high command, africa

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Life's but a walking shadow ...

It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signify nothing.

W. Shakespeare

HIGH COMMAND Grand tactical rules

for the second World War

Copyright 2005 - 2006 Richard Affinati

Game Designer: Richard Affinati (ITALY)

Graphics Wizard and Chief Playtester:

Mike Patton (USA)

Acknowledgments:

Norman MacKenzie “Kiss Rommel” Luca Mazzamuto “Alto Comando” Lorenzo Sartori

“Dadi & Piombo” Andrew Carless “Translations”

Historical Background www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk and www.topedge.com

QUESTIONS:

Please direct any questions or comments about the game to:

Riccardo Affinati: [email protected]

CATALOGING IN PUBLICATION:


Dedication: HIGH COMMAND is dedicated as a token of remembrance to the soldiers

of the Second World War.

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HIGH COMMAND Grand tactical rules

for the second World War GAME PHILOPHY For many years we played Napoleonic battles in such a tactical way that warga-mers would never allow us to field more than a couple of Division per side. Then we discovered methods that allowed us to simulate entire battles without them getting too complicated. However today that old destructive mentality still ruins our Second World War games, preven-ting us from recreating entire battles. At the most, expert wargamers put a few more tanks and platoons on immense tables and worry about tactical problems and the thickness of armour, without e-xmaning the strategic or gaming aspects that are implicit in combats between in-fantry division and armoured brigades. With HIGH COMMAND we can play the entire Normandy landigs, or even the battles on the Russian Front or in Africa.

Richard Affinati

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND When Benito Mussolini declared war on the Allies on 10th June 1940, he already had over a million men in the Italian Army based in Libya. In neighbouring Egypt the British Army had only 36,000 men guarding the Suez Canal and the Arabian oil fields. On 13th September, 1940, Mar-shall Rodolfo Graziani and five Italian di-visions began a rapid advance into Egypt but halted in front of the main British de-fences at Mersa Matruh. Although out-numbered, General Archibald Wawell ordered a British counter-offensive on 9th December, 1940. The Italians suffered heavy casualties and were pushed back more than 800km (500 miles). British tro-ops moved along the coast and on 22nd January, 1941, they captured the port of Tobruk in Libya from the Italians.

Ligth Tank M.3A1 STUART III

Adolf Hitler was shocked by the defeats being suffered by the Italian Army and in January 1941, sent General Erwin Rom-mel and the recently formed Deutsches Africa Korps to North Africa. Rommel mounted his first attack on 24th March 1941, and after a week of fighting he pu-shed Archibald Wawell and the British Army out of most of Libya. However, un-der Lieutenant General Lesile Morshead the British managed to hold vital forward supply base at Tobruk.

Aerchibald Wawell attempted a counter-attack on 17th June, 1941, but his troops were halted at Halfaya Pass. Three we-eks later he was replaced by General Claude Auchinleck.

On 18th November, 1941, Auchinleck and the recently formed Eighth Army went on the offensive. Erwin Rommel was forced to abandon his siege of To-bruk on 4th December, and the following month had moved as far west as Archo-bald Wawell had achieved a year pre-viously. Aware that Wavell's supply lines were now overextended, Rommel, after obtaining reinforcements from Tripoli, launched a counterattack. It was now the turn of the British Army to retreat. After losing Benghazi on 29th January, Claude Auchinleck ordered his troops to retreat to Gazala.

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Over the next few months the Eighth Army, under Lieutenant General Neil Ri-chie, established a line of fortifications and minefields. Erwin Rommel launched his offensive on 26th May. The Italian in-fantry attacked at the front while Rommel led his panzers round the edge of the fortifications to cut off the supply routes.

Ritchie outnumbered Rommel by two to one but he wasted his advantage by not using his tanks together. After defeating a series of small counter-attacks Rommel was able to capture Sidi Muftah. On 12th June, two of the three British armoured brigades were caught in a pincer move-ment and were badly defeated. Two days later Neil Richie, with only 100 tanks left, abandoned Gazala. Rommel returned to Tobruk and took the port on 21st June, 1942. This included the capture of over 35,000 British troops. However, Rommel now only had 57 tanks left and was for-ced to wait for new supplies to arrive be-fore heading into Egypt.

In July 1942, General Erwin Rommel and the Italo-German Panzer Armee Afrika, (part of the Deutsches Africa Korps) were only 113km (70 miles) from Alexandria. The situation was so serious that Win-ston Churchill made the long journey to Egypt to discover for himself what nee-ded to be done. Churchill decided to ma-ke changes to the command structure. General Harold Alexander was placed in charge of British land forces in the Middle East and Bernard Montgomery became commander of the Eighth Army.

On 30th August, 1942, Erwin Rommel attacked at Alam el Halfa but was repul-sed by the Eighth Army. Montgomery re-sponded to this attack by ordering his tro-ops to reinforce the defensive line from the coast to the impassable Qattara De-pression. Montgomery was now able to make sure that Rommel and the German Army was unable to make any further a-dvances into Egypt.

Erwin Rommel

Over the next six weeks Montgomery be-gan to stockpile vast quantities of wea-pons and ammunition to make sure that by the time he attacked he possessed overwhelming firepower. By the middle of October the Eighth Army totalled 195,000 men, 1,351 tanks and 1,900 pieces of artillery. This included large numbers of recently delivered Sherman M4 and Grant M3 tanks. On 23rd October Mon-tgomery launched Operation Lightfoot with the largest artillery bombardment since theFirst World War. The attack ca-me at the worst time for the Deutsches Africa Korps as Eewin Rommel was on sick leave in Austria. His replacement, General Geaorge Stumme, died of a he-art-attack the day after the 900 gun bom-bardment of the German lines. Stume was replaced by General Ritter von Tho-ma and Adolf Hitler phoned Rommel to order him to return to Egypt immediately.

