Some quick game play notes from my vassal sessions over the past few weeks, playing with my Aussie mate Steve

Turn 1 March II

Is a truncated turn and has just the German push up the coastal roads.

They move aggressively and push back the Brits. Rommel hounds the forces forward!

So at the top of turn 2, the first half of April we have the Commonwealth recon and light armor attempting to slow the advance of the Axis. While supply trucks grab supply and move it to the rear.

April I

While the Commonwealth ships and rails units and SP to Tobruk and other areas, the Germans and their somewhat hapless allies trundle up the road beating on recon units, who dance away.

Impulse One

Third Hussars and 6^th Royal Tank Regiment play cat and mouse with Rommel, ceding ground and taking losses.

Impulse Two

Impulse Three

The Axis spend an air and SP chit to go full 7:1. But roll up a D1!!

The Axis lost 1 SP at sea and now its forces the Germans into a tough spot. The Supply attrition phase easily shows Rommel’s aggression while paying dividends has spent precious supply on high odds attacks, and the loss in transit of supply due to Allied efforts slows his advance. All units are placed out of supply.

The Allies have now mined and destroyed Benghazi’s port facilities. Derna is also mined and the entire Tobruk area is now fortified. The Aussies and Brits can let some of the terrain go, OR…. They could seek to slow the Germans further and force a running fight in rugged terrain. This could pay dividends down the track.

Note: with the focus of this games VP schedule on airfield capture as a ‘analog’ of progress Martuba near Derna becomes a location that might want to fought over. It is also note worthy that Gambut is a key location and not easily defended either. In fact in some game sI have seen Tobruk is ignored all together as a ‘linked chain’ of negated ZOCs can allow the Germans to press onwards, but thwarts easy access to shipping etc.

The first three VP locations can be readily had. However, its four and five that will give the Axis heartburn. This because at the end of each turn the airfields captured are tallied up. If the Axis have more than the benchmark, they earn a VP for each field over the benchmark, and lose one correspondingly for being short.

In this case Rommel is expected to have one airfield in hand by end of APRIL I. So we drop his count to -1 from zero. Next turn is 2. Then the airfield benchmark sits at 3 until November 1941 and then drops to 2 in December. Capturing airfield early and seeking out Sidi Birrani is going to be where a lot of the fight will probably happen… funny that.