CFNA 1940-43 devoncop (Axis) vs warspite1 (CW) - no devoncop please

[warspite1]

Turn 55
26th March 1941

This is now so tough. With the RNF destroyed there is nothing to stop the Italians and Germans from advancing on Bardia. However, I can't afford to worry about things I can't do anything about. Instead I have to try and fight the fires that are currently at my door - and there are enough of those....

Rounds 1 and 3

Bombardments are planned as usual for the besiegers of Tobruk, but also against the Italians heading north and threatening the coast road.

Round 5

In addition to bombardments I feel under pressure to try and get rid of whatever probing forces are threatening the coast road before they can be reinforced. I plan to attack these forces with whatever I can scratch together....

[warspite1]

Turn 55
26th March 1941

Round 5 (cont)

On the right track, three attacks go in and these prove pretty successful in hurting the Italian formations as shown below.

[warspite1]

Turn 55
26th March 1941

Round 7

The scratch force cobbled together on the western track are unable to mount any meaningful attacks - except one - and this sees the Ariete tanks in retreat. There is no ability for the British to exploit this however...

To the east the Indian/British attack fails to see off the surrounded Italian units this turn. I wonder what the Italians have to the south....?

[warspite1]

Turn 55
26th March 1941

Round 9

The good news from Tobruksville is that although the Australians are being bombarded to hell - so are the Axis artillery and infantry units. I believe as many as two infantry battalions were destroyed during the turn.

[warspite1]

Turn 55
26th March 1941

The Butcher's bill

[warspite1]

Turn 56 - Axis Turn
29th March 1941

The Australians continue to suffer.....

[warspite1]

Turn 56
29th March 1941

Apart from destroying an anti-tank unit and the remaining Saharan detachment infantry section, the turn was purely one of bombardments. The Axis moved up to Bardia.....and my one division in place decided to reorganise... Fortunately I had two artillery pieces and they tried to disrupt any Italian plans to take the town and the surrounding area.

I don't know how long the reorganisation lasts for - but if it goes into my opponents turn then that is probably game over as there is nothing else to stop the panzers from rolling up Egypt....

In brighter news - another 2 Italian battalions were evaporated by the ordnance in and off Tobruk.

The butchers bill for this turn

[warspite1]

Turn 57 - Axis Turn
2nd April 1941

As I feared - looks like that is the end of that. What a time for your one decent 'division' to decide to reorganise....

The 21st Panzer splits the 7th Armoured Division and all the majority of the division and supporting units are all out of supply. Nothing to stop a swift advance into Egypt now so I might as well try and fight it out.

[warspite1]

Turn 57
2nd April 1941

Desperate times call for......

The Royal Navy head back to Bardia to try and support the British forces trapped there.

A battalion of the 2nd RTR force back a squadron of Italian tanks and I set up a series of bombardments. If ever I need NOT to fail a force proficiency test its in the coming rounds....

[warspite1]

Turn 57
2nd April 1941

The turn lasted the full 10 rounds and I was able to pound the Axis positions. Sadly no attack was possible and I moved out of Bardia which was probably a mistake as it will be easier for the enemy to roll me up.

[warspite1]

Turn 58 - Axis Turn
5th April 1941

There were 7 attacks/bombardments/air strikes by the Axis. I'll have a look at each one in detail.

[warspite1]

Turn 58 - Axis Turn (cont)
5th April 1941

Axis airfield attack against Sidi Barani

27 Hurricanes engaged - 4 disabled (2 squadrons - a + b)
40 Italian fighters engaged - 7 disabled and 2 destroyed

Second attack on Sidi Barrani

23 Hurricanes engaged - 9 disabled (2 squadrons - a + b)
19 German fighters engaged - 2 disabled and 1 destroyed
28 Italian bombers engaged - 3 disabled and 1 destroyed

Third attack on Sidi Barrani

32 Hurricanes engaged - 1 disabled (all 3 Hurricane squadrons engaged)
15 German fighters engaged - 1 disabled and 1 destroyed
9 Italian bombers engaged - 2 disabled and 2 destroyed

Fourth attack on Sidi Barrani

22 Hurricanes engaged - 1 disabled (2 squadrons - a + c engaged)
19 German bombers engaged - 2 disabled and 2 destroyed


Looks like a lot of those disabled were in fact losses (if I've got that right) as the Aussie fighter squadrons are significantly down on numbers. I am keen to rest these but with the dire situation facing the 7th Armoured that is just not an option.