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The Germans defended their positions well and after two days the Eighth Army had made little progress and Bernard Montgomery ordered an end to the at-tack. When Erwin Rommel returned he launched a counterattack at Kidney De-pression (27th October). Montgomery now returned to the offensive and the 9th Australian Division created a salient in the enemy positions.

Winston Churchill was disappointed by the Eighth Army's lack of success and accused Montgomery of fighting a "half-hearted" battle. Montgomery ignored the-se criticisms and instead made plans for a new offensive, Operation Supercharge.

On 1st November 1942, Montgomery launched an attack on the Deutsches A-frica Korps at Kidney Ridge. After initially resisting the attack, Rommel decided he no longer had the resources to hold his line and on the 3rd November he ordered his troops to withdraw. However, Adolf Hitler overruled his commander and the Germans were forced to stand and fight.

The next day Montgomery ordered his men forward. The Eighth Army broke through the German lines and Erwin Rommel, in danger of being surrounded, was forced to retreat. Those soldiers on foot, including large numbers of Italian soldiers, were unable to move fast e-nough and were taken prisoner.

For a while it looked like the the British would cut off Rommel's army but a sud-den rain storm on 6th November turned the desert into a quagmire and the cha-sing army was slowed down. Rommel, now with only twenty tanks left, managed to get to Sollum on the Egypt-Libya bor-der. On 8th Novembre Erwin Rommel learned of the Allied invasion of Morocco and Algeria that was under the command of General Dwigth D. Eisenhower. His depleted army now faced a war on two front.

Cruiser Tank Mk.VI(A.15) CRUSADER II

The British Army recaptured Tobruk on 12th November, 1942. During the El Ala-mein campaign half of Rommel's 100,000 man army was killed, wounded or taken prisoner. He also lost over 450 tanks and 1,000 guns. The British and Commonwe-alth forces suffered 13,500 casualties and 500 of their tanks were damaged. However, of these, 350 were repaired and were able to take part in future bat-tles.

Winston Churchil was convinced that the battle of El Alamein marked the turning point in the war and ordered the ringing of church bells all over Britain. As he said later: "Before Alamein we never had a victory, after Alamein we never had a de-feat."

Allied troops continued to advance on Tunis, the capital of Tunisia. General Kenneth Anderson got to within 12 miles of Tunis before being attacked at Djedei-da by General Walther Nehring and the Deutsches Africa Korps . A further at-tempt by the Allies to reach Tunis was halted by bad weather on 24th Decem-ber, 1942.

General Jurgen von Arnim now arrived to take control of the German forces in Tu-nisia. In January 1943 he was joined by General Erwin Rommel and his army in southern Tunisia. Rommel was in retreat from Egypt and was being chased by Ge-neral Bernard Montgomery and the 8th Army.

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Montgomery now spent several weeks in Tripoli building up his supplies. Arnium and Rommel decided to take this oppor-tunity to attack Allied forces led by Gene-ral Kenneth Anderson at Faid Pass (14th February) and Kasserine Pass (19th Fe-bruary). The Deutsches Africa Korps then headed for Thala but were forced to retreat after meeting a large Allied force on 22nd February, 1943. General Harold Alexander was now sent to oversee Al-lied operations in Tunisia whereas Gene-ral Erwin Rommel was placed in com-mand of the German forces. On 6th March 1943, Rommel attacked the Allies at Medenine. General Bernard Montgo-mery and the 8th Army fought off the at-tack and the Germans were forced to wi-thdraw. Rommel now favoured a full re-treat but this was rejected by Adolf Hitler.

On 9th March, Rommel left Tunisia on health grounds and was replaced by Ge-neral Jurgen von Arnim as commander of the Deutsches Africa Korps. Arnium now concentrated in defending a 100 mile arc across north-east Tunisia. By April 1943 the Allies had over 300,000 men in Tuni-sia. This gave them a 6-to-1 advantage in troops and a 15-to-1 superiority in tanks. The Allied blockade of the Medi-terranean also made it difficult for the German Army to be supplied with ade-quate amounts of fuel, ammunition and food. The Allies now decided to make another effort to take Tunis. General O-mar Bradley, who had replaced General Gorge Patton, as commander of the 2nd Corps, joined General Bernard Montgo-mery for the offensive. On 23rd April the 300,000 man force advanced along a 40 mile front. At the same time there was a diversionary attack by the 8th Army at Enfidaville. On 7th May 1943, British for-ces took Tunis and the US Army captu-red Bizerte. By 13th May all Axis forces in Tunisia surrendered and over 150,000 were taken prisoner.

www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk

Bernard Montgomery

WEAPONS IN NORTH AFRICA The fact that Rommels DAK (Deutsches Afrika Korps) in North Africa contained equipment which was far more advanced and effective than the Eighth Armies e-quivalent meant that the campaign lasted much longer than it may have done o-therwise, whilst at the same time there were not sufficient numbers of them to become a decisive factor in the cam-paign. For instance, when the British launched Operation Crusader in late No-vember 1941 “the 8th Army outnumbered the combined Axis force (118,000 men to 113,000), had 680 tanks (with 500 in re-serve or in supply) to Rommels 390 and 1000 British planes confronted 320 Axis aircraft. The 88mm flak gun was used as an anti-tank gun more and more fre-quently as the conflict progressed and the Allies were slow to grasp its efect u-pon the battlefield. At a startling 2000 yards it could still penetrate the British tanks frontal armour, which made it an extremely lethal weapon in the Germans armoury and a severe threat to the Bri-tish tanks throughout the Desert War. All the technical edges which Rommel’s Afri-ka Korps had over the Eighth army hel-ped Rommel to inflict heavy losses on the British, inevitably lengthening the de-sert war. This had to weighed up against the fact that the Italians weapons were as much a liability as were the German

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ones superior. The Afrika Korps did not receive sufficient numbers of these supe-rior weapons, such as the Panther and Tiger tanks or the 88mm flak guns to e-nable it to be a decisive factor in the campaign, but there were enough to len-gthen the Desert war considerably.

