Italian Long Campaign

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Turn 8

2nd and 3rd Company are now planning on how to deal with the fast moving A13 tanks.

My 25mm ATGs are in perfect position and the LOS is around 250-400metres.



Turn 10

Another platoon of A13s approach from a different angle. This approach is similarly covered by the 25mms.

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Turn 14

After the EN cruiser tanks were destroyed, we waited for the inevitable advance of the Valentines.

There are 4 of them and my only way of destroying them would rely on my infantry going for close assaults.

Here 1 of them is likely to scale directly into H platoon.

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Turn 14

3rd Company sector.

After the EN tanks were destroyed, we re-orient our tanks towards the advancing EN infantry.

I expect my tanks to whittle away at the EN advance, before they hit my main line.

We expect at least 2 companies worth of EN infantry.



Turn 18

Over the next few turns, the EN advance grew larger and larger. Our HMGs and mortars are providing the tanks excellent support. We may be able to stop the EN advance altogether.



Turn 22

A better overview of 3rd Company's positions. You can also spot the flaming A13 along the road, destroyed by my infantry.

The range from my HMGs to the EN infantry is about 850-1,100 metres.

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Turn 20

As the Valentines press forward, I decided to pull back my screening force. Their current position is too far forward and risk being engaged and destroyed in detail.

2nd Company moves back to their main line, leaving 1 platoon in the dead ground to ambush the Valentines.

1st Company has also largely pulled back behind and are hidden from the EN infantry.



Turn 22

As usual, my heavy weapons is disrupting the EN infantry from supporting their tanks. L platoon is in an ideal position to close assault the Valentines.



Turn 26

I smoke out the area as the Valentines roll forward. I keep them buttoned up with HMG fires. They seemed to have split their forces abit. 1 is coming towards 1st Coy and the other towards 2nd Coy. The last one is held in reserve.



Turn 30

Here the last EN tank is sent forward. L platoon prepares once again for a close assault.

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Battle Report

The EN brought alot of artillery for this one. They shelled our arty park a fair bit but we were able to shift our guns to alternate positions.

I was also pretty pleased with the performance of our tanks. They fought throughout the battle and they held off at least 2-3 companies of EN infantry. 3rd Company was quite unscathed.



Here's the cool dynamic map. Our tanks were really lively.

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We had the choice of a special mission for a quick Advance.

The map is still quite similar to our last battle, alot of craggy rocky ground.

Fortunately, we have a E-W road running almost in the centre of the map, so this will be very important for us to move across the map speedily.

We bought a number of transports. Some heavy and light trucks. Air recon was also available, so that will come in handy.

Instead of tanks, I decided to buy some Armoured Cars. These have 20mm Autocannons, which have limited AT capability (PEN 4).

Here's the rough plan.

The black line is the midpoint of the map, this is as far as the EN can deploy their units. So I usually plan with this line as the edge of my safe area.

2nd and 3rd Coy will advance along the E-W axis, with 2nd Coy leading.

1st Coy will take the rough terrain for the objectives along the north of the map.

Blue lines are approx. company boundaries. The boundary between 2nd and 3rd Company is the road itself.

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1st Company's initial plan

I had bought a platoon of heavy trucks, and managed to fit the entire company into it, less 1 platoon.

1 of my HMG platoons are also mounted on pack mules and they will initially set-up a firebase to overwatch the trucks as they move to their de-bus point.

Note the smoke bombardment. This is to aid concealment of my trucks in the initial movement.



2nd Company

2nd Company is leading the Bn. The point elements are 1 platoon riding on light trucks, 1 scout team riding on motorcycles and a pair of armoured cars. As before, I drop smoke to obscure the initial movement phase.

With the use of the road, I expect to reach the de-bus point by the end of Turn 2.

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Turn 4

We contacted an EN platoon while moving along the road.

- Plotted indirect fires
- Established a firebase with HMGs and direct fire mortars
- Moved our armoured cars for closer suppression.
- Fanned out our scouts (F0-F1) for flank observation
- Once our mortar fires hit, we'll push N platoon up closer.



Turn 5

Our Air recon spotted some light MkIVc tanks. These are of relatively low threat as they only have MGs. Nonetheless we will have to clear them, to ensure follow on forces are not spotted so easily.



Turn 6

Our direct and indirect fires have routed the EN infantry and we push on with the rest of the Bn.

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A quick discussion on offensive type of missions.

When moving to contact, the usual problem is weighing off momentum vs dispersal.

You want to keep your forces upfront moving, and with support coming along, but at the same time, you'll have to watch against clumping too close together. If the EN had effective artillery or HMGs, the units clustered together will incur alot of casualties.

I tend to bring motor transports for this purpose, it allows me to concentrate faster than leg movement. Of course, it would be better to have armoured half-tracks but the Italian HTs have a carry capacity of 9, while my infantry sections are 11men each.

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Turn 5

1st Company

I hadn't expect the trucks to take so long to move to their de-bus point. It seems I probably only saved 2 turns transporting my troops by the

We spread the company in 1 up formation, and site our HMGs to support our comb of the area.