Italian Long Campaign

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Turn 10

2nd Company Sector

EN infantry were spotted and within the next couple of turns, we observed at least a company sized force approaching us. Our HMGs dismounted from their pack mules and we readied the company for the fight.

Our leading tanks had to divert north as the EN A13s were fast approaching the centre

I kept my K2 AT rifle team upfront as a spotting scout.



Turn 14,

The EN infantry was breaking. I led with N Platoon in the centre and fixed the EN with my HMGs while the rest of the company moved forward along the sides. With steady suppressive fire from the HMGs, the EN line gradually fell backwards and ultimately broke once my infantry pushed harder.

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Turn 12

3rd Company sector

This was truly the centre of the battle itself. 3rd Company hesitated in crossing the stream, and only Q platoon crossed. The rest of the company decided to stick it out on the near bank.

My tanks attempted to take the A13s in the flank but they fired smoke and we had to redeploy.



Turn 14

The 1st A13 was destroyed as it peered above the gully. Now we also observed infantry moving together with the A13s. This means that we need to suppress the infantry before we can engage the EN tanks decisively.A bombardment was planned to achieve this.



Turn 20

The A13s are done, but the Matildas are coming into the scene. I have only 1 tank left due to return fire. EN infantry is also running due to my artillery bombardment and my HMGs firing from the near bank.

I have shifted my ATGs towards the Matildas and another platoon from 1st Company is nearby for a close assault.

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Turn 23,

1 of the Matildas fell prey to my assaulting infantry, the vehicle was immobolised and the crew fled on foot.

The remaining Matilda (Red diamond) pressed home its attack towards 3rd Company but got overwhelmed by my assaulting infantry as well.

Here the destroyed EN tanks are shown as Yellow Diamonds and my single lost tank as Green Diamond. My tanks accounted for 2 of the total 8 tanks. Most of the EN tanks were destroyed by my assaulting infantry.

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Battle Report at Turn 30 or something

After the last EN Matilda was destroyed, it was pretty much pursuit and moving to capture all objective flags.

Again, I only managed a Marginal Victory here due to the difficulties in moving across the rough terrain. Timed Objectives really make a difference.

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Delay at Sidi Barrani, Egypt

Having destroyed the EN Matildas with my infantry, I was probably over confident in their capabilities. In this battle, my wrong assumptions probably caused me to take more unnecessary casualties.



Studying the terrain, I decided on 2 EN possibilities.

The main was Poss A where the EN will attack down the road, with all their forces concentrated in the attack.

Poss B was a 2 prong attack, where the EN armour will advance in the centre, while their infantry advance down the road.

To counter both Possibilities, I purchased a Heavy AT Gun Section (primarily to combat the Matilda II) and a Light AT Gun Section. I deployed the Light AT Guns in the centre with the Heavy AT Guns nearer to the main road to cover EN Armour advance. Again, my assumption was to let the EN armour advance unimpeded through my infantry screen and then let the ATGs engage them at close range (probably <600m for the Light ATGs and <800m for the Heavy ATGs).

My HMGs sections were deployed to cover both flanks and my Scout section set up OPs in the centre for better observation.

The infantry coys were deployed in a 2-up formation.

I also purchased an ammo dump to support my artillery park.

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Turn 3,

Right from the 1st turn, a heavy EN bombardment fell onto 2nd Company sector. At Turn 3, we spotted armoured vehicles racing towards our units in the South.



There were also tanks spotted in the North in 1st Company sector. Comparatively, none of the EN artillery was dropping in this sector, which suggested that the Southern attack was the main effort.

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Turn 9

I allowed the EN tanks to race past my infantry screen before stopping them with my AT Rifle team near the objective flag. From there on, my infantry swarmed the tanks and close assaulted them.

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Turn 12

My HMG section was badly pinned down by the EN bombardment and were unable to extricate themselves. I had also assumed that the EN armoured vehicles to push swiftly to the rear. Instead, they have taken a tactical halt, and in short time, found my infantry hiding. Again we were unable to extricate most of the platoon.

The first EN infantry spotted were seen approaching the scout OP. I plotted my 1st artillery bombardment, timed at 2.3 turns.



Turn 16, the armour leading the centre thrust moved farther ahead of the accompanying infantry and were destroyed by my infantry. My mortars began dropping steadily into the mass of the EN infantry. This will slow them down for at least 2-3 turns. I have moved up 1 of the Light ATGs to better position itself against the EN armour. Unfortunately, after a short firefight, they were down by 4 men, having only successfully destroyed 1 EN tank.

1 of my platoons have already been overrrun and there is a possibility that 2 more will be in danger soon.

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Turn 25

The situation has somewhat stabilised. Since the EN infantry is coming from 2nd Company sector, my 1st Company could be released from their current position in the north and swing down to support the rest of the Battalion.

J platoon was to come down on the right flank of 3rd Company and to prevent any more EN infantry from stretching 3rd Company's lines.

The remaining HMG section that was attached to 1st Company also made its way towards the sound of the battle and we found a suitable firebase on the flank of the EN.

3rd Company also began compacting its lines and the main idea was to protect the remaining AT assets with the infantry.

I have shifted my Scouts towards the rear of the EN, hoping to get a better view of their entire size force.



Here in 2nd company sector, the remaining platoon (N Platoon) prepares to fight the EN armour.

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Turn 30

N platoon only managed to disable and destroy 1 EN tank before getting roughly handled. For the moment, the EN tanks continue their foray into the rear of my positions. I was hoping they will make their way up North, where my Heavy ATGs are sited to cover the rear of the map.

The remainder of 1st Company is finally coming up to the line and my scouts have reported very confidently that our artillery bombardment is shaking the EN infantry pretty badly. With that report, I decided to shift 1st Company into battleline and get them in as quickly as possible, to strike at the EN line of retreat. That should occur in the next 5 turns onwards.