AAR: Balkans N. Africa Leg

[Imp]

T31
Sniper has a field day before HQ takes over, Brits have 5men left
MF> The sole squad still fighting takes a great deal of persuading to run, due to this the other squad may escape off map. MkII kills a VIc & MkIII damages one before smoke is poped.
At the oasis the A13 is damaged then destroyed before the remaining tanks are destroyed in quick order. MkII & HT open up on squad we are arriving in force now from the west but no fire is triggered. Forces are also arriving from the North & squads arleady there are starting to work down the wall.
A scout taking up position to watch for reinforcements finds the HQ & 2 HT attack it reducing to 3 men.
AIT> MkII gets another VIc & his arty kills my squad
T32
HQ group finnish up he has 13 kills now, HT & scout kill Brit HQ, MkII kills last VIc, pioneer takes last flag just oasis ones left, squad escapes.
another 4 squads appear at the oasis but its a done deal severly outnumbered. Exept for mines of course there are more, 2 men down. half a dozen tanks taking up position in case reinforcements arrive.
Turns out its a inf company but quicly wiped out, I lose 2 men to fire & 2 more to mines, it ends on turn 37.
Decisive victory
Men 89>631
Score 6178>449

Missed a few bunkers but AI must have spent loads on mines, fairly boring game as not enough enemy & armour was totaly outclassed.
Partly my fault did full width as meant hills were in enemy zone but this meant he was to spread out & mines made transit slow

[Imp]

Eastern Front is not available yet so Western Dessert meeting first since the Poles
Not worth giving you the map a few small steep rough hills 3 in centre 250 x 500m that could be used as cover, also 250m round hill behind North Flags Otherwise dead flat with the odd strip of high grass but not wide enough to be a vision problem unless looking along it. Flags equaly spaced 3 groups running N>S placed slightly closer to enemy than me but central group is furthest forward & near to central hill group.
Its very sunny vis 88

Force only change both platoons with pioneers swaped one squad for pioneer LMG to give them covering fire.
Support 2x 110s along for the ride
Lets hope the AI does not just field cruiser tanks or it will be a turkey shoot.
Going to Russia next battle but may well come back here for a bit once Allies equipment improves.
Simple plan close & destroy, to this end all arty is forming a smoke screen at the end of turn 1 just east of central hills. it will run from North flags to roughly halfway between central & South flags. Arty transport has been borrowed & all vehicles will head flat out for the smoke screen, they will drop pasengers then head for cover behind hills or retreat to hide behind the anticipated dust cloud they should kick up.
HQ & 223Fu are to the South & have a clear view of those flags for arty direction, hope is if 223 does not move it won't be seen.
The smallest force is going after South flags, C Company - 1 platoon 3 MkIIIs & the ATGs
The Rest are spread out across the other 2 objectives, the idea role these up hopefully getting behind while C Comp perform a holding action.
231s, MkIIs & Rams will hide in dust till troops sighted when they will assist in encirclement & destruction of leaving MkIIIs free to kill vehicles.
My AA poses a problem as its vulnerable & the dust clouds cause real headaches but initial thoughts they are going to move forward for 2 turns then hold position.
If possible my 2 planes will hold off till I am in a position to exploit breakout when they will start looking for arty & AA in the rear area.
Try to knock out in 20 turns

Turn1
Most of the smoke comes down ok a couple will need a second mission but most of my smoke was used battery dumped the lot & most just have a few rounds remaining
Before it comes down we see 4 groups of vehicles from N>S
Some A10s further back than other groups
4 Daimler Dingos heading for N flags, small dust trail
Several Marm HerIII & A10 heading for C flags
15 Rolls Royce AC & 5 A10s heading towards S hill in central group.
Movement of 150m or more produces dust & no arty fire was recieved

