Command Operations Center, LLC
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Command Operations Center, LLC |
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AFRIKA CAMPAIGN This campaign will be conducted from this Web Site for the enjoyment of the participants. We are using GHQ 's Micro-Armor rules for World War Two as a basis for unit point cost for combat, supply, and for reinforcements. Players may use any rule set and scale they desire to play the scenarios that are generated as a result of the campaign moves conducted by the Commanders of the opposing forces. The map below is of the basic Theater of Operations. The map is from Francois de Lannoy's book, AFRIKAKORPS 1941 - 1943.
This Campaign is not sponsored by any manufacturer or rules author and the suggested use of the GHQ system is only for the convenience of the core player group who will be using this system to conduct their portion of the campaign in 1/285th - 1/300th scales that will include GHQ's miniatures, as well as the products of many other manufacturers. The campaign begins on 9 December 1940 with the British counter attack against the Italian Army. Our campaign begins 15 June 2007 and will end when there is a clear winner. The Italian Commander defensively deployed a chain of "strong points" from Sidi Barrani on the coast in a Southwesterly direction toward Bir El Rabia. The British and the Italians skirmished in and around the chain of desert positions for several months. The British deployed what were called Jock Columns to harass the Italians every chance the got. For those wishing to begin early here is a small but interesting scenario you can try. It involves contact between a Jock Column and a mixed force of Italians/Libyans and Group Maletti in an area known as the Enba Gap where in a few weeks the British would go over to the offensive. RUNNING POINT TOTAL as of June 1941 Axis point total: -3678 (- Axis losses + Allied losses) Reflects casualties on both sides Axis Political Will: 332 (Out of 1000) Reflects the mood of the Italian High Command Axis Commander Rating: 8 (The Germans have arrived) Allied point total: 4790 (-Allied losses + Axis losses) Allied Political Will: 511 (Out of 1000) Reflects the mood of Winston Churchill Allied Commander Rating: 7 Remains steady despite recent set back In the Beginning... Axis Forces: General Berti ("Sly Murderer") Tenth Army C-in-C. Light Tank Company consisting of 29 L3/35 and L3/32 Light tanks. Medium Tank Company consisting of 27 M11/39 Medium tanks. Infantry Motorcycle Battalion (HQ +3 Companies +1 MG Company). Libyan Composite Battalion (1 Company motorized Colonial Infantry, 1 Company Camel Mounted Infantry, and 1 Squadron "Spahis" Irregular Cavalry). Supported by 1 Battery of 65mm infantry guns (off board). Allies Forces: General Sir Archibald Wavell C-in-C Middle East. Armored Car Squadron with Marmon Herrington or Rolls-Royce ACs. 1 Bn. Motorized Indian Infantry (HQ +3 Companies) with motorized support group of 1 (3" Mortar battery), 1 (MG Company), 1 (Engineer Platoon), and 1 (Scout Platoon in Bren Carriers). One Battery of 2lb anti-tank and one Battery of 37mm Bofors portees. Two Batteries of towed 25lb Artillery
Battle Report, pre-campaign encounter: Tenth Army, under General Berti, sends the Maletti Group on a probing
attack with the support of the 2nd Libyan Division’s mixed forces.
I use a variation of the traditional German tank numbering system with the platoon number within the company on the left. In the picture above these are tanks from the five platoons of the First Company, First Battalion, Fifth Panzer Regiment, 21st Panzer Division. First Campaign engagement: The battle begins!
