Down to the wire : Spearhead WW2 battle (Desert, 1941)
Some battles we've fought have been over and done with in a handful of turns. Others have been close tussles with victory in the balance all the way. But this one was one of the closest, tensest and downright -nerve shattering and came down to literally the last throw of the dice. An excellent scenario, fought in the right spirit but wow! Soooooo close!
And it came about by accident! As Mark had shown a shocking lack of commitment to running Waterloo this Saturday, Ian kindly hosted Russ and myself to take on a WW2 Spearhead battle. He plumped for Barbarians at the Gates (from the Blaze Across the Sands desert front scenarios book).
Russ is on a British wave at present and immediately claimed the Allies as his army, leaving me (happily) with the Axis.
The Commonwealth forces :
- 2nd Armoured Division HQ plus a Dingo Scout and a rifle stand)
- 4th Indian Division (I and II Bttns) with no support
- 9th Australian Division (3rdAustralian Anti-tank using 2 Portees and re-inforced with with 1stBattery 104th RHA (2 pounders).
The Axis consisted of
- 5th Light Division (KG Schwerin - 3 PZJr 1B’s, 2 x 20mm AA, and 3 engineers and Pzr Regiment 5 HQ (2 x PzII, 3 x PzIII))
- 132nd Ariete Armoured (BG Fabris – a motorcycle bttn with 2 AC and BG Montemmuro – Bersglieri Bttn).
The background was that Rommel had arrived in Africa to save the Italian bacon and command the still-forming Afrika Korps. He was only supposed to set up a blocking force and the British (through Ultra decrypts) understood that he had explicit orders not to attack – meaning that much of Wavell’s strength had been despatched to Greece (rather than drive the Italians out of Africa altogether).
Rommel disobeyed orders and attacked – and the 5thsoon defeated the weak, surprised and ill-equipped British Army so on the 3rdApril Wavell ordered a general withdrawl.
The British 2nd Armoured Div. was supposed to retreat to El Mechili but on the HQ ever reached this old Turkish fort. This garrison then found itself surrounded by Axis columns arriving in the night. As dawn broke, dust clouds in the distance and the defenders awoke to find the barbarians at the gates. The defenders have no choice but to attempt a break out towards Tobruk.
Breakfast!
Before the action started, Ian sorted out a marvel brekkie of poached egg and bacon sarnies washed down with a pot of coffee. Russ moaned about H&R and we also went through my 3 boxes of unsorted British armour, trucks and infantry which he may take off my hands - or not. We also discussed going to Triples in Sheffield next week (huzzah!) to line the pockets of assorted suppliers.
The battlefield
As is usual in desert battles, scenery was at a premium. The area was dominated by a wadi running north to south on the eastern edge of the board. Ml Mechili was fairly central - and there was a piece of broken ground. But as we were to prove, you don't need lots of cover to create a superb battle!
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| The battlefield, with British deployment. |
Victory conditions and special rules
To win, the Axis had to achieve 2 of the following :-
- Kill or rout any two Commonwealth Battalions
- Kill or rout the Div HQ stand
- Occupy El Mechili.
The Commonwealth just had to prevent 2 of the above happening in 16 turns (i.e. dusk)
Dust is in effect so units moving more than half speed would kick up dust (masking units behind them).
The wadi slowed movement (vehicles has to enter and leave at specific points and troops moved at half speed. Troops in the wadi are considered entrenched.
The Indians have lost most of its radios so its Battalions suffer command and control penalties so the Indians are treated as 1944 Russians for order changes (5 or 6 on a d6).
These were to prove crucial to the result.
Planning
My plan was simple. BG Fabris was to rush towards El Mechili from the north while their compatriots in BG Montemmuro would line the edge of the wadi after arriving from the east. KG Schwerin would arrive from the south with the Panzers in reserve.
Here I cocked up. The Panzers should have been in reserve in the West. I'm not sure who benefitted from me bringing them up alongside KG Schwerin from the South - but as they died to a man later in the battle, I'm guessing it was Russ.
My main problem was that the German units were low in numbers - a couple of stands lost and morale checks would be required. This proved devastating for me (as you will see).