[warspite1]

Turn 58 - Axis Turn (cont)
5th April 1941

There is one land combat - the Italians are ordered to destroy the lone Royal Horse Artillery regiment but they have plenty of support on hand to repulse the attentions of the Italian attackers.

Later an air strike is designed to take out the British armour to the south, but is repulsed with heavy loss - but no RAAF involvement.

[warspite1]

Turn 58
5th April 1941

I really wanted to get an attack in this turn around Bardia but the British units have suddenly got their supply back. As a result I try and play it less desperately.

I bombard the enemy and in the middle of the barrage I start to move the units south, passing through each other toward (hopefully) the Halfaya Pass. Once again the men of the Royal Horse Artillery are left on their own however.

Two Axis units were evaporated in the bombardments but I can't target all enemy positions. The German and Italian armour east of Fort Capuzzo therefore gets the bulk of the attention.

[warspite1]

Turn 59 - Axis Turn
9th April 1941

Wow! Over 2,000 Axis moves and I saw elements of just a fraction of those. There must be a change in my ability to spot (I'll have a look in a minute). In the meantime the Axis made two attacks:

1st Attack - the poor old 104th Royal Horse Artillery (or tail end charlie / the forlorn hope as its now known) is assaulted by a combined Italian/German force supported by the Regia Aeronautica. The British artillery are supported by the Royal Navy, the RAF/RAAF as well as the artillery of the 4th RHA and 8th Mediterranean artillery regiments nearby. The artillerymen hold their positions at a cost of 9 of their 22 25-pounder guns (6 destroyed, 3 disabled). 1 squadron of Hurricanes was called upon and suffered 3 disabled and 1 destroyed. Axis losses came mostly from the infantrymen, although there was some modest loss of aircraft and even a German tankette!

[warspite1]

Turn 59 - Axis Turn (Cont)
9th April 1941

Sadly the Royal Horse Artillery could only realistically be expected to hold on for so long.....

A second attack is ordered using tanks of the Ariete as well as continued air support. Not only are the artillerymen wiped out - along with their precious 25-pounders, but the RAAF lose 10 Hurricanes (8 disabled and 2 destroyed). Worse however is that the RN are reorganising!

Italian losses were modest - just 2 tanks destroyed, although 20 aircraft were downed (of which only 6 were reported as destroyed).


I've checked the Situation Briefing and this shows reconnaissance capability of 0%....

[warspite1]

Turn 59
9th April 1941

Well there is even more bad news....

All Australian Hurricanes are reorganising. I receive a new RAF squadron in the Nile Delta....and it is reorganising. So for air support this turn I have precisely 2 Blenheim and 1 Gladiator squadrons. At least the Blenheims are at full strength - although won't be at the end of this turn without fighter cover - but I can't afford to stand them down.

But the bad news does not stop there. Its ALL RN ships reorganising...

... and the hits keep on coming. I can't continue my withdrawal fully because... yes you've guessed it, half a dozen units around Sollum are reorganising.

Edit: I thought I'd check on Tobruk for some good news and..... majority of units are reorganising....

And most units behind the lines are.....[three guesses]

Who'd be a theatre commander eh?

The only movements made are to ensure that the units at Sollum and those guarding the Halfaya Pass have anti-tank regiments (there is nothing I can do about the poor b*****s in the north).

So that just leaves a very limited bombardment by a few artillery regiments... The results are as to be expected given the limited shells I am able to range against the enemy.

