Hi guys!
I thought that some of you would like to know about my recent playing of this scenario.
This scenario has the attractions of a combined arms Italian force against a well dug-in British force of infantry/SW/25 pounders/AC's, plus VC's that require the Brit force to take very heavy casualties without regard to Italian losses. The scenario is long enough for the Italian forces to get the job done, but under slight pressure of time. This scenario will introduce you to the most significant Italian AFV's, and the Italian force has OBA also. This is one big melee in the desert.
I played this game against my local ftf opponent, and I took the Italians. I realized at the outset that I would be pressed for time, so I took my armor force in first straight towards the Brit lines, never stopping until within 12 hex range or closer. My infantry reinforcements of turn 2 also moved quickly into the fray. In about turn 3 my surviving armor was in position to take decent shots at one of his portees. I had been trying to take out that portee with my 70mm OBA, but despite having drawn a black chit, the spotting round drifted offboard and out of sight during three consecutive prep/df phases. I finally got smart and placed the spotting round in a location where it was close to his leading portee, but could not drift offboard, and then corrected it onto the location of the portee. The portee was destroyed on the first OBA shot. Unfortunately, my mistake as the arty liason officer cost the lives of probably two or three AFV crews!
So one important tactic for the Italian is to make sure that you place arty spotting rounds where they will not drift off board. Use your OBA to take out the portees first, because the portees are very vulnerable to it, while the 25 pounders are much less vulnerable because they can be set up emplaced. The portees are a big threat to both your armor and your unarmored vehicles (except the motorcyclists). The 25 pounders have an excellent chance of killing anything they hit, but their rof is only one, and they are probably at much longer ranges than the portees. I think that overall the portees are a much greater threat than the 25 pounders. Another reason to take out the portees first is that a crafty Brit opponent may unload the AT gun from them in his first two turns while he is not so vulnerable to your approaching forces, and once unloaded the AT gun is much less vulnerable to destruction by your arty. IMHO the portees should be unloaded ASAP.
As the Italians, plan on taking something like at least 50% casualties. In my playing of this scenario, I lost about half of my infantry, 80-90 percent of my AFV's, and most of my trucks to immobilization (despite consistently paying double MP costs in hammada accessible hexes). Use your arty to take out the portees, then switch targets to either the 25 pounders or a big stack of infantry. Move forward quickly, but not too recklessly. There is time enough to get the casualty VP needed to win, but not excess time for the Italians. Your infantry force is very mobile, and should be used to overcome strong points of Brit infantry resistance. One definite tactic for the Italians to employ is to get some armor behind his infantry forces to prevent his infantry from routing. I however was not able to do this in my playing.
As for the British tactics, first and foremost set up the portees where they will have good LOS's, and unload them quickly. In the course of the scenario they will surely die, but hopefully they will take a lot of Italian vehicles with them. Target the M13/40's first, they are by far the best of the Italian AFV's. The second best target is probably the unarmored vehicles, notably the heavy trucks and the autocannons. Use your atr's to shoot at unarmored vehicles, with L3's and side shots at M11/39's as your second priority targets. Your infantry, MG's, and mortars should target trucks and infantry stacks. Concentrate on taking out his mobility as much as possible, for there is not enough time for the Italian infantry to get into the action on foot. Use your AC's to take out unarmored vehicles, but if the Italian AFV's draw near, it is definitely time for the AC's to run away. All told the AC's and crews are worth 15 CVP, which is about 33% of the British OB total CVP (not including any infantry taken prisoner), and if the Brit AC's can successfully disengage, the Italian will be hard pressed to get the required CVP's by games end. The Brit infantry should set up exclusively behind sand dunes. The reason for that is that the dunes are the only terrain that you can rout away from and get out of Italian LOS to prevent staying at DM for the rest of the game once you break. The dunes are also excellent terrain for cover if in a foxhole. Overruns versus a sand/sand-dune/foxhole are very risky, the Italian 70mm OBA is largely ineffective, and direct fire HE attacks are also marginally effective. Plus the location of the two dunes allows you to cover the entire width of the boards with atr, MG, mortar, and some infantry fire. Make a priority target out of any Italian unit that will prevent you from routing out of the dune locations.
All in all an excellent scenario, and a rare combined arms force for the Italians. The only thing that they don't have in their OB is air support! The Brits get to have fun destroying lots of Italians moving in the open, and get plenty of opportunity for long range direct fire shots as well. I have some trouble rating the play balance of this one. I was able to beat my less experienced Brit opponent easily and a full turn ahead of the end of the game, but had he employed the British tactics that I have mentioned, I think that the Brits definitely have at least a 45% (and perhaps up to a 60%) chance of winning. The win-loss record currently rates this one as fairly even, but with too few playings for any definite statement to be made regarding play balance. I would have to play this one again as the Brits to make a better guesstimate of play balance.
If you have some desert scenario experience, and own hollow legions, I highly recommend this scenario.
Mike Clay