I wanted Schwerin to provide a base of fire from the SPG's against the Portees as the engineers and AA guns took on any infantry opposing them (and then use the Engineers to assault El Mechili should the 2nd Div HQ decide to make a stand in the fort.
The Italian BG's would form a screen to prevent escape to the east or north and the Panzers would chase down and mop up any units making a run for it.
No plan survives contact with the enemy.
The Battle begins
Russ had to set up first. He stuck his HQ in El Mechili with the 9th sat to the east and south. All portees faced north.
The Indians were stuck in the wadi to the north of the fort - where (apart from occasional forays) they would stay for the length of the battle.
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| HQ in the fort. 9th Australian form square and the portees face north. |
I won initiative and threw the Italians and Schwerin forward. Russ had a shock as he could see the dust clouds converge on his position from 3 directions
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| Russ considers his options as the Axis arrive from all sides, dust clouds masking their numbers |
I was lucky that BG Fabris' arrow took them past the wadi but further than the Indians' firing range. They would have to come out of cover or be neutralised as the Axis passed them by. Seeing the HQ in the fort was good news - Fabris could trap him and take the fort while the Indians were stuck in the wadi and the Australians were fighting off Schwerin and Montemmuro!
More good news was that although the portees were facing north, they had no anti-infantry capability (the Italians were on motorbikes so counted as infantry. Potentially Fabris could also sweep up the portees as well.
The only fly in the ointment was the A9 Cruiser tank parked outside the fort. This could overrun my motorbikes so I dropped off the two Italian guns at the rear of the table and had to stop my HQ to act as a spotter. The A9 became the top priority for the cannons.
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| Guns dropped off and protected by the AC's, HQ stops to spot and the motorbikes slow to half speed to get some shots in. |
In a number of cases early on, I showed my general ignorance of the rules. My HMG crew in Fabris needed to set up before firing so I put them in harms way when they couldn't defend themselves (luckily they survived).
Not so KG Schwerin. I idiotically put the AA guns in the front (rather than put them behind the engineers). As soon as they appeared, the Australians killed them off before they could get a shot in anger. Worse, the portees were out of range of my SPG's - so I had to try to overun them instead.
In addition, I'd placed the Italians on the wrong side of the wadi - the ATG's (which would marmalise the portees) were out of range so I'd waste another turn getting them into position.
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| Schwerin loses 2 units before they've stopped moving! |
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| Montemmuro on the wrong side of the wadi |
What I should have done was de-bus the engineers, line them up with the AA behind them and blaze away at the Australians as the SPG's waited for a hole to appear to take on the portees. Had I done that - and got Montemmuro over the wadi, the Australians would have been decimated.
Instead I decided (as the AA had gone) to get the SPG's to run down the Australians instead. This would normally be a good tactic. Except that against Russ and his deadly dice it became quite the opposite. I took out a unit or two but lost a couple of SPG's to Russ' 6's.
At least the Panzers made an appearance - but they had the same problem. To get at the portees (still facing the wrong way) they also would have to run into Russ' Australians.
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| The panzers arrive. |
Now, looking at it, you'd say the Australians were in deep trouble. And so they should have been. But somehow I managed to roll a succession of appalling dice while Russ turned into a six machine. I lost two SPG's in quick succession (despite being on +2).
Back with Fabris, the artillery dropped shells all around the A9, suppressing it (and stopping it overunning my motorbikes).
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| The A9 is hit! |
This availed me of nothing as a morale roll of 1 meant that Schwerin ran off - leaving the panzers to face the Australians alone. And the portees were slowly turning to face them. As the portees were out of range the Panzers too had to attempt overuns on the Australians.
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| The panzers find themselves alone |
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| The HQ prepares to leave the rest of the Commonwealth to it and run off. |
Russ - seeing his tank about to die - decided to get the HQ out of Dodge and moved to scoot off as the Germans were pre-occupied.
He also risked a few Indian platoons in close assaults on Fabris - but the motorcycles (and rapidly deployed armoured cars) soon made them regret that decision. Especially as the Italian artillery had polished off the A9 (meaning the armoured cars could move up in safety).