COMMANDERS AND THEIR TACTICS IN THE WESTERN DESERT

In literature on the North African Cam-paign in the Second World War, both Rommel and Montgomeryas portrayed at tactical genius`s that turned certain defe-at into victory; this is due to the fact that history prefers to glorify people and bat-tles rather than an aspect of warfare such as supplies. Rommel`s crowning glory is said to have been at Gazala in May 1942 and Montgomery`s at El Ala-mein in October 1942. Likewise in Octo-ber 1942 Montgomery enjoyed a numeri-cal superiority that no other British com-mander had possessed in North Africa as the Eighth army had received 300 Sher-man tanks more capable of matching the lower grade Panzer tanks and 100 self propelled guns in time for the El Alamein offensive, so from these statistics it is clear that logistical considerations were much more decisive factors than Second World War literature cares to mention. One couldn`t help feeling a little sorry for the man at this time. He had shown him-self a brilliant fighter in the desert; three times he had escaped Montgomery`s ef-forts to surround his panzer army; he had been consistently starved of supplies and equipment.1 Rommel was constantly held back by the lack of fuel and ammunition, which highlights the fact that supplies were a much more significant factor than commanders and their tactics. There is also the fact that both strategies were very similar aswell. At Gazala Rommels attack was in accordance with the best German textbookstrategy and looking back on the battle of France, it all soun-ded rather familiar. This was the case

Panzer IV

with Montgomery`s strategy too; where deception was to play a key role and an attack was to be made in the suprise flank with the aim of outflanking and en-circling the enemy. This clearly shows that the tactics employed at Gazala and El Alamein although effective, were not original. Rommel successfully attacked at Gazala, but then ignored Hitler and Ca-vallero`s orders to pause, and pursued the retreating Eighth Army 250 miles ac-cross the desert to El Alamein. To put it bluntly, Rommel had over-stretched him-self4 and this was as much a failure as his Gazala battle had been a success, but again literature selectively excludes this in order to sustain the popular image of Rommel as a tactical genious. Mon-tgomery showed extreme caution when pursuing the Axis forces after El Alamein, which he could afford to do as his over-whelming numerical superiority neccesi-tated no hasty pursuit and the forces from the Torch landings now formed the 1st Army which was also advancing in the direction of Tunis. Rommel was for-ced to go on the offensive at Alam Halfa-because he knew the advantage of nu-merical superiority would soon lay in the hands of the Eighth Army. Fuel was in short supply and the Afrika Corps had insufficient Air support and all these fac-tors led to Rommels defeat.

www.topedge.com

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BASING We play with units (HQ, Artillery, Recon, Infantry, Tank, Motorised Infantry) on ba-se (measuring 3cm x 3cm for 6mm mi-niatures; 6cm/12cm for 20mm or plastic 1/72), upon wich we then place the right sort of soldier or vehicles. A base repre-sent a battalion, more or less. If you have troops that are already based for another system you won’t have to change the ba-sing as they are all the same. If you have to start from scratch then try to create some small dioramas, using your creati-vity and modelling ability. A truck and 3 or 4 soldiers will be enough to represente a Motorised Infantry unit, a Recon unit could be represented by an armoured car and a couple of motorbike; and for a tank unit, one tank will do.

IRREGULAR MINIATURE

3 Apollo Street, York YO10 5AP, UK Tel/Fax: (in UK) 01904 671101

Tel/Fax: (overseas)+44 1904 671101 Email : [email protected] www.irregularminiatures.co.uk

6mm World War II - Armoured Divisions

40 Tanks and Vehicles and 20 Infantry strips (80 figures) Armoured Division Packs, for any Nation, Year and Theatre. Made up to our own realistic and balanced composition.

CONTENTS

FIGURES

German British Russian French Italian Ameri-can Japanese Other Nations

TANKS, VEHICLES & GUNS

German Italian Japanese Polish French British & Commonwealth American Russian

AIRCRAFT

German British Polish French Italian Rus-sian American Japanese

PACKS

Armoured Divisions Battlepacks

BRITISH ARMOURED DIVISION

GERMAN PANZER DIVISION

HQ

TANK

TANK

TANK

RECON MOTORISED INFANTRY

MOTORISED INFANTRY

MOTORISED INFANTRY

MOTORISED INFANTRY

ARTILLERY ARTILLERY

HQ TANK

TANK

MOTORISED INFANTRY

MOTORISED INFANTRY

TANK

MOTORISED INFANTRY

MOTORISED INFANTRY

RECON

ARTILLERY 88 MM

RECON

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BATTLE SET-UP

1. The table is divided into Zones a foot square, with bigger tables tending to impro-ve the battle (preferably by extending it Southwards). The top (North) is considered the Mediterranean and the south is the desert "sand sea". 2. Select forces using the Force Cards 3. Deploy British minefields followed by Axis ones 4. Deploy Italian forces, then British and lastly the Germans Defences indicate minefields and dug-in positions with minefields being placed right up to the centre line if wished. Troops must be at least 6" - 15cm from the centre line. You need not put a Division's troops near their HQ but this could be risky! A Supply base (use a tent or supply truck model) is placed in the centre of each "Supply" Zone. For a bigger table you might add other Supply bases further South.

Mediterranean Ocean (optional) 120cm x 10cm

(optional) 48” x 4”

Axis Supply 30cm x 30cm

12” x 12”

Axis Defences 30cm x 30cm

12” x 12”

British Defences 30cm x 30cm

12” x 12”

British Supply 30cm x 30cm

12” x 12”


12” x 12”

Axis Defences 30cm x 30cm

12” x 12”

British Defences 30cm x 30cm

12” x 12”


12” x 12”


12” x 12”

Axis 30cm x 30cm

12” x 12”

British 30cm x 30cm

12” x 12”


12” x 12”

Axis 30cm x 30cm

12” x 12”

Axis 30cm x 30cm

12” x 12”

British 30x30cm 12” x 12”

British 30cm x 30cm

12” x 12”

Southern Desert 120cm x 30 or 60cm

48” x 12” or 24”

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TURN SEQUENCE 1. The German-Italian player may repla-ce a “Dispersed” unit (one for the entire army). 2. The German-Italian player may move his units (including the replacements) and place aircraft units. 3. The German-Italian units may fire. 4. The British player may replace a “Dispersed” unit (one for the entire army). 5. The British player may move his units (including the replacements) and place aircraft units. 6. The British units may fire.

