January 1^st

A New Year in game time is as good a time for confessions as any. We did mess up the Sidi Barrani/Mussolini restrictions slightly and Malta rolls. Plus the Poles released too early. Good news is that we were able to ‘retroactively fix that, and add the Flieger Corp to the mix, which negates most of the Malta impact, for the moment.

The Italians assess their options and elect to use some careful arty and attempt a limited counter offensive to keep the Allies on their back foot.

Elements of the Ariete Division arrive. The Italian airforce focus on the Polish Brigade and 6Aus  along the Bir el Chregait track.

41 factors barrage the 7^th and 8^th Hussars using 6 precious “t”

The Italians continue bombardments and DG for nearly all the forces they face, due to RE shift bonus’s on 2 stacks and good rolls on the others.!!.

The Italians sweep a little south and strike East towards the supply dump and arty, that are not very well covered. The bold attack takes out a Royal Arty unit #4. Bresci Division saviours its victory. With the 28^th Light Tank(LT)  Battalion.

A little further North the now DG’d 8^th Hussars is attacked. One Italian Battalion dies and the rest of the forces overrun the positions of the Hussars! In the same area two Italian divisions both lose steps in slightly over confident attacks.

O’Connor offers a meek riposte with a 19^3 v 2.5^4 attack on the 2^nd Rifles who succeed.

5^th   Jan Init:Allies/Weather=Clr/no RE/no Malta

The Allies press supply forward intending to make their arty felt also. They succeed in DG’ing 3 stacks. But lack free forces to take advantage.

8^th/12^th/15^th Simulcast.

19th

Init: It /W=Clear/Med=no/RE=No

Sweet mother of God, after several turns of pounding the snot out of the Allies the Italians need, more supply, more guns, more Reserve markers and more TRUCKS!

Troops with an AR of over 2 would be nice also.

The G.50’s pound the Hurricanes @ Buq Buq, knocking a step off of it. 4^th Ind suffers a huge barrage and airstrike losing a step.

Brits move some Supply from MM to Sidi Birrani. They then conduct another attack upon the Halfaya Ridge. Prior to that the Wellingtons bomb Reserve units failing to knock them out of Reserve status.

In the Reaction Phase Ragg Babini succeeds in his roll, however the arty let him down and they miss. Other arty units  knock 4^th Indian into DG status in the hedgehog.

Another combat has some potential but the Arty prep fire fails. That attack is discussed here:

–       Lets take a look at battles in HH with and without DG. In this instance the odds of taking a loss go from 29% if the 4^th had of been DG to 79% if they were not in the Hedgehog. With a corresponding 50/29 split on defender loss potential percentages.  The factors would have been 25^4 v 15^3. Ouch.

Needles to say the Allies pass on that attack. [ ok, so I started down the path of doing it, but then realized just how bad it was going to be and …hey  I cheated! ] –

22^nd

Init=It. /Weather=Clear/RE/Malta knocks off 1 SP this turn. Med based shipping is only 1SP.

The choice is stark, spend and delay Allied plans further until Rommel arrives or risk Dg’ed status and possible line breaking.

Allied Turn

The Allies re group with 2^nd Armoured coming online as a green unit. With these reinforcements we can possibly muster another attack. This time however, we will re instate –‘best practices’ !

The Allies will seek to cut off Bardia and Sollum via the line bounded by Bu Amud-Sidi Rezegh and Bir Taiebel Esem.

This would at the very least drive a reaction and movement out of hedgehogs, and give the Allies a fighting chance to whittle down some of the forces they face. Best case this may force the Axis to abandon their current position and protect Tobruk.

Timing will be key as the Germans arrive shortly but will likely have to truck in from the very Western reaches. The allies therefore have 2-3 turns before they run into trouble with the early lead elements of Rommels forces.

26^th Rain….both sides elect to simulcast.

29^th Is spent bring forces and supply up for the attack, and readying the  push that will include New Zealand (NZ) just as soon as it is released.

Related articles

• Political and Regional Context of the Campaign in North Africa (meshtime.com)
• The Campaign for North Africa [DAK2] (meshtime.com)