Russ has deployed the British. A battalion of Coldstream Guards holds the perimeter wire of an extensive minefield. At the top of the picture a regiment of armoured cars supports the infantry. The British also have a regiment of tanks in reserve. Unbeknown to the Axis players, these units guard three hidden pathways through the mines which enables them to fight "in supply".
German infantry lead the attack whilst Italian tanks move up in support. Jon and Ozy took charge of the Axis units and decided to keep their veteran recon in reserve and await events. The objective was to destroy the British infantry and exit one motorised unit off the table edge - but it must be "in supply"! Annoyingly, I had to use two units that I haven't rebased.
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| Russ' deployment in more detail. |
Excellent camera Ozy! However, I think I need to do some more work on the detail. This is a Boyes anti-tank rifle which was standard issue for most of the desert campaign. It was OK against light armour but hopeless against medium tanks and it was made obsolete by the end of 1942. Interestingly, the Russian's kept them on until the end of the war, using them as heavy sniper rifles against fortified infantry.
Great game last night. Russ played a blinder, with entrenched infantry, well supported by armoured cars and a subtle use of anti-tank guns. The final deployment of his tank reserve secured a convincing win.
Jon and Ozy were genuinely unlucky, with Jon's dice throwing infecting Ozy's usual unbelievable luck. Hidden minefields nullified the superior German infantry, and Russ was able to lure the Italian armour onto a risky un-entrenched anti-tank gun line. Jon and Ozy played the scenario to its conclusion but they never got the dice results which could have swung it back for them.
Jon has come up with an excellent suggestion for allowing units to be given attack orders against enemy units as well as terrain objectives. As a result, Jon sportingly played a realistic outcome for the Italian armour which led to their demise!
It was felt that allowing the defender too free a hand for deploying the hidden minefields made them too powerful. It was suggested that they should be committed before an operational game to specific tables and even specific quadrants and rolled for to see if they are dummy or live. Please make your suggestions known before the next operational game on the 25th June.
I will be putting on more desert games over the next few weeks.