I realise the flaw in my plan at the start of turn 2, these Brits might be coming at me with nothing more than MGs & ATRs but they are coming fast, to fast infact troops were going to unload at smoke screen but if they do that tanks will be buried in a huge cloud of dust. Transport sorts into more distinct groups so there are dust free areas, scouts in 3 motorbikes run up to locations for a look.
A Co moves behind mainly North of the central hills
B Co some risk moving to smoke line as only Dingos are heading that way
C Co drops off at the bottom of central hills & will work SE towards flags, ATGs drop here close to the smoke.
As initial contact will be with AC MkIIs & 231 get a shift on, by turn 3 231s take up position in gaps between the hills, 2 cover the South gap as I think thats the larger force. The other covers the North sets range to 15 gets the first kill as Marm Her goes down.
Turn 4 & tanks are still moving forward most flat out but a couple have gone to combat speed, the MkIIs move just North of central hill & I decide to risk leaving the 3 Flaks in the area there because they are stationary & about 600m back from the smoke. Transport is now pulling back, I will cover initial probe in AIs turn at the start of turn 5 but arty 5 troops of 25Pdr plus one onboard plus about 5 3inMTRs.

[Imp]

Appologies for any errors might miss one, CS9s have dischargers RR do not.
The main push was on CF by 5 Marm Her heading just north of central hills. 2 were damaged by the 231 before bursting through the smoke 300m from MkIIs,
These & a platoon (5) of MkIIIs further back opened up but as moving flat out they missed. the Flakwagens though damaged one & killed another.
As I need the MkIIIs to move up the MkIIs engage killing 3, takes 2 hits to kill on average. The flakwagen with AP remaining kills the other then most tanks move forward, won't mention again unless muck it up but dust trails mean a bit of thought is needed. Several troops are now on hills & can see Morris CS9s coming in on the same path a bit over 1/2k away. There could be closer stuff behind the smoke, a MKIII & Ram move to support the North facing 231.
Through the South gap a MkIII kills a RR AC then its platoon & the other Ram move to support the 231s here. Wanted to keep a couple stationary but dust prevents. 231s turn down there range & this force needs to make quick work of the RR AC then move to support the SF as slightly South of the RR but well back A10s & Val IIs are visible.

NF> Two Dingos came through the smoke the first being killed by a MkIII. it tries its luck again but miss & Dingo pops smoke, it is suppresed so squad moves up & assaults, strike 2. All but one of the MkIIIs in this platoon move up as i know 2 more dingos are inbound & troops fan slightly. We are placed slightly South of North flags & my FOO is the furtest North unit trying to keep some distance between himself & the Dingos, At a bit over a Km several MkVIcs can be seen to the NE & A10s are trailing half a klic back.
SF> Troops are moving on foot SE to flags & to increase range from the force bearing down on the bottom of the hill.
ATGs are in place behind smoke & will most likely get some contact with RR ACs, the 3 tanks are just behind them.
Transport here is going for cover behind the hill & generally its just trying to hide & stay alive though artys stuff is heading back.

AIT> arty was better last go than the previous game it guessed where my mortars are & hit a few & only just missed ammo trucks who are scattering, this turn hits mortars & places some smoke rest avoided.
NF> MkIII misses Dingo but squad assaults it, the other one decides to stay where it is, a Morris CS9 appears & tanks get it right this time.
SF > ATG damages RR at 100m as it comes into view just killed it as makes writing easier.
MF > Did not start to well as missed then N 231 got a kill & 2 CS9s poped smoke, two made it past the 231 & ran into the clutches of the MkIIs who killed the closest & damaged the other. The 231s covering South got a kill & several damage results. Pretty sure a MkIII got a damage result to & there is one Dingo here that poped smoke helping to cover several units.

[Imp]

