DAR: Italy vs. GB - North Africa 6/40

[RERomine]

Turn 12

Alpha tried assualting a Matilda II without luck. Four squads tried, but only two had the brass to make the effort. I also moved my two tanks up and took a few shots, watching them bounce off a Matilda I and Matilda II at 150m. They were rear shots no less, but they are hard to kill. I'll try some more since I have a swarm in the area.

My tanks in the gully with Bravo took a hit. Some smoke cleared and two were killed by an A10. One got a shot before dying, just to watch his round bounce off at 250m. Enemy infantry tried to push up through the smoke of the burning vehicles just to get cut up by my infantry waiting behind it.

Enemy force in front of Charlie is starting to dissolve. I went after them with more machine guns this turn. There enemy squads are bugging out, leaving five but they are pinned.

Still cutting up enemy infantry, but some are starting to regain composure and return. Enemy artillery helped their cause by taking out one of my machine gun sections. Three battalions cut loose at him, which is just a bit of over kill

The excitement picked up for the engineers. A whole platoon of reinvigorated enemy infantry came up from some low ground, supported by an armored car. Shots traded, but no damage.

Two of Foxtrot's squads took a beating. One, routed by the A13 last turn before it died, bolted out into the open and got ripped. Another squad in the rough also got hit and is running. Since the enemy doesn't have any tank killing guns around, I'm slowly pushing a platoon of tanks through the rough. Once they get through, they should have a field day.

Casualties

Friendly: Estimated 20 casualties.

Enemy: Estimated 20 casualties.

[RERomine]

Turn 13

Two platoons of Alpha are swarming around the enemy tanks. All assaults failed this time as well, but had some of the tanks retreating. I pulled my two tanks up again and capped a Matilda I. Unfortunately, the Matilda IIs regained their composure and destroyed both tanks. Mortar fire rained on on some other enemy tanks, getting them to button up.

Bravo and Alpha teamed up and jumped a Matilda II and actually managed to immobilize it. A combined effort between Bravo and Yankee tanks resulted in the enemy A10 being destroyed, plus a few infantry. Mortar rounds also dropped on a Matilda I in the sector.

One platoon of infantry moving toward Charlie, again. It is hard to really support them with machine guns or tanks because anything north of them is screen by burning vehicles and everything south is too far away to really be effective. At least the enemy isn't approaching with much.

Three Matilda IIs heading toward Delta. The lead tank is about 500m out. X-Ray tanks in the area are going to have to duck for cover. All but two enemy squads are running, so infantry won't be a factor.

Only one engineer squad could draw a bead on the enemy platoon heading toward him, so he just popped smoke. I'll wait for the enemy to move out of the blind spot where more units can open up on them.

Two X-Ray tanks with Foxtrot are almost clear of the rough, with two more just behind. They got LOS of three enemy squads coming up and cut them up. Three Matilda Is are coming up, but their .50 cals. don't worry me as much. I have to be careful, but I should be fine. Mortars were able to finally destroy one of the Bren carriers. They have been sitting in one spot for at least six turns.

Casualties

Friendly: 2xM11/39 tanks destroyed. Estimated 15 casualties.

Enemy: 1xMatilida I tank, 1xA10 tank and 1xBren Carrier destroyed. Estimated 20 casualties.

[RERomine]

Turn 14

What it amounts to up north is flesh against steel. Alpha is getting still hanging in there, but it is hurting them. More men down, but another Matilda II is immobilized. Maybe they can get a kill next turn. The rest of the enemy are deflecting to the south. Only a Matilda I and A10 are hanging with the immobilizied Matilida II. Mortar rounds still falling on the shifting enemy tanks. Maybe I can immobilize one or more with indirect. I kill is out of the question with these. This area is a true brawl.

Bravo is deployed a bit looser than Alpha, so the enemy tanks might be a problem. If I can neutralize more of the enemy Matilda IIs heading this way, my tanks can take care of the rest. This will cost a lot of men, but my tanks have been totally ineffective against them.

