing power to the Mk-VI's and Bren Carrier force of the Cavalry. This separation was to prove costly for both detachments.



Once visibility was restored the Italian commander pushed his light armor toward the Australian left trying to turn the open flank that had been covered by the 6th Cav and their Portees. The 2lb AT guns, Australian integral mortars and the attached 4.5" battery slowed the Italian attack...



... while the Australian Light Horse was being mauled by the Libyan infantry and the Italian Medium tanks supporting their artillery positions in the second line. Here is a picture of the Libyan defensive position. The Italian guns and M11-39's can not be seen in this picture but are deployed above and to the Libyan's left of this line.



Once the Italian Artillery was destroyed, as well as the front line position of the Motorized infantry the Italians once again were forced to withdraw even though they had stalled the Australian advance by severely damaging it. Losses were almost identical (point wise) but the Axis forces were scattered leaving only this defensive "box" to protect the withdrawal of the remaining men and material.

The next campaign battle maps will be published shortly...

Moderator...

[1ComOpsCtr]

Second Phase of the Afrika Campaign begins with the map below indicating the position of Allied forces getting ready to attack the Axis "fall back" position where the Italians hope to hold the Allies until the main Italian forces can strengthen the passes. The Garrison at Sidi Barrani is still holding out against the very small force the Allies (18th Aust. Brig) are using to keep them tied down. The Ariete Armored Division and its support formations have been deployed in Theater and only await the "go" signal from Italian High Command... In historical terms the Italians have put more into Theater than their historical counterparts. To date there has been very little done by the Allied Navies to stop the Italians from reinforcing the Libyans.



Players wishing to participate should contact the Moderator through the web site or via this forum for more information.

It is January 1941 in campaign terms... Here is a strategic picture of the coastal fighting around Buq Buq.



Bill (moderator)

[dougeagle]

Looks very

By the way...how are you making the maps?
Those too are very good...shows the reader what is happening.

[1ComOpsCtr]

Doug,

The maps are generated using the graphics program Corel Drawl then converted for the web as a vastly reduced jpg file in Adobe. One of the original files would take ages to load otherwise...

Bill (web/graphics guy for campaign)

[1ComOpsCtr]

The entry above has been updated with a view of the units deployed around Buq Buq.

Moderator

[1ComOpsCtr]

During last night's campaign strategic session the Italian High Command committed additional forces to the Libyan frontier, withdrawing an armored Division from Yugoslavia, and were informed (rewarded for their aggressive action) by Adolph Hitler himself that German Panzers are on the way to Africa.

The Allied navies have been unable to stem the tide of supplies to Africa. British Naval actions have been unsuccessful in most areas of the Med...

Moderator

[jb]

Great job on those campaign postings. We did the first couple of scenarios,but after the trouncing that the ITs took,I ran out of IT players. Maybe that will change with the entry of the Afrika Korps!

[1ComOpsCtr]

jb,

It is a challenge to play the Italians which only a few players are willing to accept. Our group's primary Italian player has been very successful in keeping the Allies from doing what the Allies did during the actual campaign. He has been able to gather enough artillery to make the Allied player fight for every "box", which has delayed their advance enough to keep them from the quick victory they need to keep the Germans out of Africa. Hitler is sending troops within this month's campaign turn (January 41), which may be very scary for the Allies...

The Italian High Command is also sending some better equipment and formations (both armored Divisions). The one area we are lacking is Naval battles. To date we have been using a fairly simple convoy matrix to determine what gets through, etc... So far the Axis has been able to get equipment and supplies through, but the Allies have been limited. Luck of the dice.

In this series of battles I think the Italians will slow the Allies even more, but you never know unless you play...

As an aside regarding the GHQ rules troop allowances for Afrika.

1. Regular German (truck mounted) infantry will be the primary infantry. No PzGren in initial deployments. One MG battalion may have 251's as may all HQ's and Medical.
2. Motorcycle mounted infantry is allowed (maximum 3 battalions).
3. The initial armor battalions must have 1 company of all Pz II's (5) for every 2 companies of Pz III's (normal organization of 4/1 as per rules). Pz II is still HQ.
4. 88's (36-dual purpose) cost 150 points and must be purchased in pairs.

Bill
Campaign Moderator