Italian Long Campaign

[sigeena]

Turn 26

I have re-positioned my remaining tank in the approach of the EN infantry. By this time, they have been taking artillery damage for the past 5-6 turns and their suppression is growing. I sense they are close to crumbling.



The fight in 1st Company sector is nearly over. The EN infantry has been put to flight, and their Bren carriers are moving forward to stem the retreat. I have also recalled my AT carriers to engage the Bren carriers.

[sigeena]

Battle Report at Turn 32

Summary
EN main effort was determined by Turn 3-5. Moved my main AT assets (tanks) to intercept.
Engage light skin vehicles with HMGs from turns 5-9. EN vehicles covered the ground very quickly and my HMG outposts were destroyed by turn 12.
Tanks vs tanks started fighting from turn 8 and lasted till turn 15.
EN infantry started engaging from turn 16 onwards. Firefights lasted till turn 22. Once the EN infantry was sufficiently attrited and unable to push past my line, they were pinned out and began retreating.

[sigeena]

Next battle was a similar Delay engagement somewhere in N. Africa.

The main problem has been that the terrain in N. Africa is very open, and for a infantry heavy force, I need to be able to find dead ground to hide my infantry.

This was my deployment after considering the open ground. As usual, BLACK LINE is a HMG screen. MAROON Line is where I deploy most of my AT assets. Brought along 2x ATG Sections and 1x M-13/40 Section. GREEN Line is the reserve line. Most of my infantry is hidden in dead ground and can only be spotted at 100-150 metres away.



In my last battle, I felt quite letdown by the Italian 47mm ATGs. They tend to have poor accuracy and even at ranges of 500m, they tend to miss 2 times out of 3. At 500m, if we don't destroy the EN target in a hurry, you're likely to be hurt in return fire real quick. As a result, I decided to pick some 25mm ATGs, which traded higher accuracy at the expense of lower PEN.

[sigeena]

Shortly after the Fog of War lifted, we spotted a large mobile force speeding towards 2nd Company in the southern sector. Artillery bombardment was plotted to hit the light skin lorries.



Turn 6,

In 1st Company Sector, a platoon of EN tanks was also probing forward. The HMG section quickly doused the incoming tanks to remove any tank riders. If these tanks are coming without infantry support, my infantry should be able to handle them.

[sigeena]

Turn 10

The main battle is ongoing in 3rd Company sector. L Platoon and the HMG Section are unable to pull back due to the speed of the EN attack. My tanks are engaging the EN as they crest the ridgeline, mainly destroying the Armoured Cars. I was hoping to destroy the lighter stuff and leaving the EN tanks for my ATGs.



Turn 15

Situation is getting abit bleaker. I've lost 1 tank and my remaining tank has suffered critical damage to its main gun. It's only as good as an armoured car now. L Platoon is still in the fight but at the risk of complete overrun. The HMG section has been swept away. 1 of the ATG has also been destroyed.

By turn 15, I decided to concentrate 1st Company towards 3rd Company sector. The HMG section has moved south to position itself just above M Platoon, near my other ATG section. I'm concentrating Long Range HMG fires with my artillery to slow the EN progress. My ATGs are taking long range shots with high accuracy, but not making much of a dent.



Turn 19

2nd Company continues to hide from the EN tanks. EN armour force is very much reduced.

[sigeena]

Turn 23

Situation is improving. There are only a couple of EN armor units left. The EN artillery has gone silent and are firing smoke rounds, a sign that they've depleted their ammo. This means I can start firing my artillery without concern for counter battery. My ATGs in 2nd Company have been destroyed.

I estimate at least 3 infantry companies in the EN force. They are being attrited by HMG and mortar fires.

Offscreen, 3rd Company is also beginning to concentrate towards 2nd Company.



Turn 27

A better overview of the support moving towards 2nd Company. The EN is breaking en-mass.

[sigeena]

Battle Report at Turn 40

Battle ended once we recaptured all objective flags.

The 25mm ATGs were somewhat meh. The good thing is they are effective at ranges of up to 800m against anything with ARM 1. Against ARM 3, we probably have to go closer to around 400m or so. Highly accurate, fast firing, hard to spot, but not packing much of a punch.

The EN artillery running out of ammo by mid-battle was also crucial in this victory. I tend to buy ammo carriers so my artillery was able to keep firing throughout.

[Steves308]

Sigeena,

I'm curious what the experience and moral of your units is averaging, now that they have some victories behind them. Italian units start off pretty low, almost as bad as the early war Russian units.

Steve

[sigeena]

The Italians start with 60-60 for their Morale and Experience. I don't recall seeing any Green units, so they are definitely better than the Russians.

The only downside is their comparative lack of armour and AT weapons.

Credits to WarCab, we are able to have a quick overview of the best and worst in the battalion

[sigeena]

Next battle is a Defend against GB in N. Africa. Timeline is Nov 1940.

I supplemented my force with the following support units

S0- 90mm Gun Emplacements (Primarily for AT purposes)
T0- Ammo Carrier (For Infantry Gun)
U0- Ammo Carrier (For Mortars)
V0- 20mm Flak Section
W0- M-13/40 Section
X0- Fwd Obs

I also bought 50pts worth of mines. Looking over the map, there wasn't really a strong position to anchor my defence. The only terrain which I could really hold with confidence was the forest in the north. To this end I decided to set up my Gun Emplacements forward and centrally to influence the early battle with the EN tanks.

As with any Defend engagement, I was only really worried about EN artillery. If they are fast and on target, they will destroy my Gun emplacements before they are able to destroy enough EN tanks.