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

[warspite1]

Turn 95
13th August 1941

My patrols to the west of El Cuasc spot some Italians. The reconnaissance forces, from the 1st Royals destroy an AA unit but maintain contact with the Italians.

[warspite1]

Turn 96 - Axis Turn
16th August 1941

The Axis attack gathers pace. The Australians continue to show their worth, holding up the Italians at Gazala.

[warspite1]

Turn 96 - Axis Turn
16th August 1941

The detail behind the summary

[warspite1]

Turn 96
16th August 1941

After that intense activity (and losses) lets have a look at the air situation.

8 (4 operational) Hurricane sqns - 163/192 aircraft - 78 in reserve - 6 replacements per turn
4 (3 operational) Blenheim sqns - 89/96 aircraft - 69 in reserve - 3 replacements per turn
1 (0 operational) Tomahawk sqns - 16/48 aircraft - 2 in reserve - 2 replacements per turn
1 (0 operational) Albacore sqn - 4/10 aircraft - 4 in reserve - 0 replacements per turn
1 (0 operational) Beaufighter sqn - 13/24 aircraft - 2 in reserve - 1 replacement per turn
1 (0 operational) Gladiator sqn - 21/24 aircraft - 3 in reserve - 1 replacement per turn
1 (1 operational) Wellington sqn - 24/24 aircraft - 30 in reserve - 2 replacements per turn

This is a pretty poor state of affairs - just 8 out of 17 squadrons operational - particularly with the Hurricane squadrons.

I simply don't trust the program to do what I ask and I send 5 squadrons to the Nile Delta in the hope that they won't decide they don't want to be at rest....

Laugh? I almost bought a round....

I finally get some South Africans, after their long period of work up. I started moving them last turn.... and now the whole division is....... reorganising. Well to be fair they probably needed the rest [8|].

[Curtis Lemay]

ORIGINAL: ChuckBerger

This feels silly. Armies in WW2 were never that invisible, especially in the desert. Air recon, signals and intel should be giving you some clue whether the enemy is around or not. Not to mention all those recon companies you have out, which shouldn't be showing just the hex they're in, but should be presumed to be sending patrols out far and wide.

You do know that both sides in this campaign were taken completely by surprise multiple times?

[warspite1]

Turn 97 - Axis Turn
20th August 1941

2,969 Axis moves - here is a man with a plan! And they're all converging on Tobruk!

[warspite1]

Turn 97
20th August 1941

Despite what the Documentation stated, the 10th Indian Brigade did disappear this turn.

I am not going to be able to do too much more until I find out what else goes. But in the meantime I try and get my aircraft situation in check. There are now 18 squadrons available:

7 (0 operational) Hurricane sqns - 146/168 aircraft - 87 in reserve - 6 replacements per turn
5 (0 operational) Blenheim sqns - 94/120 aircraft - 84 in reserve - 3 replacements per turn
2 (0 operational) Tomahawk sqns - 38/48 aircraft - 3 in reserve - 2 replacements per turn
1 (0 operational) Albacore sqn - 8/10 aircraft - 0 in reserve - 0 replacements per turn
1 (0 operational) Beaufighter sqn - 14/24 aircraft - 2 in reserve - 1 replacement per turn
1 (0 operational) Gladiator sqn - 16/24 aircraft - 8 in reserve - 1 replacement per turn
1 (0 operational) Wellington sqn - 22/24 aircraft - 33 in reserve - 2 replacements per turn

What a total piggin' mess. I move as many units as possible east to try and save themselves from disobeying orders.

[warspite1]

Turn 97
20th August 1941

Tobruk Garrison

Western Strongpoint
Strongpoint 2 - 14/17
18th NZ Bn. - 40/40 - Rifle Squads
20th NZ Bn. - 40/40
22nd NZ Bn. - 40/40
23rd NZ Bn. - 40/40
2nd Scots Guards Bn. - 44/45
7th NZ Anti-Tank Regt. - 4/32 AT guns
27th Light AA Regt. - 21/24 2-pounder guns

Southwestern Strongpoint
Strongpoint 3 - 14/17
21st NZ Bn. - 40/40 Rifle Squads
1st Polish Bn. - 35/36
3rd Polish Bn. - 36/36
Kopanski Machine-Gun Company - 40/40 machine-guns
65th Anti-Tank Regt. - 17/32 2-pounder AT guns
57th Light AA Regt. - 22/24 2-pounder AA guns
14th NZ Light AA Regt. - 17/24 2-pounder AA guns