There are 9 to 12 turns in a day. Throw before each turn from 10 to 12 with a 5+ indicating the game has ended. HEADQUARTERS (HQ) Once per turn for the whole army the He-adquarters (HQ) can bring back to the battlefield any unit from its own Division that was previously “Dispersed” (i.e. pla-ced in the “Remplacements” box). This means that the player must decide wich Headquarters (HQ) will use the available replacement that turn. If a unit that co-mes back into play is “Dispersed” again it can be replaced afterwards. The HQ is one of the most important units as it can bring “Dispersed” units removed from the game back into play. You can move units to anywhere on the battlefield but the may be “Destroyed” and not “Dispersed” if they are too far from the HQ. It is also assumed that the HQ is where the batteries of light artillery and anti-craft units are located. The HQ cannot be “Destroyed”, unless there are no other units in its Division left on the table. In this case it is considered “Destroyed”. The “Dispersed” HQ is not removed from the battlefield, but in the next turn it re-places itself, without being able to repla-ce other units in its Division. The unit that is replaced is placet next to its Headquar-ters (HQ).

The “Dispersed” HQ immediately moves 15cm/6” directly to its rear (distant by enemy), and it cannot move or fire and no unit in its Division can be replaced un-til the HQ is back in action. In any case a “Dispersed” HQ has a command radium of 30cm for its Division, impeding the De-struction of units in the Division within 30cm if they are hit during combat, but not their Dispersion. If the HQ is shot a-gain must go back 15cm/6”.

Headquarters (HQ) Rommel MOVEMENT Units have a 360° frontale and their mo-vement is always straight in any direction. They may not move closet than 5cm from an enemy unit. Units can only leave the battlefield from their set-up side. They are considered “Dispersed”. You can measure anything during the game. FIRING You can only fire on a unit that is within firing range and sighting range. If a unit in the Division manages to see an enemy unit, it is assumed that the whole Division can see it. A Division may not spot on behalf of other Divisions. You may fire at one unit at a time and you need to roll a 5+. Units will fire at the closet enemy unit except for artillery that can fire at any target. Units do not block line of sigth.

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SAVING THROW Every time a unit is hit it must make a sa-ving throw or be removed as Dispersed (removed from the battlefield and put in a box labelled “Remplacements”), and then may be return later during the battle (see HQ). Those units that are not within 30 cm or 12” of their Division HQ are classi-fied as Destroyed and removed from the battle (without the possibility of being re-placed). Tanks and Recon automatically fail the Saving Throw if hit by a 88mm (Tiger or Artillery). TERRAIN Only Artillery can fire over hills, woods or villages. If a unit is on top of a hill or wi-thin woods or villages the spotting range for enemies that want to sight them is re-duced by 8cm, and units in woods, hills or villages get a +1 modifier on their Sa-ving Throw (except for tanks). Villages, woods and hills have a standard size of 12cm x 12 cm. GERMAN STUKAS & BRITISH AIR FORCE Each side is allowed up to two air-strikes per turn that can be used against any e-nemy unit. Roll a dice: 5 – 6 = the target must make a saving Throw or become Dispersed (Destroyed if not within 30cm from the HQ). 2 – 4 = no effect. 1 = if the attack is within 30cm of an e-nemy HQ, the attacking aircraft is Destro-yed. From that moment onwards you ha-ve one less air attack per turn for the rest of the battle.

Italian Tank VICTORY CONDITIONS Each player gets 3 Victory Point (VPs) for every Tank unit destroyed; 2 Victory Points for each Light Tank or Artillery (88mm) destroyed; each Supply base destroyed counts as five VP's; and one Victory Point for every other type of e-nemy unit destroyed. If there are less than 5 VP difference between the totals then the game is a DRAW; between 5 and 9 is a VICTORY and a difference greater than 10 is a DECISIVE VIC-TORY. All the Dispersed units that were waiting to come back as Replacements are considered automatically Destroyed, i.e. all units that have not been replaced at the end of the established number of turns and are still Dispersed are conside-red Destroyed. If you destroy all three enemy Supply Ba-ses you may opt to end the game and claim an immediate Major Victory!

German teams

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MINEFIELDS Each side can have up to 60cm or 24" of minefields (a base depth deep). To cross an enemy minefield dice per unit that tries: 5-6 = Get through OK, stopping on other side; 2-4 = unit stopped in front of minefield; 1 = the unit is Scattered (or Destroyed if not near the HQ)! To clear a one base wide Gap (allowing up to six units to pass through each turn), get an infantry unit adjacent to the mine-field and throw with a 5 or 6 to create a Gap. Note that only one infantry unit per Division may try this per turn (representing the Divisional engineers / pioneers; count the Free French "Brigade" as a Division for this rule).

DUG IN Up to 16 units may begin as Dug-in (in substantial trenches, protected by barbed wire, suitable model bases being requi-red). Infantry, artillery, 88mm's, and HQ's im-prove their saving throw to 4+ and allows them to Spot 7,5cm or 3" further, as well as allowing them shooting in the Dug-in phase. Note: troops Dug-in on a Hilltop only increase Spotting by 7,5cm or 3" maximum. Tanks and Recon can be "in" the trenches but get no benefit from them. Troops in captured positions do not get the Spotting bonus as the tren-ches probably face the wrong way! Alter-natively you may simply remove captured positions. ITALIAN PROBLEMS Count the Italian HQ distance as 22,5cm or 9" rather than 30cm or 12". Italian Foot Infantry is short of AT weapons, so requi-re a 6 to hit Tanks.

