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Turn 189
8th July 1942

The first attack went well (subject to seeing the CW losses) as the II Battalion, 8th Panzer Regiment evaporated.

Turn 189
8th July 1942

The remaining three attacks were total and utter disasters and the air situation is bordering on the ridiculous. 7 Me-109's was all that the Luftwaffe could put in the air in the last attack. They were opposed by 148 Spitfires, Hurricanes and Kittyhawks.... no prizes for guessing which side came off worse.

The last round contained a further four attacks and I will summarise the turn below.....

Wow.... the best part of 1,000 infantry squads lost....

The CW fighters flew over a 1,000 sorties - 10 for every 1 German fighter in the sky. And yet they lost and had destroyed more fighters, let alone the bombers they were escorting. Bizarre.

Warspite,

A very interesting battle. Your account of it is great. I’m enjoying reading your thought process and humour.

Wish I had so e answers for your air problems...

All the best,

ORIGINAL: MikeJ19

Warspite,

A very interesting battle. Your account of it is great. I’m enjoying reading your thought process and humour.

Wish I had so e answers for your air problems...

All the best,

warspite1

Cheers. Re bold - please let me know ASAP if you do [:D]

Turn 190 - Axis Turn (in real time)
11th July 1942

The turn begins with Axis forces moving out of the mini salient created south the railway line. I can see two panzer battalions heading west along the coast road – and then a third. Axis forces north of Burg El Arab are also moving away along the coast road. It’s unclear how far they are moving.

An Italian bi-plane squadron evaporates. No idea why. I’ve got nothing on interdiction and there was no combat.

The Italian recce unit (the sole remaining unit near Burg El Arab) is engaged and fails to move.

Axis forces also move back a little further south – it looks like a straightening of the line exercise.

Still plenty of reinforcements moving east however…. Inc. aircraft

After a long reinforcement segment, the bombardments start…as do the usual results. A Marine unit evaporates

Axis forces moving into position south of the coast road

Turn 190
11th July 1942

The Axis turn wasn't too bad but I lost a shed load of artillery pieces once again.

Major problems now are:

- 1st South Africans are reorganising - which means I am limited in attacks
- My only fresh troops - Kiwis and Aussies - were seriously mauled over the last two turns
- Half the army are in 'Red' supply.
- No less than 11 squadrons are reorganising (I haven't checked the state of the others yet).

If you read my CFNA article, you'll know that I consider turn 190 to be the "jig is up" turn for the Axis. Meaning that if he hasn't won by then, then he never will. From this point, the force ratios just become overwhelming for the CW. Of course, that probably assumed that O'Connor's Raid had been fully completed. Nevertheless, reaching this point is a good sign.

Turn 190
11th July 1942

Sadly another pretty dismal turn for the CW. I made up a couple of hexes but the cost of each hex is just unsustainable.

ORIGINAL: Curtis Lemay

If you read my CFNA article, you'll know that I consider turn 190 to be the "jig is up" turn for the Axis. Meaning that if he hasn't won by then, then he never will. From this point, the force ratios just become overwhelming for the CW. Of course, that probably assumed that O'Connor's Raid had been fully completed. Nevertheless, reaching this point is a good sign.

warspite1

devoncop might not win - but he sure as hell won't lose either based on what is happening.

What would a decisive victory have been for Rommel historically? I'd say that if he had secured all ports on the North African coast, and had fully interdicted the Suez canal, that would have been it. The British would have fought on in the Middle East but Rommel would have done all that could possibly be expected from him, in anyone's wildest dreams.

Will you give your assessment once finished? I would be more interested in your opinion of the game then the scenario after you have this battle under your belt

ORIGINAL: Zap

Will you give your assessment once finished? I would be more interested in your opinion of the game then the scenario after you have this battle under your belt

warspite1

Yes I will - both the game and the scenario.

ORIGINAL: 700851McCall

What would a decisive victory have been for Rommel historically? I'd say that if he had secured all ports on the North African coast, and had fully interdicted the Suez canal, that would have been it. The British would have fought on in the Middle East but Rommel would have done all that could possibly be expected from him, in anyone's wildest dreams.

warspite1

The fact was, in my opinion, he could not achieve a decisive victory - and that was not what he was tasked with. His role - at least initially - was to shore up the Italians and stop the loss of North Africa. He chose to ignore those orders and everyone got carried away with the prospect of conquering Egypt. This became a drain on resources the Germans could not afford.