Southeastern Strongpoint
Strongpoint 4 - 16/17
19th NZ Bn - 40/40 Rifle Squads
24th NZ Bn. - 40/40
26th NZ Bn. - 40/40
28th Maori Bn. - 48/50
2nd NZ Cavalry Regt. - 35/35
27th NZ Machine-Gun Bn. - 60/60 machine-guns
1st Polish Anti-Tank Batt. - 2/8 AT guns
2nd Heavy AA Regt. - 8/8 3.7-inch AA guns

Eastern Strongpoint
Strongpoint 1 - 7/17
25th NZ Bn. - 40/40
2nd Polish Bn. - 36/36
1st (FF) Marine Company - 9/9
1st Polish Cavalry Regt. - 14/15
7th Royal Tank Regiment - 50/50 Matilda II tanks
5th NZ Field Art Regt. - 20/24 25-pounder guns
13th Light AA Regt. - 20/24 2-pounder AA guns

Tobruk
Minefield a 136/144
Minefield b 144/144
2nd New Zealand Division HQ
4th NZ Bde. HQ - 10/10 Rifle Squads
5th NZ Bde. HQ - 10/10
6th NZ Bde. HQ - 10/10
1st Polish Bde. HQ - 10/10
4th NZ Field Art Regt. - 22/24 3.7-inch guns
1st Royal Horse Artillery Regt. - 21/24 25-pounder guns

So this is what the Commonwealth and their Allies have in order to try and defend Tobruk for the second time. I think it will be a short siege because a) there is no RN and b) I suspect devoncop will concentrate fully on this objective this time before moving on.

The numbers behind the OOB make for unpleasant reading - certainly with regard to artillery pieces of all types:

Rifle Squads - 657/662 - 99.24%
Tanks - 50/50 - 100%
Machine Guns - 100/100 - 100%
Anti-Aircraft guns - 88/104 - 84%
Anti-Tank guns - 23/72 - 32%
Field Artillery guns - 63/72 - 87%

[warspite1]

Turn 98 - Axis Turn
23rd August 1941

Two more Australian companies evaporate. The Axis take Bardia and there are renewed bombardments of Tobruk.

[warspite1]

Turn 98
23rd August 1941

I attempt to move two companies of Australians toward Tobruk....that was a mistake; one is evaporated and the other loses its dug-in status as it fails to move.

I continue to move whatever South Africans are available to the west - but its a slow process.

My artillery in Tobruk open up and from what I can tell they destroy:

The Sabratha Division HQ
A battalion from the Sabratha Division
A battalion from the Pavia Division
A battalion from the CCNN Division
A company from the Bologna Division
A company from the Savona Division

[warspite1]

Turn 99 - Axis Turn
27th August 1941

The Germans move out of Bardia, capturing the undefended Sollum, and destroying the Czech battalion defending Fort Capuzzo.

But the main news is the massed bombardment of Tobruk. I am not sure how, but I must have missed the evaporation of an anti-tank unit the turn before last.

- In two turns the rifle squads have lost 5% of their number (94%)*
- The anti-tank guns have almost disappeared (11%)
- The AA is almost halved (56%)
- Machine guns are down by a tenth (90%)

* This does not include 42 rifle squads from the Australian 9th Division that retreated to Tobruk last turn.

All that and the Axis have not even brought all their guns to bear!

[warspite1]

Turn 99
27th August 1941

A small Royal Navy task force, comprising of two battleships, two cruisers and three destroyers, puts to sea.

The Axis air force is waiting and a major dogfight develops. Some German aircraft get to attack the task force and cause 4% damage to HMS Valiant, but not before a large scale aerial battle.

154 Axis aircraft, including 24 deadly Ju-87's, are sent to intercept the British ships, while 104 CW fighters are sent to assist their defence; 26 are lost (9 destroyed) but in so doing 33 Axis aircraft are lost (14 destroyed).

[warspite1]

Turn 99
27th August 1941

I start the turn with bombardments against the Italian forces on the cost west of Tobruk.

Two rounds of bombardments are carried out against the enemy forces at Sollum, before launching an infantry attack on the town led by the 22nd Guards Brigade. A major engagement develops in which the Allied air forces get a total pasting..... circa 300 aircraft vs almost half that number and 67 Allied aircraft lost (20 destroyed)??? vs 40 Axis (13 destroyed).