Italian soldiers to Bardia

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ORGANIZATION

*These have no HQ but can be attached out to another HQ for the battle. British Tanks can be any mix of Infantry (heavy) or Cruiser (light fast) tanks. Italian "88mm" were either their own 90mm AA guns or attached Luftwaffe forces. The numbers of 88mm are exag-gerated because their tactical effect was truly brutal! Light AT and support bat-teries are assumed parcelled out a-mongst the infantry.

Force Division HQ Recon Tank Motorised Infantry

Foot Infantry Artillery 88mm

German Panzer 1 2 3 4 - 1 1

90th Light and 164° Infanterie 1 2 - 6 - 1 1

Italian Tank or Special 1 - 4 2 - 1 1

Motorised 1 - - 7 - 1 1

Infantry 1 - - - 6 2 -

British Armoured 1 1 3 4 - 2 -

Infantry 1 1 - 9 - 2 -

Free French, Australian or Neozeland Brigade 1 - - 3 - 1 -

Armoured Brigade - - 3* - - - -

5° Leichtedivision 1 2 2 3 - 1 1

15° Schutzen Brigade 1 1 - 4 - 1 -

22° Fallschirmjager 1 - - - 2 1 -

Black Shirt or Libyan 1 - - - 4 1 -

Tactical group, Montemurro, Santamaria, Maletti, ecc. 1 1 1 2 - - 1

Selby Group or Polish Brigade 1 1 - 1 - 1

Detachment 1 1 3 - 2

USA Armoured 1 1 6 3 - 3 -

Infantry 1 1 - 9 - 4 -

Folgore 1 - - - 6 2 Anti tank

Artillery 88 mm

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UNITS

German tank

Nationality Battalion type Spotting Range Saving throw Speed

All nations Head Quarters (HQ) 15cm or 6” 15cm or 6" 6 15cm or 6"

Reconnaissance (Recon) 22,5cm or 9" 15cm or 6" 5+ 22,5cm or 9"

Foot Infantry 15cm or 6" 15cm or 6" 6 7,5cm or 3"

Motorised Infantry 15cm or 6" 15cm or 6" 6 15cm or 6"

Artillery 15cm or 6" 45cm or 18” 6 15cm or 6"

Supply Base - - 6 -

Anti-tank gun 15cm or 6" 15cm or 6" 6 15cm or 6"

German Tanks 15cm or 6" 15cm or 6" 4+ 15cm or 6"

88mm 15cm or 6" 30cm or 12" 6 15cm or 6"

Fallschirmjager 15cm or 6" 15cm or 6" 5+ 7,5cm or 3"

Schwere Panzer Abtei-lung 501 (only Tunisia campaign)

15cm or 6" 22,5cm or 9" 3+ 10cm or 4"

Italian Tanks 15cm or 6" 15cm or 6" 5+ 15cm or 6"

Folgore Infantry 15cm or 6" 15cm or 6" 5+ 7,5cm or 3"

Bersaglieri Infantry 15cm or 6" 15cm or 6" 6 15cm or 6"

British or USA Infantry Tank 15cm or 6" 15cm or 6" 4+ 15cm or 6"

British Cruiser Tank 15cm or 6" 15cm or 6" 5+ 22,5cm or 9"

Light Tank 15cm or 6" 15cm or 6" 6 15cm or 6"

15


September 1940. The Italian Tenth Army under Marshal Rodolph Graziani invaded Egypt from Libya. At Sidi Barrani, 60 miles into Egypt, the Italian armyset up a series of fortifies camps in the desert. Eight miles to the east. The British Western Desert Force under Ge. Sir O’Connor was based at Mersa Matruh, the terminus of the railway and road leading out fron Alexandria. In a surprise march O’Connor army of 36.000 circled south of the Italian defenses and attack the sidi Barrani encampments from the flank and rear on December 9. The first Axis threat to the Suez Canal was smashed.

1) NORTH AFRICAN CAMPAIGN: ITALIAN OFFENSIVE. FORCE CARDS. Each side may chooses one card and then randomly deal trhee more. This is their strength for the oncoming battle. For a quicker battle have four rather than five cards. Allow inexpe-rienced players to choose two of their deal. Once you have got used to the system, you can add o-ther forces as you wish, and feel free to have your favourite Divisions rather than those noted. We are not doing an exact recreation of the campaign, but will aim at its feel from the post of a high-ranking leader.

THE CAMPAIGN The aim is, in a series of battles, to push the enemy back until Africa is cleared. Note that we start at Sollum. A Victory pushes the enemy back one area; a Major Victory pushes two spaces. Losing their "last stand" area means total defeat! You should rename the British commander after any Major De-feat as they were constantly replaced!

Divisions that suffered half their bases Destroyed (ignore Dispersed), are left out of the Force Card pack for the next game. All formations return to strength for their next use.

ITALIAN CARDS

Bologna Italian

Infantry Division

Sabratha Italian

Infantry Division

Savona Italian

Infantry Division

Pavia Italian

Infantry Division

Brescia Italian

Infantry Division

Sirte Italian

Infantry Division

1°CC. NN Italian

Infantry Division

(Black Shirt)

Blank!: Planes from Malta sink

supply convoy!

BRITISH CARDS

7th British Armoured Division

4th (Indian): British Infantry Division

New Zealand Infantry Brigade

6th British: Infantry Division

Blank! Troops diverted

to Greece or Mala-

ya!

