Scenario 6 - The Gazala Line
I had 401 prestige to work with so I thought long and hard about my needs. I really wanted to overstrength some of my half-units to get them closer to an effective fighting force. So I did that. I also wanted a second recon, so I grabbed the cheapest one available with tracks. An sdkfz 250/1 just became available - the same as Rommel (who had the prototype, clearly). I grabbed one - 5 strength of course. I also purchased a cheap arty - 15cm sFH in a truck. Then Overstrengthed some infantry and the StuG.
Deployment: There are three deployment zones on the west side of the map and a long minefield is visible just east of the north to central line. There is also a small minefield visible in the deep south near the first objective (Bir Hacheim). It was pretty safe to assume there were mines the whole way down. So when I deployed, I tried to make sure there was an available engineer in all parts of the line. The north would be tricky because there were no deploy opportunities up there. I'd have to travel a bit, assuming there were no fires to put out in the center. I placed a mixed force in the center along with my understrength engineer. Our only airfield was in the deep south.
Turn 1: The situation was a bit of a mystery, so I did my best with available scout cars and infantry to understand where the holes were. With initial infantry movement, I could tell the north was going to be a problem, so I moved some of my central forces north to support them (this included artillery and flak). I used tanks to plug big gaping holes in the minefield to both set up for flanking and prevent enemy flanking moves. I attacked one infantry in the south, eliminating him with combined fire and (luckily) not taking any damage from their 3 arty in support (all 25 pdrs). I also removed a few mines where I had the opportunity. (note: These mines must be removed by entering the hex and typing the "9" key. You can't attack them). I sent my aux scout plane to the center and discovered a large armored strike force, so I sent the airforce there for their enjoyment, ensuring that every tank had a bomber to play with and every bomber had a fighter buddy looking out for him.
Turn 2: The British armored group in the center retreated, but the attacks in the far north and deep south were very effective. I diverted my italian bombers south to help deal with their forest of artillery and cleared some more mines. I also snuck my StuG in for a 2 range shot on the Matilda. A valentine (think matilda-light with 12 armor instead of 14) pushed into my lines as well. The rest of the centrally deployed plans worked on trying to kill that scout that was running with their armored group. Rommel scouted the center and found wide open flanking room to hit the southern artillery group, so I committed my armor and infantry in the center to do just that. I began that wide flank to hit the south hard, leaving the artillery, AA and italian infantry behind to slow down the enemy armor if they decided to come back. I held my PzIVH, overstrength Italian M13/40 and a SEM in reserve just in case the center found themselves under an aggressive attack.
Turn 3: It was worse. The north attacked again and pushed my weak auxiliary line back and at the same time the British armored group re-initiated their attack knocking my Pz38t down to 2. While thinking about where to commit my reserves, I began the flank attack on the southern artillery. The bombers and fighters destroyed one 25 pdr and knocked another to half strength. Then the panzers arrived, led by Rommel and busted up the other two - running them out of ammo. The valentine penetrated my line so I had a bit of a problem there too. I withdrew my StuG and kicked off a response using combined attacks to eliminate it. In the north I noticed they had overcommitted their 18 pdr arty, so I clobbered it with my infantry. But they had a backup that barked in response (of course). I still managed to reduce it by 7. So the north was still holding with help from my core arty, the center was tentative, but prepared, and the south was very close to wrapping up and driving aggressively toward the eastern objectives.
Turn 4: Both of my scouts got pounded hard (down to 1 str) and aux infantry started disappearing in the north and center. My stuka crushed another southern artillery and it was time to move on Bir Hacheim. My PzIIIH overran 3 units behind the city, clearing a path for Rommel to escape behind my southern line. I bombed Bir Hacheim directly and began the attack. My first infantry strike pushed them out of the city and allowed a capture. I snuck my StuG in and put two points of damage on the Matilda. Then dropped a bunch of infantry in to surround the matilda while cleaning up the remaining units around the fallen city. I spotted a Daimler in the center with infantry and rushed my two tanks in to bully it. To my surprise it went down hard knocking out the center armored group's eyes. Since the south was cleared up I committed my southern artillery to the center.
