Italian Long Campaign

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Turn 5

Early skirmishing between our tanks and EN armoured cars. Not much to worry about so far. Their light tanks do not have a main gun.

Once I dealt with them, I sent my tanks hiding again, taking advantage of the terrain.

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Turn 8

My HMGs are falling back. The EN lead tanks have cut the road but we should still be able to infiltrate backwards.

H platoon is now in a fight against the EN tanks.



Turn 20

H platoon has dealt sufficient damage to the EN advance. They took out 3 tanks and had to pull back as the EN artillery kept falling around them. EN infantry is also beginning to close in on them.

J platoon has gone to ground for now.



Turn 22

H platoon has disengaged pretty cleanly, having to sacrifice 1 section. Company HQ is supporting their movement with HMGs and 60mm mortars in direct fire.

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Turn 10

The rest of the EN armour advanced towards the main ridgeline. My HMGs button them up from range.



Turn 13

6 EN tanks fall to the minefields. My 90mm ATGs pick them off as they lie immobile.



Turn 15

More tanks approach from the south. Again, my 90mm ATGs pick them off from range.

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Turn 27

There is 1 Matilda left, and it's roaming in 1st Company sector. I plot arty all around their infantry, hoping that the Matilda will advance without much support.



3rd Company will now move forward and swing towards 1st Company, to support my tanks.



Turn 30

1st Company has to re-org itself as the Coy HQ was too exposed. As a result, their Matilda makes a dash forward, leaving their infantry support behind.

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Turn 33

My tanks are leading the counter attack into the EN. 3rd Coy isn't too far behind. 2nd Coy is also pushing units up to close with the EN.



Turn 34

J platoon, which has remained quiet for most of the battle, comes alive as the EN line starts to crumble. They attack from an uncovered angle.

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Battle Report



Again, credits to Warcab, I extracted some strategic battle images and compiled them into a gif, to give an overall feel of the ebb and flow. There were 44 turns in total, and I only extracted odd number turns, so as to keep the size smaller.

You can see that the main push was entirely against 1st Company.

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Delay Battle against UK.

The ground here is very steep and rough. Infantry will take a long time to traverse, and any armour will probably travel fastest along ridgelines, rather than across it.

There is a road running E-W along the northern edge of the map, but I do not think the EN will use it to much advantage.

I supplement my core forces with the following

- Ammo Carrier (for Infantry Howitzer)
- Ammo Carrier (for 81mm Mortars)
- Tank Section
- 25mm ATG
- 47mm ATG
- 20mm AA Guns
- Air Recon

With availability of the Air Recon, I decided on a largely reverse slope deployment. This maximises my survivability as well as improves my ATG's accuracy and effectiveness.

Black line is the screening force. Maroon Line is expected to be main resistance and Green Line is my reserve fighting line.

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I deployed my Companies from South to North, with 1st Company in the South and 3rd in the North.

1st Company (Note the presence of my 47mm ATGs, oriented to engage to the rear.)



2nd Company

The screening force takes advantage of the reverse slope to enhance survivability against early EN contacts.



3rd Company

The HMGs are deployed to watch the road. Sometimes, the EN sends down their lorry-borne infantry along the roads. My pair of tanks wait in the shallow ground for opportunities to snipe from the flanks.

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Turn 2

Spotted a platoon of EN tanks coming down the road. My HMGs fire off quickly to ensure no riding infantry and proceed to pull back down the road.



The EN arty is landing around my tanks, and I have to keep them on the move to avoid getting in the worst of it.

It also precipitates their fast moving light armour stuff. My tanks are well positioned in this sector to engage them.



A13s are spotted coming on quickly towards 1st and 2nd Company. We also spotted a platoon of Valentines, which are likely to lag farther behind.

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Turn 5

The early skirmishing is lop-sided as the EN armoured cars do not have any main guns to threaten my tanks.

Also note the current position of the EN tanks along the road. If they turn south sharply, they may influence the skirmish.

My HMGs continue to pull back and keep the EN tanks buttoned up.



Turn 10

1 of the EN tanks split off and went around. The other 2 have begun turning south west towards 3rd Company. My tanks have taken up new positions after a successful fight with the EN armoured cars.

I expect the lone tank to be destroyed by my infantry with relative ease. The other 2 may need some coaxing to expose themselves.