Unless state otherwise most vehicles are still moving fast, trying to rack up tank kills so arty is not being plotted at present.
NF> Smoke was dropped here by AI hiding tanks coming from NE so move to get past it, 5 VIc now back in sight but range nearly a Km so don't fire. take a shot at Dingo damaging
CFN> MkIIs kill 2 CS9s & overtake infantry taking position to engage others MkIIIs &231 do the same taking half the central flags in the process. Light armour will then fall back as A10s are coming.
CFS> Both 231s move forward to stand directly in path of RR & both get another kill. MkIIs here are following as quick as is practical.
SF> Already mentioned one ATG last post killing RR the other 2 kill a RR & the lead A10, 2 MkIIs get another RR each & the 3rd one moves just in front of the ATG to absorb any fire. Troops here continue SE to flags, 2 ATGs might have to move as wrecks are blocking LOS.
AIT> Arty dies down stops on my mortars, soldiers moving for South flags have been detected 2 Spits attack, reasonably spaced though so even with bombs only lost 2 men. MkII bags another CS9 & in the South 2 RR fall to 231 & a MkIII. More shots were exchanged but either missed or no effect.
Turn7
NF> Daimler Dingo & CS9 finaly succumb eliminating everything in close proximity.
The MkVIcs are continuing West perhaps in the hopes of swinging in for my arty, fire at kills one & forces 2 to use Discharger.
Troops here are now moving out towards North flags
CFN> Troops here move out after local vehicles are killed MkII gets one MkIII another then MkIIIs move into smoke finding 2 more which are also killed.
MkIIIs are now in position to move past smoke & engage A10s that are a Km away, The IIs & 231 are heading in direction of MkVIcs. They can either hunt if escape or go after troops heading for N flags.
CFS+ SF> 231s kill 4 RR then head to join MkIIs, MkIIIs kill the last of the RR & one kills an A10 as does an ATG. Remaining A10s will be covered by wrecks next go I think & Vals are still about 1.5Km away so kill is not on the cards. It occurs to me Spits may have been going after ATGs not troops.
My AA is more set up to cover middle & North, hard to know where to put it as needs to be back from tanks but as still pushing forward arty might well come down where tanks were. Lets test my luck & move slightly off those positions.
You might have noticed I treat meetings as advances generally pushing forward not just sitting there waiting for the AI to come to me. I will do it if opportunities for an ambush are there or heavily outnumbered but my objectives are the flags.
All mortars are loaded & mobile heading for the hills
AIT> Only arty was 3"MTR near S flags, one MkIII in middle was hit by A10 but range is still to large to worry about. The main action happened up North as 2 more VIcs are destroyed, 3 are left but think they have all used dischargers now. An A10 was engaged as well killing 3 riders

[Imp]

NF> Two MkIIIs open up & kill VIcs the rest engage the closest A10s at about 700m, takes a few hits but kill 3 they all have riders. At least one A10 has made it behind AIs smoke screen. All but one tank closes range.
CF> takes on the middle group of nine A10s, if these had riders they perished along with 4 tanks. Would have been higher but platoon moving from area where MkIIs were discover the terrain there blocks the view so only 1 tank in the platoon gets targets. One of those anomolies height zero but restricts view from certain angles, could be drifting invisible smoke. The 3 MkIIIs that came South round the central hill & are engaging this group cannot move any further without giving flank shots to tanks further South, not droping smoke as hope to eliminate central force next go.
SF> Moving forward to try & get targets & both MMGs which do have targets hose down a few tanks, no riders.
AIT> A bit of arty but it does not hit anything, very close to one Flakwagen though.
Nice thing about quite a lot of WW2 tanks is you don't have to worry much about AP ammo as they carry loads so jst blast away. Shots were exchanged & a few MkIIIs were hit but all fire was from the front. Several A10s were damaged & one was destroyed in both the N+S forces. The central force A10Cs poped smoke. Its a shame AI does not maintain better force cohesion if all the vehicles arrived together things would have been a bit trickier.

Turn9
Vals are now visible in the North force & it consists of about 15 tanks. The first foot sloggers have come into view 3 flanking the central force & 4 moving towards S flags. There are also 4 squads that have lost there rides in the North group.
CF> goes first killing the 4 tanks there just the A10CS remains but its behind smoke, as it only has a pen of 2 Ram is coming out of hiding while MkIIIs move towards the North group
NF> Platoon here engages but range is still to great they kill 2 tanks but it takes several hits so they are closing by moving NW that way the MF is aproaching from a diffrent angle
SF> ATGs crawl forward trying to grt some space between them as grouped & MkIIIS take out both remaining A10s before continuing SE closing range, a platoon of them from CF is rushing to assist.
All troops do not engage as max or out of range but close on enemy troops, the front ones slow to 2 hexes. As centre is clear MKIIs 231 & HTs are heading for troops to hit them hard, arty has been told weapons are now free its show time. Half the mortars deploy this turn the others will next go.
AIT> Very little arty mainly 3"MTR around South flags, little to report from tank exchange but enemy troops took fire mainly from MMGs & a few tanks losing a bit over half a dozen men. Up North as suspected an A10 managed to use the now fading smoke screen to get behind my tanks. The southern Vals have turned for the flags increasing range from MkIIIs that were moving to support.
In the dessert my extra experience should pay dividends vs enemy troops, I should spot them easier & my long range fire all other things being equal should hurt more