Turn 5: The Brits pushed hard again in the north and center, creating more aux casualties - mostly infantry. I started considering building an airfield with my engineers somewhere near the center because the closest airfield objective was about 25 hexes east of my line. First I wrapped up the south, starting with 2-ranges strikes on the Matilda with StuG and 8.8. This forced her to retreat right into my 5Pak38 which finished the job. I diverted the entire airforce to the center with the intention of moving north right after that. I tore up an enemy scout in the center and moved in additional units to finish him next turn if he didn't go into full retreat. I also committed my reserve armor to beating on the British Armored division in the center - destroying a Cruiser and surrounding the Matilda. This allowed me to advance the center artillery team. I had two elite Bersaglieri there to support, so I felt pretty confident. Then I looked north and frowned. The infantry was thinning and my arty was bearly able to keep their supply up. I dove in head first with my aux elite infanterie and blasted the arty with overwhelming attack. It worked like a charm despite huge support fire. And no casualties. I thought again about that airfield. It would really make a difference, so I tried it. I selected my engineer and hit "5". Hopefully he wouldn't be interrupted. Hopefully it was worth it.
Turn 6: Some tentative arty strikes in the north didn't do much, but I had to retreat my elite infantry to resupply. The Daimler in the center did not retreat so I blew him away with my 8.8. That left one. The airforce continued their reign of terror as they moved north, casually busting up a bunch of infantry that might be thinking about disturbing my engineers as they build their airfield. Then I picked apart the surrounded matilda in the center with combined units. Afte some repositioning in center and north, all southern units resupplied for the big drive.
Turn 7: I completed the airfield and then the RAF showed up to congratulate me - strafing and bombing my center forces - almost destroying my lead PzIVH. They also surrounded one of my Italian bombers, blocking his escape. They came in with a pair of spits, a pair of Beaufighters and a Bulldog. I captured Bir el Harmat, the first center objective - destroying the matilda sitting in the city. I drove my southern force at full speed toward Bir el Gubi, diverting some to the center to assist.
Turn 8: Devastating RAF attack in the center. They destroyed my new 15cm artillery. <sigh> and really banged up my elite 10.5cm arty to the point where I needed to retreat him. The north held very well but when I sent my scout plane up there, I spotted a 7 str Matilda moving in from the east. That could be devastating to my faltering infantry line. I sent my bombers north and inflicted massive damage to their remaining artillery. I also managed to scout Gazala, finally. They had a 12 str infantry, deeply entrenched. So I moved my artillery up to prepare for the offensive. I'd also need some tanks or AT to help defend against that monster moving in slowly from the East. Nothing was close enough, so I'd have to rely on air. In the center, things were basically under control (nasty air attack aside) also the spits decided to strafe ground targets rather than destroy my doomed italian bomber, so I retreated it towards the southern airfield.
I sent my aux tank to Knightsbridge (the 2nd central obective) and spotted a bunker so I repositioned my arty to start lobbing volleys there next turn.
Turn 9: The spit managed to pinpoint my retreating arty behind the lines and strafe it. Fortunately it survived. Now I was wondering where the radar station was. I started running it south to try to get it under cover of my air defense, but remained worried. I risked sending my scout plane further east and discovered two more tanks on the north road, moving toward Gazala. Matilda and Valentine. The fun never ends! Fortunately they are slow. I drove my southern force right to the doorstep of Bir el Gubi and found an entrenched infantry there as expected. I had no arty yet, but my engineers were in place. I decided to divert my aux SEM in that direction (thank you, Italy!). My engineers destroyed the bunker at Knightsbridge and I moved an aux infantry there to hold it. That left only Rigel Ridge in the center about 5 hexes north. I decided to take a chance on assaulting Gazala but it failed to a rugged defense. Time was of the essence here because of the armor moving west. I did have my 3 arty in position to hit it next turn. I had some prestige to work with (and an Italian supply hex in the center) so I purchased a cheap Italian AA gun (37mm) to help defend my weak units that were being harassed by spitfires. I hoped it was enough. I also purchased a motorized german AA (SdkFz 7/1) in the deep south to assist other scattered units. If that spit showed up, he'd have a nasty surprise on his hands. That german gun sported a 14 air attack.
Turn 10: A valentine showed up in the center and spotted my ME109. The spit flew in with his last shot and destroyed it. I vowed revenge and sent my aux 109 south with the intent of terminating him. He disappeared in a glorious ball of fire. My troops scored big damage in Bir el Gubi (south east objective) but didn't dislodge the infantry. So I moved my 8.8 in to two range to act as a make-shift arty next turn. I placed my pak gun on the road running north of that city to protect against incoming...anything. I cleaned up the attacking units around Knightsbridge and drove on to Rigel Ridge. Strangely, none of the armor in the north was moving, so I attacked Gazala with artillery and a pair of bombers, then captured the city with my aux infantry. I then moved all my arty up behind the city, partially protected by the minefield the enemy left behind for me. They still had a live infantry up there, but he was at 2 strength and I figured i'd weather it. At this point I began to question my ability to capture the remaining 7 VH's. But I did have 18 turns left, but my forces were thinning out.