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| A few Indians attack - and are attacked in turn. |
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| The armoured cars join in for good measure. |
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| Ian looks on askance at some of my tactical ineptitude. |
Russ was a bit torn between keeping his units 'safe' but not being a sitting duck - and also trying to find safe passage off table. The order change challenge was a problem as he lacked the happy German knack of changing orders at will.
Back with the Panzers, I thought I could make hay as they ran into the Australians. Nope! They suffered a similar fate - Russ rolling 6's and me 1's meant that where they should have rolled over the Aussies, they instead took some casualties themselves. I therefore ordered Montemmuro over the wadi to help out. The anti-tank guns went with them - hopefully to batter the portees.
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| The Italians come over the wadi to save the depleted panzers. |
But just as I lined up the ATG's, the Portees made a run for it! How unsporting! They looked like they were heading the same way as the HQ unit (south) and it was possible that they could extricate themselves as the panzers were tied up and the ATG's now out of range. Victory was slipping away by the minute for Rommel.
But the Axis did secure its first victory by taking command of El Mechili. With the HQ running south, they left the gates open and a sole Italian motorcycle platoon took over the empty fort.
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| The fort is taken... |
Now all I had to do was kill or rout all the Indians or all the Australians. Easier said than done, as the portees were scooting away, the rest of the Indians were holed up in the wadi and the Australian infantry were killing everything in range.
BG Montemmuro were throwing themselves at the Australians and fire was exchanged as the remaining panzers kept running into exposed infantry. At this stage it was a real 50/50 battle and either side could claim to be in the lead. The HQ unit scooted off the table and Russ had his first 'victory'.
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| Panzers and Italians try to wipe out the Australian infantry as the portees make a run for it. |
Therefore I was determined to kill off the Australian infantry (as the portees couldn't be caught) and then turn everyone onto the Indians in the wadi. I therefore made the decision for BG Fabris to run up to hit the retreating Australians and anything else in their way. Crucially, I moved the artillery up with them...
In an attempt to stop this happening Russ pulled some Indians out of their safe 'hole' and ran after Fabris. This actually helped me as it pulled them into the open ("All the better to kill you with, my dear!").
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| Indians in the open! Kill 'em all! |
I think Russ saw the danger of this (as the Australian infantry were suffering, if the Indians lost as well then it could be game over). After losing a couple of platoons he decided to retreat into the wadi again.
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| The Australian infantry start to suffer |
However, further south the Australians were finally feeling the effect of the panzers and Italians and numbers started to dwindle. With the Indians in play and the Australians taking damage, Russ made a fateful decision. He turned the portees around with a view to shooting the panzers as he escaped east through the wadi (rather than just run them south) - thus relieving the pressure on the infantry.
This he did - and the effect was instantaneous. Portees are crap - except against tanks. He knocked out one and (as expected) I failed my morale roll and the Germans were no longer represented on the table.
Luckily Fabris had once again fought off the Indians and Russ got them back into the wadi again and the Italians proceeded south.
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| The Indians retreat into the wadi once more... |
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| Boom - and the panzers have gone! |
So this left (unusually) just the Italians left to save the Axis' honour. Montemmuro was doing his bit - chipping away at the Australian infantry as I tried to turn the ATG's around to get a shot at the portees. At that moment, Fabris appeared with motorcycle platoons headed in all directions and the armoured cars looking to avoid the portees but run over the infantry - not an easy task.
The Australian HQ stand had bravely placed himself behind the fort (crucially not in it, which would have made him virtually invulnerable). One of the Fabris units stopped just short - and MG'd him the following turn, suppressing him.
Russ decided to disengage the infantry and ordered a general break-off. Montemmurro gave chase.
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| The Italians come rushing in. |
The Indians - belatedly - once again came out to play as the portees made a bee-line for the wadi. Then a few crucial things happened.
Russ had to thread the portees through the wadi one at a time. This meant that they would be slow getting through but once out I couldn't catch them.
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| The Indians once again try to hold up Fabris as the portees made for the wadi and the remaining Australian infantry make a run for it (heading south west) |
Russ had passed a morale check for the Australian infantry (another 6!) so I had to kill two more units to force a morale check. One died but the rest were getting out of range. I managed to close assault one with a motorcyle unit and an armoured car in the rear - and lost!