A closer examination of the ground losses shows a pretty poor picture too. The loses in terms of infantry is massive for the British compared to the, largely Italian, enemy forces. The only bright spot is that the Pavia Division HQ was evaporated - which hopefully has a poor effect on its troops.

A very disappointing outcome all-round. The only bright spot was that the Royal Navy ships were not crucified when returning to port.

[warspite1]

Turn 99
27th August 1941

The final round of the turn saw continued bombardment west of Tobruk and barrages launched against the forces in Sollum and the area to the west.

[RichMunn]

Sorry to intervene but Warspite I tried to send you a PM apologising for my tardy response in our game (I hope to do it tomorrow) and it told me the message was undeliverable because your PM storage was full.

Just thought you'd like to know!

Cheers

Rich

[warspite1]

Thanks - should be clear now [:)]

[warspite1]

Turn 100
30th August 1941

A lot happened last turn - most of it bad - it seems in any and all circumstances my air force is a bit rubbish......

So what did happen?

First off their was an airfield attack at Sidi Barani.

40 Hurricane and Tomahawk fighters took to the skies to beat off the attack by 50 Axis aircraft (28 Italian fighters (11 biplanes) and 22 bombers). The Axis lost 14 aircraft (3 destroyed) and the CW lost 5 (3 destroyed). There were also 34 AA guns in the town but these seem to have remained silent.....

A second attack was launched against Zawyet Shammus - although this does not show as an airfield attack in the Combat Results. Again there are 34 AA guns to complement 24 Hurricanes and 37 Blenheims. The attackers number just 10 bombers escorted by 58 German fighters. The Axis lose 9 aircraft (just 1 destroyed), while the CW manage to lose 11 (4 destroyed)....

Attention then moves to Tobruk and environs.....

[warspite1]

Turn 100
30th August 1941

Southwestern Strongpoint

4 x attacks launched, costing the CW 12%, 10%, 17% and 13% losses. No casualties for the Axis.

Eastern Strongpoint

3 x attacks, the first cost the CW 19% (for 1% in counter-battery fire), 20% and 13%

Other

South of Tobruk a company of Australians from the 13th Battalion hold off wave after wave of attack - thanks to support from the Royal Horse Artillery and the minefield effects.

In response the Axis launch an airstrike with 52 bombers supported by 137 fighters. Despite only being able to muster 21 Hurricanes, they inflict 13 losses (just 2 destroyed) for the loss of 10 (2 destroyed). The enemy bombers do limited damage to the troops.

Increasingly frustrated it seems (and understandably so), the Axis attack with land and air forces again. The gallant Aussies are all but wiped out but still they stand their ground. An RAAF Hurricane squadron, down to just 4 aircraft, intercept and all 4 planes are lost (all disabled). The Axis lose 5 aircraft (1 destroyed). More importantly, the attackers lose 45 rifle squads as well as mortars, guns and trucks.

A fourth attack is then carried out and the Australians heroic resistance comes to an end.

[warspite1]

Turn 100
30th August 1941

At Tobruk the CW are down a further 22 rifle squads, but that is nothing compared to the losses of AA and ART - 27 pieces destroyed in one turn alone.... There are no more

After all that Hot Air Action, what is the state of my air units? Well I still somehow have 19 squadrons:

7 (4 operational) Hurricane sqns - 140/168 aircraft - 58 in reserve - 6 replacements per turn
5 (3 operational) Blenheim sqns - 101/120 aircraft - 75 in reserve - 3 replacements per turn
3 (2 operational) Tomahawk sqns - 61/72 aircraft - 6 in reserve - 2 replacements per turn
1 (1 operational) Albacore sqn - 7/10 aircraft - 0 in reserve - 0 replacements per turn
1 (0 operational) Beaufighter sqn - 9/24 aircraft - 7 in reserve - 1 replacement per turn
1 (1 operational) Gladiator sqn - 24/24 aircraft - 1 in reserve - 1 replacement per turn?? This should have ended on Turn 98
1 (0 operational) Wellington sqn - 14/24 aircraft - 41 in reserve - 2 replacements per turn

I make 11 squadrons operational but this is a risky move given the state of some of these.... Of big concern are the reserve numbers for the Hurricanes and Blenheims - this have reduced markedly and the squadrons are not even at full strength....

[warspite1]

Turn 100
30th August 1941

I am limited to bombardments this turn but some success is recorded.