Tobruk Italian last stand Marsa Lucch Bardia Sollum Sidi el-Barrani Marsa Matruh

British last stand

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1941. In Great Britain’s first offensive of the North African campaign, the British XIII Corps, crossed the Egyptian frontier into Libya, following its victory at Sidi Barrani. At the small Mediterranean port of Bardia, Ge. Sir O’Connor army surrounded 45,000 tro-ops of the Italian Tenth Army under the ove-rall command of Marshal Graziani, on Ja-nuary 3, 1941. Leaving mop-up operations to the infantry, the 7th Armoured raced west along the coast road (Via Balbia) to the for-tress of Tobruk.

2) NORTH AFRICAN CAMPAIGN: FIRST BRITISH OFFENSIVE.

FORCE CARDS. Each side may chooses one card and then randomly deal three more. This is their strength for the oncoming battle. For a quicker battle have four rather than five cards. Allow inexpe-rienced players to choose two of their deal. Once you have got used to the system, you can add o-ther forces as you wish, and feel free to have your favourite Divisions rather than those noted. We are not doing an exact recreation of the campaign, but will aim at its feel from the post of a high-ranking leader.

THE CAMPAIGN The aim is, in a series of battles, to push the enemy back until Africa is cleared. Note that we start at Sidi Barrani. A Victory pushes the enemy back one area; a Major Victory pushes two spaces. Losing their "last stand" area means total defeat! You should rename the British commander after any Major Defeat as they were constantly replaced!


ITALIAN CARDS

Cirene Italian

Infantry Division

Catanzaro Italian

Infantry Division

Marmarica Italian

Infantry Division

Special Italian

Division

Maletti Tactical Group

1° Libyan Italian

Infantry Division

2°CC. NN Italian

Infantry Division

(Black Shirt)


supply convoy!

BRITISH CARDS


4th (Indian) British

Infantry Division

Detachment 6th (Australian) British Infantry

Division


to Greece or Mala-

ya!

Selby Group

Beda Fomm Italian last stand Bengasi Derna Tobruk Bardia Marsa Matruh

British last stand Sidi Barrani

17


1941. Gen. Erwin Rommel’s first Axis offen-sive in North Africa began on March 24, at El Agheila, Libya. Meeting thin British resistan-ce, he drove eastward rapidly, recapturing an evacuated Benghazi on April 4 and rea-ching Tobruk four days later. Rommel’s tro-ops stormed Tobruk durino April 10-14 and again on April 30 but were beaten back each time. Meanwhile the Axis counterattack car-ried eastward to the Egyptian frontier on A-pril 28.

3) NORTH AFRICAN CAMPAIGN: FIRST AXIS OFFENSIVE.

FORCE CARDS. Each side may chooses one card and then randomly deal trhee more. This is their strength for the oncoming battle. For a quicker battle have four rather than five cards. Allow inexpe-rienced players to choose two of their deal. Once you have got used to the system, you can add o-ther forces as you wish, and feel free to have your favourite Divisions rather than those noted. We are not doing an exact recreation of the campaign, but will aim at its feel from the post of a high-ranking leader.

THE CAMPAIGN The aim is, in a series of battles, to push the enemy back until Africa is cleared. Note that we start at Agedabia. A Victory pushes the enemy back one area; a Major Victory pushes two spaces. Losing their "last stand" area means total defeat! You should rename the British commander after any Major Defeat as they were constantly replaced!


AXIS CARDS

Bologna Italian

Infantry Division

Pavia Italian

Infantry Division

Brescia Italian

Infantry Division

132nd Ariete Italian Tank

Division

5° Leichtedivision German Division

15th Panzer German Division

Trento Italian

Motorised Division


supply convoy!

BRITISH CARDS

4th (Indian) British

Infantry Division


3° British Armoured Brigades

18° (Australian) British Infantry

Brigade


to Greece or Mala-

ya!

9° (Australian) British Infantry

Division

Marsa el-Brega Axis last stand El Agheila Ageidana Derna Tobruk Sollum

British last stand Bardia

18


1941—1942. The second British offensive in Libya was ordered by a new Middle East commander, Gen. Sir Auchinleck and direct by a new combat leader, Gen. Alan Cunnin-gham. The attack, called Operation Cruse-der, was launched on Novembre 18. The initial attack of British armor reached Sidi-Rezegh, the key to besieged Tobruk, on No-vembre 19. Rommel counterattack fiercely driving to the British rear at the Egyptian frontier. Then, on the night of December 7-8, Rommel, short of supplies, began to fall back across Cyrenaica. The British occupied Gazala and Benghazi. The pursuit finally ended at El Agheila on January 6, 1942.

4) NORTH AFRICAN CAMPAIGN: SECOND BRITISH OFFENSIVE.


THE CAMPAIGN The aim is, in a series of battles, to push the enemy back until Africa is cleared. Note that we start at Sollum. A Victory pushes the enemy back one area; a Major Victory pushes two spaces. Losing their "last stand" area means total defeat! You should rename the British commander after any Major De-feat as they were constantly replaced!


AXIS CARDS


Division


21st Panzer German Division

Trento Italian

Motorised Division

Brescia Italian

Infantry Division

Pavia Italian

Infantry Division

Savona Italian

Infantry Division


supply convoy!

BRITISH CARDS


4th (Indian) British In-

fantry Divi-sion

4th British Armoured Brigade

2nd New Zealand British

Infantry Division


to Greece or Mala-

ya!

1st British Armoured Brigade

1st South African British Infantry Division

70° British Infantry Division

El-Agheila Axis last stand Agedabia Bir el-Gobi Sidi

Rezegh Sollum Sidi Barrani British last stand Bir Hacheim

19


1942. On January 21, two weeks after the British Eight Army had pursued his Panze-rarmee Afrika back to El Agheila, Libya, the German general Rommel turned and counte-rattacked in western Cyrenaica. The Gazala defeat and esnuing retreat cost the British about 45,000 casualties, largerly prisoners, plus the los of another 33,000 men in the surrender of Tobruk. The long months of fighting and pursuit finally ended on June 25 when the British made a stand at their Mersa matruh base.

5) NORTH AFRICAN CAMPAIGN: SECOND AXIS OFFENSIVE.


