Hi readers…
No relax. I’m not insane. I’m not doing this alone nor am I playing the campaign.
A small handful of us are gathering online to review some rules and shuffle some bits around for a few turns to learn a bit more about CNA….Campaign for North Africa.
Like many myths and memes, there are grains of truth but also absurd exaggerations.
I recall as a lad a group of us gather to try and play this. It was hopelessly organized and I did not care for the people involved so after watching that shit show for a few weeks I bailed. That is my full understanding of CNA, we muddled around in ones and twos after that and without the benefit of computers the paperwork became the game.
So now with fresh eyes, a clear headed practical guide and some major sucking up of the you know whats, I’m gunna jump into some of this.
Last night we talked and walked through a combat. Simply 1 division vs another. Not a situation you would probably see but it lets you understand how cohesion, morale, supply and TOE all interact.
Above on the left you can see the details of 1 CCNN. All filled out by Clay in advance! Given we are moving a division and fighting with a division we are doing some math adding up TOE points which can then be multiplied out against factors to arrive at combat strength depending on type and action.
Combat can be in the form of patrols, probes or full on battles. But before that happens the formations have to connect. As you move each unit has a CP capacity or cohesion point capacity they can spend. For which they can go OVER, but it then affects effectiveness in combat, or even creates tank break downs. As you move you consume supplies from the supply train, when you attack you consume supply, same when you defend, retreat etc etc. It all costs. As CP’s go up, this can negatively impact the column shifts for the side in question. As we see here we have the Desert Rats being attacked by an infantry division and their attached arty.
Simultaneously the Arty fires after deciding are they forward or back, are they targeting Armor or Infantry etc.
The Italians get lucky and suppress a Bn of British Inf. The British fire is ineffective.
The combat has several steps to it. TOE points are tallied and divided by ten, AT weapons are factored, terrain is factored, and combined arms shifts for and against you as a ratio of YOUR armor & YOUR infantry are applied and each side then rolls on their respective table.
In this instance both side inflict 9 TOE points of losses. These must be evenly spread. Given the Italians chose to be ‘forward’ with the arty, they will need to take an Arty step loss also. While the result may seem even with both sides losing 9 TOE, the Italians came off a bit worse for wear. As they accumulated a lot of cohesion points and are now engaged. A follow on operation by the Brits with a fresh nearby unit could be catastrophic, and the 7th Armoured has CP to spare and lots of tanks still.
I’m off to print out rules and charts so I spend less time scroll and more time thinking about how to balance supply-cohesion points-TOE effectiveness and balance off that against ‘what can the other guy do to me!’
Even if this all falls apart after a turn or so it will have been a neat exercise to see the game in action.
With XLS’s, and a coach we are well ahead of my first effort in the early 80’s. the process’s here are indeed involved and yes you will do book keeping. But its not a deal breaker.