This illustration represents the start positions of the Italian forces arrayed against the Allies as of 18:00 hrs, 8 December 1940, and is subject to minor changes should the Italian command decide to make any adjustments at the last moment. The Allies under General O'Connor attack the Italian positions near, and in support of, the coast road on the morning of 9 December 1940. The Italians, under the overall command of General Graziani, have established defensive boxes to defend their front line from the coast at Sidi Barrani to Rabia on the Escarpment, but are taken by surprise. Players may use any rules for designing scenarios, but we are using the GHQ rules ( Micro Armor-The Game WWII: Pages 104 thru 108). Those Players using GHQ's rules should conduct these battles based on the point system and rules for "Attacks on Prepared Positions". The Allies must pay the additional points indicated on the southern edge of the map should they decide on flanking attacks as well as take the chance that the flank attack may be delayed for any of several reasons*. If the flank attack comes from the third square the total cost is 500 points (taken from troop purchase points). The maximum cost is 900 points, which includes up to five squares on that map edge. Up to 50% (point cost) of Allied forces may be used in a flanking attack. The objective for scenarios is the western road board exit and the ridge line overlooking (controlling) it. Point totals for individual games are up to the players who may conduct battles for the whole area of this opening attack or smaller portions, ...such as one of the Libyan** Brigade "boxes" This illustration represents the adjusted positions of the Italian forces arrayed against the Allies as of 00:30 hrs, 9 December 1940, and represents the adjustment of some units and the reinforcements sent by General Graziani at the last moment due to an intelligence report provided by the Germans. The two maps below represent a portion of the area between 40-18 and 42-17. Each hex on the map above represents 5 Kms. Click here for the Strategic map showing both the Allies and Axis starting positions at 09:00 on 9 December 1940.
*Flank attack delay potential: Using a D-6 the Allied player rolls to determine if his flank attack begins the turn desired. Roll 5 or 6 and the attack begins immediately. If the attack roll fails each successive turn there is another roll with the chance for success increasing by one (1 pip) per turn. **Libyan Infantry Brigades (which in this case are partial Regiments with support) are organized similar to Italian units and may include Camel mounted infantry, Regular cavalry, and Askari cavalry. During this portion of the campaign they may be uniformed as very colorful troops. Libyan cohesion: (9 - 11). The Italian forces on the map above consist of a Motorcycle Regiment, a Battalion of Medium Armor, and a Battalion of Motorized Infantry. Follow the link 1 indicated on the map above to a more detailed illustration of this position and the unit make-up of this Brigade. All Libyan Brigades are similar but not identical.
The Italian forces included in the second map are: 1 Regiment of Motorized Infantry, 1 Battalion of Light Armor, and a Motorcycle Battalion. The two Libyan Brigades are similar to the Brigades on the map above but not identical. The British are restricted to using Matilda Infantry tanks; A-9, A-10, A-13 Cruisers; and Mk-IV Light tanks for their armor. Indian and/or Australian infantry primarily with some regular British and Highland Infantry are allowed. The Allied objective for the second map are to exit the North-Western edge of the map with as many units as possible above 50% strength.
The Allied command used the cover of darkness and the sound of hundreds of low flying aircraft to mask the movement of their assault forces toward the Italian positions. Murphy again prevailed as the planning and careful calculations went for naught when the 1st/6th Rajputana Rifles walked onto the minefield alerting the Libyan position blocking the road during the first move. The Indian professionals were disrupted slightly by the darkness and the mines, but were still able to carry the Libyan front line and open further breaches for the totally unexpected, by the defenders, Matilda infantry tanks of the 6th Royal Tank Regiment.
One fortunate result of the early discovery of the attack was the reaction of the Italian/Libyan commander. Because he was not in receipt of intelligence the British were going to attack all along the front at this time he thought the attack was localized so he rushed his regular Italian reinforcements toward the Libyan position under assault thinking he would crush this force with his armor and guns. The Italian commander had been deliberately deceive by
Allied High Command when they switched some units and re-assigning some units to change the nature of
specific commands. 6th RTR was assigned Matilda tanks unlike their historical counterpart. This deception
cost the Libyan infantry and Italian armor dearly because they were not expecting Matilda tanks. They were
expecting lightly armored Cruiser tanks and had prepared accordingly. They
also were not prepared for the combined attack of the Royal Artillery that
struck during turn three. The Allies believed the Italian command would
rush the motorized infantry from the second (reserve) line into a blocking
position exactly where all the Italian forces arrived, along with the fleeing
Libyans, at the same time all the Allied combined artillery dropped a
concentrated barrage, ...with expectant results. An over-zealous Indian
Infantry company suffered losses when it moved into the barrage box ahead of
schedule. As the Allies advanced against the fleeing Libyans intermixing all units it became difficult to distinguish friend from foe. Artillery on both sides, as well as anti-tank units, caused destruction indiscriminately among the swirling mass of tanks, infantry, and vehicles all moving West along the coast road. Allied air power also inflicted blue on blue damage. It was similar in the south with though the fleeing Libyans paid a much higher price than the Allies partially because the Axis forces became partially trapped by the encircling 11th Hussars. A fierce battle developed with many Libyan units breaking through the Hussars and Royal Fusiliers, who were not able to stem the tide of fleeing Italians and Libyan soldiers. The Libyan Army suffered a severe defeat, but it was able to save most of the front line Army from this initial encounter to fight another day, ...if High Command can rally them.