[Imp]

NF> Closing the range is paying off tanks killed 5 A10s & routed a Vickers HMG, there are now 12 MkIIIs in the area & 10 of them continue to close after firing.
My troops are falling behind my tanks here but can see about a dozen ex riders & in range of the closest ones, they send 2 squads running inflicting about 8 casulties. The enemy is directly NE of flags within about 300m but some forces on foot that I cant see are North of them, my units near the flags are taking fire from scouts & a sniper. I have 2 scouts & a sniper there looking for them now.
CF> Ram kills A10CS pioneers lose a man but we get 5 or so & HTs are turning up, facing 9 squads so far.
SF> Five MkIIIs are now within 500yds of Val but it is still undamaged though the amount of shots at it might have him a bit hot n bothered.
Can see 9 squads here killed about 4 men for no loss routing the lead squad but some of my troops have now been seen as recieving fire, there is an ATR somewhere further South probably with more squads.
AIT> The Spits returned each baging a truck, 3 flak fired at to no avail arty landed on some of my troops
All troopfire is at long range still can't see North sniper & scouts they killed 3 men SF we got a couple for 1 but in the middle despite the range got about half a dozen.
NF> Get another 3 A10s including the one trying to head round the back which is why 2 tanks did not move up, more keep appearing though & target selection is getting hard as there are nearly 20 dead tanks here now blocking sight.
SF> KOs its first Val 3 left

Much more fun than last game but somewhat outclassed, winding up by turn 20 is looking a posibility as was my original goal.

[Imp]

NF> 3 M3s fire taking out 2 A10s & immob a 3rd whos crew bail out & are persuaded to leave the hex.
There is a line of half a dozen burning tanks which my tanks south of now take advantage of to close the gap on Vals
Tanks closing from SW take out another A10 & damage the lead Val, a M3 is damaged to so it falls back into the dust trail.
These tanks are in 2 groups of 6 the SW group are now close to the area hidden scouts & sniper are in. The search is on both scouts move forward then squads draw fire, detect 2 scouts & new pioneer LMG kill a man in each sending them running. The sniper here gets a man & it turns out has a restricted view so forces move forward killing both scouts & generaly putting the frightners on more distant targets.
Two squads take time out to deal with the rider of the lone tank that had tried flanking killing 4 & sending him scurrying for friendly lines.
CF> There is a sniper here to that remains elusive but find 2 scouts here also killing one. A couple of vehicles prep fire then concentrate all fire on units with ATR to let the HTs lose. They are suffering quite badly men droping here & there so 3 HTs move on South platoon shooting them up at close quarters.
What happened to Brit resolve & fighting spirit everyone is running so several HTs & 231s are heading to support SF
SF> MMGs fire at troops near Vals then 2 MkIIIs (M3s from now on) fire at remaining Vals then 3 others close for the money shot destroying one & immob the other, further hits damage it more. Squads then fire at nearest units routing while a scout moves towards ATR, its spotted & killed. Looks like the original plan was wrong we will be rolling up from this end first HTs are on the way & its time to let the air commence runs as some arty is visible
Flak is playing leap frog now & trucks are coming out of hiding heading for CF & SF, 223Fu breaks cover
AIT> 3"MTRs are landing on target at the front line but all 25Pdrs are to far back thoogh how a couple managed to miss my trucks is beyond me. Landed right in a group of them & just caused a few to button. Apart from in the South Brits are in trouble as 5 units or so return fire at any shot he takes, this resulted in the death of N sniper & the central one is now visible. The central force is pretty much routed but the other 2 are still fighting.
Tank battles did not achieve much but the other Southern Val was damaged.
3 more A10s are moving towards the centre but they are 2Km away.