[warspite1]

Turn 60 - Axis Turn
12th April 1941

The Axis turn their attention back to Tobruk and the same old hex - the southwest strong point. 15 Hurricanes are lost (11 disabled and 4 destroyed) while the Italians have 12 bombers destroyed.

There appears to have been no attempt on Sollum - but my lack of intelligence makes me very nervous about what is moving where.....

[warspite1]

Turn 60
12th April 1941

The Royal Navy are still reorganising. That is a big blow.

The air forces now number 9 squadrons.

4 x Hurricane sqns - all four operational - 83 aircraft with 30 reserves.
3 x Blenheim sqns - 72 aircraft (1 sqn with 24 aircraft operational) with 21 reserves.
1 x Gladiator sqn - 18 aircraft (not operational) no reserves.
1 x Morane-Saulnier (literally) - 1 aircraft (not operational) no reserves and no more replacements

Time to have a look in a bit more detail at what is happening at Tobruk. I should have done this from the outset but to be honest I thought it would have fallen by now.

First things first, there has been no change to the composition of the defence (except the RN has gone away) - see below.

But what is the actual strength of these forces?

Western strong point
1 x cavalry regiment
7th Aus - Missing a few armoured cars but otherwise fully up to strength

4 x infantry battalions
13th Aus - Full Strength
15th Aus - Full strength
17th Aus - Full strength
43rd Aus - Full strength

1 x machine-gun battalion
1st Aus - Full strength

1 x anti-tank regiment
1st Aus - Only 19/32 2-Pounder AT Guns (these are replaced - across the entire army - at only 2 per turn and there are just four in reserve)

Southwestern strong point
6 x infantry battalions
9th Aus - 40/45 Rifle Squads, 0/4 2-Pounder AT guns, 10/13 Mortars, 21/24 machine guns
10th Aus - 41/45 Rifle Squads, 1/4 2-Pounder AT guns, 11/13 Mortars, 20/24 machine guns
12th Aus - 43/45 Rifle Squads, 1/4 2-Pounder AT guns, 12/13 Mortars, 23/24 machine guns
23rd Aus - 41/45 Rifle Squads, 12/13 Mortars, 21/24 machine guns
24th Aus - 38/45 Rifle Squads, 12/13 Mortars, 22/24 machine guns
48th Aus - 41/45 Rifle Squads, 12/13 Mortars, 22/24 machine guns

1 x machine gun battalion
1st Cheshire - 9/10 Rifle Squads, 4/5 mortars, 53/56 machine guns

1 x anti-tank regiment
3rd Aus - 2/32 2-Pounder AT guns

Southeastern strong point
4 x infantry battalions
1st Polish - Full strength except only 2/3 2-Pounder AT Gun
2nd Polish - Full strength except only 1/3 2-Pounder AT Gun
3rd Polish - Full strength except only 1/3 2-Pounder AT Gun
28th Aus - Full strength

1 x machine gun battalion
Kopanski - Full Strength

1 x anti-tank regiment
65th - only 20/32 2-Pounder AT guns

1 x anti-tank battery
1st polish - only 3/8 2-Pounder AT guns

Eastern strong point
1 x tank battalion
7th RTR - Full strength

5 x artillery regiments
1st Polish - 11/16 18-Pounder guns + 25/25 25-Pounder guns
3rd Aus - Full strength
1st RHA - Full strength
64th Meditteranean - 12/24 4.5-inch guns
51st Field - Full strength

2 x anti-aircraft regiments
2nd HAA - Full strength
57th LAA - 23/24 2-Pounder AA guns

[warspite1]

Turn 60
12th April 1941

Its difficult to know what to do. The only thing I do know is that if the Axis makes a breakthrough south of Sollum then that is a lot of units in the bag. I can't afford to let that happen and so have to yield Sollum by continuing to withdraw forces to the Halfaya Pass.

This means only two rounds of bombardment - but pleasingly a unit from 21st Panzer (don't know what it contains) is evaporated.