This caused a morale check for Montemmuro. You guessed it - I failed with another 1! All his units were removed from the table. There was now only Fabris left on the battlefield to fight the Indians, kill off the Australians and claim victory. No chance! I congratulated Russ on his victory - I couldn't see how I could now win. But Ian said to keep going as it wasn't all over yet.
The first order requirement was to rout the Australians. The only chance I had was to take out the HQ unit and force a morale check. Already having suppressed him, I had only one unit who could attack - and it won. Amazingly, Russ didn't roll a 6 and the Australian infantry routed. I now needed to kill one more battalion - either one of the Indians or the portees who were at that moment skipping through the wadi. But I had nothing to kill the portees with (as Montemurro had had the ATG's).
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| The Indians AGAIN come out from hiding, the portees run for the wadi as Fabris tries to get his forces organised. You can see the Australian HQ suppressed and about to die (just right of the town). You can also see Fabris' artillery at bottom right. |
The Indians had once again come out - but direct artillery fire suppressed two units. Russ was in danger of losing them so once again they headed for the wadi. He tried to get an order change to get them off the table but didn't succeed - so back in the riverbed they went.
The problem I had was that there was nothing near enough to hit the portees - or at least to kill them off. Except one thing - Fabris' artillery. Having already killed the A9 and held up the Indian counter attack, the artillery CO was clearly looking for his third mention in despatches. As the uncommitted units of Fabris' BG headed for the wadi, the HQ stood still and called in the artillery.
I needed 4,5 or 6 just to zero in. The dice rolled - a 5! Two shells dropped in and two kills! But this wasn't enough to force a test - we needed to bump off more portees. I'd moved a motorcycle unit into the wadi to spot for the artillery ready for next turn.
Initiative was going to be key - and we drew twice (once on a 6!) before the Italians won it. I called in the artillery - and got the roll again! Even better, one hit suppressed the portee leading the second group - blocking the exit! It was now down to Russ to unsuppress it - and he failed. The exit was blocked and I still had a chance..
I was going to run my armoured cars down the wadi to take them on - but if I lost any there was a chance of another morale test (which I had been less than useless on so far). So they stayed put. It was all coming down to a motorbike platoon and a couple of shells vs. 3 portees.
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| Incredible - Fabris' artillery knock out a portee at the wadi exit - blocking it and allowing the artillery to get another shot in! |
So far I'd been incredibly lucky. Calling in artillery twice was a 25% chance. Suppressing the portee in the wadi exit was a 18% chance (if I'd killed it outright, then the other portees could have escaped).
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| The armoured cars don't risk it as the artillery is called in again... |
Now I had to dial it in again. I don't think I've ever been so nervous throwing a dice! A 4 or higher and I can get some shots in - anything less and the portees get away! The dice tumbled across the table...
A '4' - just! Blam! Blam! Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! Crump! Crump! Two hits, two kills! The portees disappear. And just for good measure the motorcyle platoon shoots up the remaining portee in the wadi.
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| Where have all the portees gone? Who cares! |
But it wasn't over yet. Russ could still grab victory by making his morale check. The Indians were safe in the wadi and I wouldn't have time to turn Fabris around again and polish them off (as they'd be entrenched in the wadi). So after me making dice roll after dice roll - fighting through with just one BG left, the whole battle came down to one dice roll. If Russ could roll 5 or better - he'd win. 4 or less, I won. It was that simple.
If I'd been nervous before, it was massively tense now. He shook it (amongst much banter from me about 3" drops, I want to see a proper roll etc.) he sent it on its way. The result?
Somehow the Italians pulled victory from the claws of defeat. We shook hands all round and I admit I had to take a long, hard breath. What a battle! Losing my best units before half the battle was won - and losing three out of four to a 1 on a morale test - then having what I considered my weakest BG taking on all comers (including fighting off the Indians, polishing off the Australian infantry and capturing the fort) and with a breathtaking finale to boot. Unbelievable!
With hindsight, Russ could have got the portees off to the South and won a few turns back. He could have seen the danger and attacked the isolated artillery with the Indians (although that would have probably meant an order change as they were just beyond the 12" range the Indians could operate in).
A great battle - and proof that Spearhead has to be one of the best WW2 rules sets for 6mm scale.
I need a lie down now!