Enemy infantry in front of Charlie is still fighting, but slowly losing ground. The take fire, break, retreat 50m and are shooting next turn. One of the Matilda Is referenced above has popped out of the smoke in this area. I have one Zulu tank that got separated from the rest, so it is helping out here.

Delta is bracing for the enemy Matilda IIs moving up. In the meantime, they are dealing with some enemy infantry to the left of their sector. It is only about a platoon, but my tanks in supporting them have ducked for cover from the Matildas. They haven't fired yet, but I know I can't destroy them at 150m, much less 500m, but the 2-pdr can kill mine easily. The Matilda IIs have a Matilda I pulling up the rear and a truck mounted 2-pdr on their flank. I think it is the one I damaged earlier. All enemy infantry is running.

Smoke cleared near the engineers position, so a fire fight broke out with enemy platoon again. Only one of my units can see them, so I'll just duck into the wadi. The position is solid and they won't get me out of it with just a platoon.

The first two of my tanks cleared the rough in Foxtrot's position and engaged and destroyed a Matilda I. Two more on coming up, but won't fair any better. There is are two Vickers tanks around, but one is immobilized. Once all the tanks are dealt with, my tanks will be able to mop up the enemy infantry. The far right Foxtrot platoon is moving up to help. Mortars capped the remaining Bren carrier.

Casualties

Friendly: Estimated 15 casualties.

Enemy: 1xMatilida I tank and 1xBren Carrier destroyed. Estimated 15 casualties.

Rather than screen prints, I've attached my current save if anyone wants to see the status of this battle. It is a real knock down, drag out fight.

[Mobhack]

Hmm - I must remember to change the AI buy routines to not buy Matilda 1 in North Africa in the first months of the war.

Also - you bought level bombers - Why??. Level bombers are for a pre-plotted fire-blow (and are really only for scenario use - e.g. the opening carpet bombings in some Normandy scenarios). If you don't pre-plot them before the battle, then they have about a 12 turn delay for impromptu calls. They do not target anything specifically either (unlike strike planes) - but simply go to an X,Y (with deviation) and offload the bombs and then leave.

Cheers
Andy

[RERomine]

Originally Posted by Mobhack

Hmm - I must remember to change the AI buy routines to not buy Matilda 1 in North Africa in the first months of the war.

No Matilda Is would be fine as long as they don't get replaced with Matilda IIs

Also - you bought level bombers - Why??. Level bombers are for a pre-plotted fire-blow (and are really only for scenario use - e.g. the opening carpet bombings in some Normandy scenarios). If you don't pre-plot them before the battle, then they have about a 12 turn delay for impromptu calls. They do not target anything specifically either (unlike strike planes) - but simply go to an X,Y (with deviation) and offload the bombs and then leave.

Cheers
Andy

I picked up the level bombers because I thought they would be perfect for hitting the east-west passes through the wadis. My three registration points are in passes and the turn delay is only 1 if used then. The problem was I opted for number of bombs instead of size of bombs, so they were ineffective. As it is, I normally don't use aircraft other than spotters anyhow. Too many experiences with blue on blue attacks in the past, but I might be thinking about SPWaW. I haven't played that for years, but it sometimes is difficult to remember which nuances belong to which game model. Anyhow, I knew I would need something to deal with the Matilda IIs and level bombers were what I selected.

The major problem, which has nothing to do with the game design or anything, is Italian equipment is bad across the board. Infantry and artillery is fine and on par with that of other countries of the time. When you look at tanks, ATGs and aircraft, the Italians were well equipped to fight WWI again. Maybe this is no different than any other country at the time with the exception of Germany, but with the Italians it doesn't get better over time. Two years after this battle, the Italians are still relying on that lame 47mm gun for tanks and ATGs in home grown equipment. Once this battle is over, I'm going to have a vexing problem on how to re-equip my force and stay reasonably realistic

Cheers,

Ray