THE CAMPAIGN The aim is, in a series of battles, to push the enemy back until Africa is cleared. Note that we start at Ain el Gazala. A Victory pushes the enemy back one area; a Major Victory pushes two spaces. Lo-sing their "last stand" area means total defeat! You should rename the British commander after any Major Defeat as they were constantly replaced! Divisions that suffered half their bases Destroyed (ignore Dispersed), are left out of the Force Card pack for the next game. All formations return to strength for their next use.

AXIS CARDS



90th Light German Division

Trieste Italian

Motorised Division


Division

Brescia Italian

Infantry Division

Pavia Italian

Infantry Division


supply convoy!

BRITISH CARDS


1st South African British

Infantry Division

Free French British Infantry

Brigade

1st British Armoured Brigade


to Greece or Mala-

ya!

1st British Armoured Division

5th (Indian) British Infantry Division


El Agheila Axis last stand Bir Hacheim Ain el Gazala Tobruk Marsa Matruh

British last stand

20


1942. The last Axis eastward thrust had be-en blocked at Alam halfa two months before. On the night of October 23-24, under cover of an 800-gun artillery barrage, Gen. Leese’s XXX Corps struck west from the village of El Alamein. For seven long days the Eighth Army slugged at the Axis defenses, manned chiefly by the veteran Africa Korps-15th and 21st Panzers and 90th Light. On two of the-se days, October 27 and 28, Rommel’s ar-mor counterattacked fiercely but was beaten back by the Eighth Army. The Axis withdra-wal, begun the night of Novembre 4-5, conti-nued without letup for 15,000 miles ...

6) NORTH AFRICAN CAMPAIGN: THIRD BRITISH OFFENSIVE.

FORCE CARDS. Each side may chooses one card and then randomly deal four (British) and three (Axis) more. This is their strength for the oncoming battle. For a quicker battle have four rather than five cards. Allow inexperienced players to choose two of their deal. Once you have got used to the system, you can add other forces as you wish, and feel free to have your favourite Divisions rather than those noted. We are not doing an exact recreation of the campaign, but will aim at its feel from the post of a high-ranking leader.

THE CAMPAIGN The aim is, in a series of battles, to push the enemy back until Africa is cleared. Note that we start at Kidney Ridge. A Victory pushes the enemy back one area; a Major Victory pushes two spaces. Lo-sing their "last stand" area means total defeat! You should rename the British commander after any Major Defeat as they were constantly replaced!


El Daba Axis last stand Kidney Ridge Ruweisat El Alamein

British last stand Sidi Abdel Rahman

AXIS CARDS



90th Light German Division

Trieste Italian

Motorised Division


Division

Brescia Italian

Infantry Division

Pavia Italian

Infantry Division


supply convoy!

BRITISH CARDS


1st South African British

Infantry Division

10° British Armoured Division

51st British (Higjhland)

Infantry Division


to Greece or Mala-

ya!




21


1942—1943. The Anglo-American invasion of French Northwest Africa on Novembre 11 provoked a quick Axis reaction in Tunisia. The German general Jurgen von Arnim con-cetrated most of the Axis strength in the nor-thern cities of Tunis and Bizerte. On Fe-bruary 14 Rommel’s 10th and 21st Panzer divisions of the veteran Africa Korps lunged out of faid toward Kasserine Pass, the gate-way to the communications hub of Tebessa. The German attack at Kasserine proved to be the last successful Axis offensive in Afri-ca. Three Axis divisions, trapped between Allied forces in Bizerte and Tunis, surrende-red on May 9. The six-month battle of Tuni-sia ended the North Africa campaign.

7) NORTHWEST AFRICAN CAMPAIGN: TUNISIA.

FORCE CARDS. Each side may chooses one card and then randomly deal four (British) and trhee (Axis) more. This is their strength for the oncoming battle. For a quicker battle have four rather than five cards. Allow inexperienced players to choose two of their deal. Once you have got used to the system, you can add other forces as you wish, and feel free to have your favourite Divisions rather than those noted. We are not doing an exact recreation of the campaign, but will aim at its feel from the post of a high-ranking leader.

THE CAMPAIGN The aim is, in a series of battles, to push the enemy back until Africa is cleared. Note that we start at Kasserine. A Victory pushes the enemy back one area; a Major Victory pushes two spaces. Losing their "last stand" area means total defeat! You should rename the British commander after any Major Defeat as they were constantly replaced!


Médenine Allies last stand el Kef Kasserine Mareth Uadi Akarit Enfidaville

Axis last stand

AXIS CARDS



Schwere Panzer

Abteilung 501

Trieste Italian

Motorised Division

Centauro Italian Tank

Division

Superga Italian

Infantry Division

10° Panzer German Division

Blank!: Planes

from Malta sink supply

convoy!

ALLIES CARDS


1st British Infantry Division

10° British Armoured Division

1st USA Infantry Division

1st USA Armoured Division




22


8) NORTHWEST AFRICAN CAMPAIGN: BEDA FOMM. 1941. On February 5 the 7th Armoured reached the coast at Beda Fomm, well beyond Benghazi, blocking the retrat into Tripoli of Marshal Graziani’s Italian Tenth Army. After two days of futile effort to break through the British defenses, the entire Italian army of 20,000 men surrendered.

The game table is approx 60” (150cm) x 36” (90cm).

THE FORCE British (Special Force) 1 HQ (Major Combe), 1 Recon, 3 Tank, 2 6pdr Anti-tank, 4 Motorised Infantry. Italian (Gen. Bergonzoli) 1 HQ, 3 Tank (M13-40), 9 Foot Infantry, 1 Tank Light (L3).

* Count the Italian HQ distance as 22,5cm or 9" rather than 30cm or 12". ** Italian Foot Infantry is short of AT weapons, so require a 6 to hit Tanks. *** Italian Tanks automatically fail the Saving Throw if hit by a Anti-tank. Victory Conditions The Italian win if they can exit the equivalent of six units (stands), off the eastern edge of the board. The game ends when all Italian stands are off table or destroyed.