Third Campaign engagement report: The Allied command used the cover of darkness and the sound of hundreds of low flying aircraft to mask the movement of their assault forces toward the Italian positions. Dawn was turn 7, and the Italian commanders were sufficiently unprepared not to see the Australian Brigade approach in the pre-dawn light. If it were not for the minefields the Australian troops may have completely surprised them. As it was the initial encounter was very sharp and costly for the attackers due to the density of the mines and the Italian fire. The Southern Brigade defensive position was turned by the arrival of the tanks and Bren Carriers of C Squadron, 6th Armoured Cavalry Regiment, so the Libyans fought a running battle on their way north against increasing pressure from three sides. The Brigade's commander succeeded in extracting much of his command from the jaws of the Australian pincers. Had the Australian attack been supported by Cruiser tanks the destruction might have been complete, but the Mk-VI light tanks and Bren Carriers of the Cavalry Squadron were not of sufficient strength to force the Italians to surrender or to destroy them. The Libyan Brigade and the Italian Motorized Infantry were able to move Northeasterly though they were under attack by aircraft and artillery to establish another defensive position as indicated.
The Northern Libyan Brigade was partially over-run by the initial attack of the Australian Infantry and began to withdraw to the North with much of the Allied infantry, support, and artillery following them as they tried to escape. Two large infantry-on-infantry attacks followed with small pockets of Libyan's escaping temporarily until they were caught and forced to surrender by pursuing troops.
Battle for the Last Italian/Libyan defensive position... General Maletti's flank had been turned by the elements of Australian 17th Brigade as they completed their coordinated wheel North with the 6th Australian's Divisional Light Cavalry Regiment. Maletti turned a portion of his reserves, a battalion of the 10th Motorized Infantry Regiment supported by a Battalion of Light Tanks and part of a Battalion of Medium Tanks, to face the Allied attackers. Just as the opposing forces came within 1000 yards a localized dust storm hit blanketing this portion of the battlefield reducing visibility to zero for nearly an hour. Both sides made some minor "blind" movements during the storm but basically stayed where they were waiting for the storm to clear. The Australian commander realized his
advantage and decided the sacrifice of C Squadron, 6th Australian Light Horse,
could make a tremendous difference if they could overrun the Italian Batteries
on the slight rise behind the Axis secondary line. The Light Horse
launched their attack and succeeded in overrunning the two batteries of 65mm
Infantry guns despite the fire of the M11-39s and the Libyan infantry supporting
the guns. Two thirds of the Squadron was destroyed in the attack but the
valiant mechanized cavalry pressed home in the spirit of their WW-I era brethren
and overran the two Batteries destroying them utterly. The Italian Light armor was not to be outdone by the bold Allied attack launching a flanking move of their own catching a portion of a Battery of 2 Pounder Portees unprepared and driving the survivors back. The Light tanks moved on to flank the Australian Infantry line only to be severely handled by the Australian's artillery, mortars, and the remainder of the 2 Pounders from their fall back position.
The Italian Light armor suffered but were able to disrupt the planned counter assault by A & B Companies of the 5th Australian Infantry. At this point only the Light Tank Battalion's 2nd platoon of the second company is fully effective, everyone else being subjected to mortar, artillery, and anti-tank fire. The picture below illustrates the Libyan second line position with infantry holding the "box" abandoned by the Italian command and occupied by the Libyans as they fell back from their own "box" further east on the front line of the Axis defensive line.
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