Why couldn't he achieve a decisive victory? The war in Europe was to be decided in the east. Even if Rommel had kicked the British out of Egypt and interdicted Suez - then what?

It was recognised pre-war that if Italy were the enemy then the Mediterranean would be closed to through traffic. Suez would assume less importance and the Cape would have to take up the strain. That is what happened - especially after the entry of the Luftwaffe. In such a scenario the British would fight on from East Africa/Middle East.

Perversely the loss of the Med, while a blow from a morale and prestige viewpoint, would actually have saved the RN a lot of losses that were incurred in trying to keep Malta in the war. The loss of oil would not have made that much difference - and would be unusable to the Axis.

An unknown is what effect would this have on Turkey? But if Rommel didn't achieve victory in Egypt until 1942, it was probably too late for the Turks to think the war in the east was a foregone conclusion and so risk entry.

Victory in Egypt would not have freed up large numbers of Axis troops either as the British and the Commonwealth would fight on and Rommel would have an ever expanding front line. India would assume an ever more important role as a base and no doubt the US would increase their commitment there accordingly.

Victory for Rommel should be measured in terms of how much time, resources, and blood the Allies had to commit to North Africa. As you say, he could not achieve decisive results in a secondary theater.

Turn 191 - Axis Turn (in real time)
15th July 1942

The turn starts ominously with German artillery from the 15th Panzer and 90th Light Divisions moving up to the front

Oh and panzer battalions too – presumably these have been on R+R and now, suitably refreshed, have come back to taunt me.

There is then a load of reinforcement moves out of and through the Jebel – seemingly mostly Italian units but a lot of invisible moves too so could be anyone. There are still a lot of units coming from Tripolitania

The bombardments start – liberally spread over the front – and then more artillery, Italian this time, position themselves on the coastal plain.
More aircraft swapping takes place

Then the bombardments recommence

More artillery seems to be moving away from the southern sector

11 bombardments in total - and huge losses to CW artillery which I'll look at in more detail shortly.

Turn 191
15th July 1942

The victory conditions continues to move in devoncops favour. Those artillery losses are huge; its the same old story. The amount of artillery available to the Axis is incredible. I don't have the range to get at them and am just taken apart by counter-battery fire if I do.

Maybe I should try aircraft strikes - but I knows all too well what happens to my Blenheims and Wellingtons if I do....

What artillery I have left is on 'red' and needs a rest but time is not on my side for that. I'll have a think about it but maybe I'll give air strikes a try this turn while resting my artillery....

The German recce value has been reduced by 15% this turn which is helpful.

Turn 191
15th July 1942

What a waste of a turn. But with 95% of my artillery on red, my air force shot up and my infantry and tank force seriously depleted there isn't much choice....[:(] I have little choice to but to retreat one hex east and try and rest my units....(subject to taking another bombardment beating of course)....

Turn 192 - Axis Turn and Allied Turn
18th July 1942

Mmm maybe we are both in the same boat. A lot of movement and reinforcement from devoncop last turn but no bombardments or attacks....

I am unable to do anything either. This is bad - and next turn I lose the 10th Indian Brigade - hussah!

Annoyingly I can't access the documentation as the button has greyed out [&:] so I can't check.

ORIGINAL: warspite1

Turn 192 - Axis Turn and Allied Turn
18th July 1942

Mmm maybe we are both in the same boat. A lot of movement and reinforcement from devoncop last turn but no bombardments or attacks....

I am unable to do anything either. This is bad - and next turn I lose the 10th Indian Brigade - hussah!

Annoyingly I can't access the documentation as the button has greyed out [&:] so I can't check.

Did you change your default folder? Check that it is WWII - Med.

ORIGINAL: Curtis Lemay

ORIGINAL: warspite1

Turn 192 - Axis Turn and Allied Turn
18th July 1942

Mmm maybe we are both in the same boat. A lot of movement and reinforcement from devoncop last turn but no bombardments or attacks....

I am unable to do anything either. This is bad - and next turn I lose the 10th Indian Brigade - hussah!

Annoyingly I can't access the documentation as the button has greyed out [&:] so I can't check.

Did you change your default folder? Check that it is WWII - Med.

warspite1

I haven't touched any folders.