Not Bir Hakeim
The fortress at Bir Hakeim (Old Man's Well) had been built by the Ottomans and later used as a station by the Italian Meharist (camel corps) to control movement at the crossroads of two Bedouin paths. The wells had long been dry and had been abandoned but Indian troops had re-occupied the site to build a strongpoint surrounded by minefields.
In our game a mixed Free French force is tasked to hold the crossroads and deny its use to the enemy for 20 turns.
My desert Free French were assembled ages back most come from a time before you could just order them from a website 😁 There are Airfix and Matchbox 8th Army plastics some with head-swaps or painted up as Senegalese! I also have SHQ, Dixons, EWM plus odds`n sods from Pascal Mahn, Brian at The Hobbyden, Elheim, Tumbling Dice & Retrokit
4 x infantry platoons (a mix of Legionnaires and Senegalese)
1 x MMG
1 x 81mm mortar
1 x Boyes AT rifle
1st artillery battery with:
2 x 75mle1897 plus crews and tows
AA section (fusiliers d`marine)
40mm Bofors + tow
Mine fields, wire and entrenchments
Starts the game off table east, can be called onto table any turn after turn 6
2 x Dodge Tanake
1 x Bren carrier w/25mm Hotchkiss AT gun
Air Support
Turn 1D6 + 2
Hurricane fighter bomber
Hurricane fighter bomber
Italian Forces
(from the west on turn 1)
Elements of 132nd Tank
Regiment
2 x M41 tanks
1 x Semovente
Recce company with:
2 x motorcycle recce platoons
1 truck platoon
1 x Armoured car
From the North
(turn 8)
2 x Semovente
1 x armoured car
CV33 flame-thrower
Company of infantry from Pavia Division
German forces
(from the south turn 12)
2 x Panzer III
DAK infantry company
Support
3 rounds of random 105mm battery fire
Turn 1D6 + 4
Stuka sortee
2 rounds of directed 105mm battery fire (may be called by any HQ
element)
Turn 12 + 1D6
Stuka sortee with Bf109 cover
My table
Note the dark red/brown areas are mixed high density minefields, the tracks through them are also considered mined!
Turns 1 & 2 sees the
Italians advance from the west towards the crossroads, the motorcycle platoons
moved off road to the left and right, the M41s also moved left. The armoured
car headed straight up the road followed by the truck born platoon and company
HQ car.
On turn 2 the armoured car
passes into the minefield – luck is with it as it doesn`t trip any mines!
The French `75 opens up on the lead
M41 (miss), the Italian return fire is ineffective.
Both
motorcycle platoons dismount and prepare to advance on foot.
Turn 4 Both M41s move to engage the French `75, the lead tank misses (again), the second tank main gun roles double 1 (a jam or dud shell); unfortunately for the French they miss also.
The motorcycle infantry move forward on foot, The Italian company HQ dismounts and moves to rally what was left of their truck platoon.
Turn 5 the lead M41 is wiped out by a direct hit from the French `75, but its own shell smashes the `75 in return.
The other M41 crew manage to get their gun working. The two motorcycle platoon begin to take fire from French defenders. The Semovente moves forward to shell the crossroads in support of the motorcycle infantry.
Turn 6 a Hurricane enters the table
It targets the cluster of vehicles and men on the road (the Italian HQ and truck platoon & Semovente) and manages to kill the company commander and his RTO as well as killing more members of the truck platoon (who fail their morale and become pinned).
Italian artillery lands
around the crossroads, taking several casualties
The motorcycle infantry on the right find themselves pinned by solid French fire, on the left supported by the last M41 move forward against determined French defence.
The right hand motorcycle
platoon take more casualties and fail their morale and break.
The left platoon takes more
casualties and also fail their morale check and begin to withdraw, the M41
luckily misses getting hit by a petrol bomb, but seeing its supporting infantry
withdrawing it joins them!
The
Semovente moves forward in support, but hits a mine!
Italian
artillery plasters the crossroads causing no casualties this turn.
Turn 8 the second Italian force arrives from the north (just as the western attack collapses)
The French hastily re-set
their defenders, rushing men from rear areas towards the north.
The Italians spread out one
platoon plus a Semovente and the C33 flamethrower move right, whilst the other
Semovente backed with another platoon move left. The last platoon dismounts and
moves around the minefield to its left. Company HQ takes up position on the
hill and calls for artillery support (fails)
Turn 10 The Semovente on the right is knocked out by a superb shot from the last French `75
The
other Semovente is targeted by the French Bofors and it too brews up!
The
French 81mm mortar targets the centre Italian platoon and takes a couple of
men.
The
81mm mortar once again drops a bomb onto the centre platoon taking more men.
The French Bofors also fires directly at this platoon causing yet more loses
and forcing a morale check (which they fail and they break).
The
Italian HQ calls down artillery against the Bofors and wipes it out!!
Turn 12 the Afrika Korps arrive from the south and drive straight into the minefield. Neither tank is damaged by the lead truck platoon gets blown sky high and the platoon takes 50% casualties!
The
two active Italian platoons move forward and engage the French both sides take
casualties.
Turn 13 the Afrika Korps are forced to withdraw and regroup
The
Italians continue their advance, the French company 2IC gathers what men he can
find into a scratch platoon to try and block the Italians.
Turn 15 Mixed fortunes for the Italians, one platoon is cut to pieces as it runs into two well placed French machine guns – at the end of the turn the survivors fail their morale and break! The other platoon clears all the remaining French in front of them and it looks like they have a free run down onto the track and into the French rear. The French 2IC is of course moving his scratch platoon to block this.
The Afrika Korps advance, the Panzers blast any visible French positions.
Turn 16 the Italians continue their flanking move, the French 2IC moves his men to block them
The Afrika Korps continue their advance, the panzers firing at anything they can see, the French desperately move whatever troops they can to try and stop them, the last `75 is manhandled around to face this southern threat.
The German Panzer on the right is hit by the French `75, but the solid shot fails to penetrate! Its supporting infantry are hit from the flank by LMG fire and take casualties.
On the right, the `75 once again hits but fails to penetrate and the Panzer III return shot buries itself in the field wall in front of the gun (hit but failed to penetrate). The German infantry wipe out the French LMG, but still take more casualties which result in a morale check – which they fail and become pinned!
Its
infantry exchange fire with the French LMG and silence it.
The Me109 sees its chance for an easy kill and swoops in, but totally blows it by rolling double 1 – I rule a mechanical issue (blocked fuel line or blown oil rings, etc). So the 109 limps home and the Hurricane lives to fight another day.
The Stuka barrels in to attack the French centre and the `75
Another
pathetic roll (1 & 2 on 2D6) sees its bombs fall way long causing no
casualties to the French – so much for the Luftwaffe………
Turn 19 the remaining panzer and the `75 fire on one another, the `75 once again hits but its solid shot just bounces off L The Panzer is dead on and destroys the French gun.
At this point the Germans only have one turn left to clear the crossroads, and just can`t do it, so I called it a French victory.
A few final shots
Some of you may have noticed that in all the excitement I forgot to bring on the French flying column – d`oh!
Interesting game Richard. Good to see the French on tabletop well except for Flying Column!! Its the excitement of the game!! All best, Carl
ReplyDeleteCheers Carl, there was a lot of timed stuff to keep track of - artillery, air strikes, the converging Axis columns and somehow I totally forgot the French flying column - D`oh!! C'est la guerre as they say :)
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