Turn 11: More brutal air attacks in the center, another lost aux unit. Putting air and artillery to good use, I destroyed three enemy infantry around Gazala. I felt like I finally had some breathing room up there. The armor still hadn't moved from their positions on the north road and I had no intention of poking that hornet's nest. I managed to spot a Matilda sitting on a north-center objective called Point 209. I reloaded my stuG and started moving him in that direction with supporting infantry. I hoped it would be enough. I inched forward to attack Rigel Ridge and it was vacant, so I drove a truck into it for the capture. Yay! I captured Bir el Gubi using my "fake" 8.8 artillery and engineers. I drove my tank to the nearby airbase and it was also vacant, so I boxed up the engineers and grabbed it. I now had 518 pp so I decided to buy a hot-ass fighter. Browsing my options, I considered a FW190a, but that was 504 pp. hmm. I opted for the ME-109G instead. I deployed him in the southeast airfield I had just captured.
Turn 12: The RAF found my hastily constructed airfield and began to bomb its defenders. Two aux units and my new italian AA fell to aircraft fire. They also attacked my italian bomber that just reloaded, but the damage was minimal, so I sent it out to Point 209 to bomb the matilda, with the italian fighter for cover. Fortunately for my center group, Rigel Ridge consisted of a long ridge and rough zone that allowed my entire center group to resupply gracefully. I did so and carefully moved an advance group toward Acroma, the next stop on my road to conquest. My southern group, with Rommel in the lead discovered another large swath of rough terrain south of el Adem, which was their next objective. I had five objectives left and 16 turns, but only 5 for a BV - this was not happening today. And if history was any indication, Tobruk promised to be a beast.
Turn 13: A valentine and Matilda showed up at the doorstep of my constructed airstrip and crushed some aux infantry. I expect they came in (finally) from the north road after Gazala fell. The spit remained there, spotting I guess, so I shot it with my 8.8 and flew the aux 109 in to finish it. That left 1 more spit and a pair of Beaufighters. I was feeling better about the situation in the air, but I may need to abandon my constructed airfield. Things were getting very hot down there. I bombed point 209 and sent my StuG in for a 2 range attack, which was foiled by defensive artillery at extreme range. I was able to cobble together a small force around Gazala, so I decided to start taking the fight to them in the north. Long range artillery wiped out an AT gun and I began to move east. I moved my forward Bersaglieri to the threshold of Acroma and found an understrength AT. With artillery fire and infantry I wiped it out. Then drove a truck in to capture. Seemed too easy. I sent my understrength Italian fighter towards el Adem, and he was stopped by a Bulldog TB, I sent my new fighter to take him out and cover the bomber, then sent my stuka to join them. They would weaken el Adem next turn.
Turn 14: In the northeast, I wiped out another hostile infantry and inched east. My two fighters carved up the Beaufighter sitting near my airfield and he remained with 3 pips and no ammo. I split my bombers and hit rigel ridge as well as el adem. There were a pair of infantry holding the city. My stuG managed to reduce the matilda to 4 points. My secondary scout spotted two bunkers about 6 hexes out from Tobruk so I took an artillery pot shot at one of them. I had a pretty sizeable force fueling up at Acroma that would move in next turn.
Turn 15: The matilda and valentine found destroyed my 8.8 (it was in the wagon) so I retreated my engineers toward Point 209, which was falling rapidly. I had one lone Fanteria defending the constructed airfield, but no attackers in sight in that zone. I bombed Point 209 and fired with my StuG - dislodging the Matilda. There was a Valentine very close giving support, so I stepped my italian infantry in to (hopefully) hold it, while the newly minted ME109G sipped in to destroy what was left of the matilda. This whole situation swirling around Point 209 was very tenuous. I was holding the hill with a 9 strength fanteria and a Valentine right on his doorstep. My StuG was using stand-off fire from 2 range to knock down the armor with a big italian arty in support. I had two german infantry nearby (one a core engineer). All my units were on the east side. On the west was a pair of british guns (25 and 18 pdrs), A valentine and matilda behind them (would take two turns for them to arrive) and another Matilda moving in from north east. I needed support down there quick - so I decided to commit (carefully) my units from Gazala which consisted of 4 artillery, a fanteria, and (maybe) an elite German infanterie (who took Gazala. I was reluctant to send him too far because I felt Gazala still warranted a garrison. I also knew there was an 18 pdr and british infantry in their way (sitting between Gazala and Point 209). Watching this play out was probably the most exciting point in the entire battle as it could tip either way. I scouted just a bit more in the north east and found a machinegun nest blocking the road with an 8 range observation tower right next to it. My southern units began the attack on el Adem with support from the stuka. There was an airfield very close, but i had nothing in range to capture it yet (or even scout it) so I hoped I could do something to grab it before my stuka ran out of ammo. I decided to scout it from the outskirts with my stuka after the bombing run and discoverd it was held by 3 units. two infantry and arty set up to receive an attack from the west. This may be an opportunity given my southern auxilaries had finally caught up with the main force. I moved my forces out of Acroma, with the intent of hitting the Observation tower next turn.