British Deployement Italian

Deployement

Road

Hill

Head Quarters (HQ)* 15cm or 6” 15cm or 6" 6 15cm or 6"

Reconnaissance (Recon) 22,5cm or 9" 15cm or 6" 5+ 22,5cm or 9"

Foot Infantry** 15cm or 6" 15cm or 6" 6 7,5cm or 3"

Motorised Infantry 15cm or 6" 15cm or 6" 6 15cm or 6"

6pdr Anti-tank*** 15cm or 6" 15cm or 6” 6 15cm or 6"

Tank (British) 15cm or 6" 15cm or 6" 4+ 15cm or 6"

All nations Battalion type Spotting Range Saving throw Speed

Tank (Italians) 15cm or 6" 15cm or 6" 5+ 15cm or 6"

eastern edge

23


TANK - BRITISH TANK - BRITISH TANK - BRITISH

MOTORISED INFANTRY - BRITISH MOTORISED INFANTRY - BRITISH MOTORISED INFANTRY - BRITISH

MOTORISED INFANTRY - BRITISH 6pdr ANTI-TANK - BRITISH 6pdr ANTI-TANK - BRITISH

HQ - BRITISH RECON - BRITISH

TANK - ITALIAN TANK - ITALIAN TANK - ITALIAN

BEDA FOMM The Units and Markers: Print-off and/or photocopy the units onto tan(for Allied) and gray (for Italian) paper. Then glue strips of the units

onto cardboard. (Here, I would mark the backs of the units with a colo to distinguish them when they are "dispersed"/flipped.)

Finally, sciss them out.

HQ - ITALIAN

LIGHT TANK - ITALIAN FOOT INFANTRY - ITALIAN

FOOT INFANTRY - ITALIAN FOOT INFANTRY - ITALIAN FOOT INFANTRY - ITALIAN

FOOT INFANTRY - ITALIAN FOOT INFANTRY - ITALIAN FOOT INFANTRY - ITALIAN

FOOT INFANTRY - ITALIAN

FOOT INFANTRY - ITALIAN

24


9) NORTHWEST AFRICAN CAMPAIGN: HALFAYA PASS, 15TH JUNE, 1941.

Background The 11th Indian Brigade was ordered to destroy the enemy forces in the area of Halfaya pass as part of Wavells 'Operation Battleaxe' during the summer of 1941. Aided by Matildas of the 4th RTR, the 11th was to advance on the Sollum - Sidi Barrani coastal road and take positions held by 'Reverend' Bachs Afrika Korp forces. The at-tack begins at dawn on June 15th.

British order of battle 11th Indian Brigade 1 X HQ (Brigadier R.A. Savory), 4 X Motorised Infantry (2nd Battalion, 5th Mahratta Light Infan-try), 4 X Motorised Infantry (1st Battalion, 6th Ra-jputana Rifles), 4 X Motorised Infantry (2nd Bat-talion, Queens own Cameron Highlanders), 2 x Artillery (25 pdrs).. Tank Unit 3 x Tank (Matilda IIs of the 4th RTR). German order of battle 1 X HQ (Reverend Wilhelm Bach), 4 X Motorised Infantry (1st Battalion, 104th Infantry Regiment). 1 x HQ (Supports weapons), 1 X Artillery (88mm Flak), 1 X Artillery (105mm Howitzer), 1 x Tank (Pz II), 1 X Light Anti-tank gun, (Tanks automati-cally fail the Saving Throw if hit by a Anti-tank gun or 88mm Flak). 2 x Minefields (4” X 4” - 10cm X 10cm).

Scenario basis and terrain The game length is 15 turns starting with British turn 1 and ending with German turn 15. Terrain features are as per scenario map (60” X 36” – 150cm X 90cm). Wadis provide soft cover to in-fantry or support weapons. Victory Conditions British : Capture the Pass above and below the escapment. German: Prevent the British from capturing the ground above and below the escarpment. Any other result is a draw Deployment and arrivals The on board German forces may deploy any-where on the board as shown. All on-board forces start dug-in (hard cover). The British forces de-ploy as shown:

Scenario Map

Halfaya Pass

German Deployment Zone Halfaya Pass Scenario, June 15th 1941 8th Army

Deployment

Wadis

Sea

25


INDEX ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 2

GAME PHILOPHY 3

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND 3

WEAPONS IN NORTH AFRICA 6

COMMANDERS AND THEIR TACTICS IN THE WESTERN DESERT 7

BASING 8

MINIATURE 8

BATTLE SET-UP 9

TURN SEQUENCE 10

HEADQUARTERS (HQ) 10

MOVEMENT 10

FIRING 10

SAVING THROW 11

GERMAN STUKAS & BRITISH AIR FORCE 11

VICTORY CONDITIONS 11

MINEFIELDS 12

DUG IN 12

ITALIAN PROBLEMS 12

ORGANIZATION 13

UNITS 14

SCENARIO: ITALIAN OFFENSIVE 15

SCENARIO: FIRST BRITISH OFFENSIVE 16 SCENARIO: FIRST AXIS OFFENSIVE. 17

SCENARIO: SECOND BRITISH OFFENSIVE. 18

SCENARIO: SECOND AXIS OFFENSIVE. 19 SCENARIO: THIRD BRITISH OFFENSIVE. 20

SCENARIO: TUNISIA. 21

SCENARIO: BEDA FOMM. 22

SCENARIO: HALFAYA PASS, 15TH JUNE, 1941 24

26


DESERT WAR, 1940 - 1943.

EASTERN FRONT, 1941 - 1945.

ITALIAN FRONT, 1943 - 1945.

WESTERN FRONT, 1944 - 1945.

PACIFIC, 1941 - 1945.


high command, africa

Documents