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 We managed to gain control of Benghazi last month but there is no doubt the Axis forces will be coming back again. This small knob of land has been passed back and forth between us for over a year now. The battles are growing more intense. This year it seems as though one side or the other must eventually gain a decisive advantage.  The Axis are indeed coming. We hope to push them back by Spring.  North Africa: Mersa El Brega January 21, 1942 16 Turns There hasn't been much time to prepare any of our defenses before the attack, but we'll have to make do and hold them off while our forces build up. Victory Conditions Minor: (Tobruk), (Benghazi) Major: El Agheila  This looks familiar. The situation is rather like the first time we encountered the Afrika Korps last year. At that time, though, our units were prepared and the numbers more even. This time the word is Rommel's got a bigger force to work with. We can already see part of it coming up the road. This is one of the few times the game scale doesn't change. The map itself is identical to that for Crusader from Tobruk west (and east it only changes the placement of airfields and towns). The deployment here only allows a small force at Benghazi, while the bulk of our troops start in Tobruk. Had this been the choice to use as a stand-alone scenario, all the 'core' would be placed at Tobruk to begin with, making the start tougher. It's still possible in that case to disband units and place new ones at Benghazi turn 1, but this does cost prestige, and the stand-alone scenario does not start with much. UK OOB pre:Unit Name Unit Type [Transport] Exp [OS] Land units 1.The Black Watch GB Inf 39 [Bren] 276 2.2nd GB Inf 39 GB Inf 39 [Bren] 281[11] 3.4th GB Matilda II GB Matilda II 179[11] 4.12th GB Grant GB Grant 61 5.9th GB Daimler SC GB Daimler SC 197[11] 6.7th GB 2pdr ATG GB 2pdr ATG 71 7.3rd GB 25 Pdr Gun GB 25 Pdr Gun [Bren] 73 8.13th GB 6" Gun GB 6" Gun [Bren] 12 Aux (quantity) 1 GB Inf 39 [Lorry] 200 1 GB Inf 39 [Bren] 100 1 GB Inf 39 100 1 GB Inf 39 [Lorry] 3 GB Inf 39 Air Units 1.6th GB Mosquito VI GB Mosquito VI 228 Aux (quantity) 1 GB Spitfire II 100[11] 1 GB Mosquito VI Aux slots : 0 Starting prestige: 1271 There is very little in the way of auxiliary here. The surrounded infantry in Agedabia will be gone the first turn, too. It's our core or nothing. We do get a nice pair of planes. We also have a fair amount of prestige. I'm willing to spend it to field some better units. Just one new slot is available, and for the time being I'm going to fill it with a (possibly throwaway) defensive unit. Holding Benghazi will be the key to victory here. If it falls we'll have to wait for the Axis to come to Tobruk, and might not be able to fight our way back in time. One thing going for us is that the path to Benghazi and beyond is restricted by the terrain. If we place a force to hold the city and then clog the road with a few more units it ought to be possible to simply halt their advance.  The 25-pdr goes in Benghazi. It might have been a good idea to upgrade it, or go with the 6" gun. But I'm slightly nervous about losing the town and don't want to end up wasting the prestige. The other units will move to support as quickly as they can.  As for the rest, their initial position doesn't matter so much. They'll be moving out of Tobruk at the start. Allied Turn : January 21, 1942 Clear (Dry)  These troops are unable to retreat and can only hope to slow down the advance of the enemy.  They actually get a decent expected result against the Italian troops, but it's not likely to help much, so they do their best to dig in.  One of the green infantry units at Tobruk is disbanded to give us some anti-air defense at Benghazi. An AT gun will halt any units trying to rush across the desert.  The rest of the British force moves out. Axis Turn: January 21, 1942  It was hardly a surprise to see the infantry bombed at Agedabia. What's more of a shock is the direct attack on the AD gun at Benghazi from a Bf110e.  Because it nearly destroys it. It's moments like this when I wish the Mosquito was a fighter. But the Mosquito is handled roughly too. In another improbable result, a strength-11 Bf109f swoops in and knocks the Mosquito down to 7 strength.  The AD gun is then destroyed by a recon unit. The infantry at Agedabia are cleared out too. Allied Turn: January 25, 1942 Clear(Dry)  We try to engage the escorts, but they are having none of it.  This might be the worst week of the war in the air. The Spitfire lost strength in an even battle as well. Our core Mosquitos stay on the ground to gain a point back and protect the artillery.  Our AT gun is not so powerful, but it is able to knock the scout car down. We toss some infantry into Benghazi. The HW force may be able to slow the tank assaults some, although it is likely to get shelled and bombed as well. Axis Turn: January 25, 1942  I expected the artillery to go after the infantry, but instead it targets the AT gun and destroys it. Back up the road, I forget that the Bf110 has a fantastic spotting range of 5. This allows the Stuka to fly up and land a heavy blow on the reinforcing troops.  Infantry assaults push the AT gun out of the way on the other approach to Tobruk. Allied Turn: January 29, 1942 Clear(Dry)  Our aux air units are forced to land and repair, and this presents a serious problem. We have nothing to combat the air units but our Mosquito, which has already taken damage. It does take three strength off the Ju 87, but that's not much. The 2nd infantry is pulled back to get replacements. Luckily we still have infantry at Benghazi. The other units arrive in their Bren carriers, which is a risk, but we need to reinforce quickly or face losing the city. Finally, another 2-pdr is thrown into the road to block the Axis assault.  This isn't actually a terrible result, but notice that the Mosquito had 4 natural 1's. I don't know what happened to our luck in the air, but it has certainly fled. Axis Turn: January 29, 1942  The bombing raids focus on the 25-pdr gun and destroy it. Even the fighters do a pretty good job strafing the 6" gun. The 2-pdr actually holds up well against the enemy tanks, but then it is shelled into oblivion. With all the enemy artillery in range of the city, it will be tough to hold it now. This is not a very auspicious start to 1942. The Luftwaffe are able to do whatever they like in the air, and it's causing real problems on the ground. As the Axis forces advance, we may need to pull back to get the defense in order.
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| ← # ? Mar 18, 2013 21:17 |
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