Turn 16: I was now past BV territory. The western valentine continued west and attacked my lone infantry and was foiled by defensive artillery. It ws joined by the British infantry which also failed. I sent a large barrage in response and destroyed the infantry. Neither matilda moved. So I continued to attack the valentine near Point 209, scoring minor damage. A fortification near the observation tower reared its ugly head and caused some damage to my infantry with machine gun fire. My italian bomber flew towards el adem and found the Beaufighter the hard way, taking another point of damage. I fired on the Beaufighter with a nearby Me109 but no joy. Rommel drove north while his forces started attacking el Adem. He spotted the airfield south of Tobruk, guarded by 3 large bunkers. The airfield itself had a British infantry, entrenched. That airfield was an objective. The British Home Guards were putting up a vicious defense in el Adem, but we managed to wear him down to 5 pips. I would have given my hind teeth for another bomber or arty. So I moved my 8.8 to act as 'fake arty' next turn. I sent the Italian bomber to rough up the Observation tower (very successful) and the aux infantry destroyed it. Further combined attacks at Point 209 ended the threat of the Valentine and granted the stuG a leader (First Strike). My pzIIIH reduced the artillery at the center airfield to 1 and my ME109G aced another Beaufighter. That left 1 flying near Tobruk. My fake artillery pushed the HOme Guard out of el Adem and my infanterie walked in for the capture. Then the rest of my aux infantry arrived to support the PzIII at the airfield. My infantry force from Acroma started wiping out bunkers and nests and found another Observation Tower but they were, very quickly creating a wide open path to Tobruk and its airfield. And somehow, my make-shift airfield remained intact.
Turn 17: My two fighters doubled up on the beaufighter and reduced it to 2. My infantry blew away the remaining fortifications and the road was wide open to Tobruk. But there was a 25 pdr behind it, barking every chance it got. The el Adem airfield was proving to be a tougher nut than I expected so I sent my aircraft south for supply. There were only two objectives left. Tobruk and its airfield, and we were closing in with a very strong infantry force. It seemed the matilda on the north road was on the move, so I hightailed it back to Gazala and placed an arty behind me.
Turn 18: The single arty behind Tobruk multiplied to three and they hastily build 2 more infantry. We were in for a fight! We downed the Beaufighter and started sending bombers to Tobruk. My PzIIIH scored another triple overrun and took the el Adem airfield. Ran all available units toward Tobruk.
Turn 19-21: Captured the Tobruk airfield and moved my lead infantry to the foot of Tobruk.
Turn 22: Captured Tobruk with a surgical strike, I bombed Tobruk and all the artillery around it, used my aux infantry to run them out of ammo. Artilleried Tobruk and then attacked with my lead infantry and moved it in for the win.
Turn 22 Victory. That was a VERY tough battle and quite long. I'd love to hear suggestions on how to do it better if anyone decides to give it a go!
After Action:
OpenGen 0.93.4.0 * 25 Dec 2020 * AI version: Default (0.91)
Efile folder: C:\Games\OG\efile_olgww2\ * Efile version: Open LGWW2 v2.26 Apr.2013
Campaign: Deutsches Afrika-Korps, * Player prestige modifier 200% * AI prestige modifier 100%
Played Scenarios:
1 Beda Fomm - Benghazi , #0 , Brilliant Victory +++ Proto: IkH 290(r)
2 Halfaya Pass & Sollum Battle , #1 , Brilliant Victory
3 Operation Crusader , #2 , Brilliant Victory +++ Proto: 28/32 NbWf41
4 Mersa el Brega 1942 , #3 , Brilliant Victory +++ Proto: StuG IIIF
5 Pursuit to Mechilli , #4 , Brilliant Victory
6 Gazala Line [Unternehmen Theseus] , #5 , Victory
..
Current scenario: Gazala Line [Unternehmen Theseus], VH prestige is 1600 , All map prestige is: 1680
Army cost: 4032 , Current prestige is 1102
Prestige available on map yet is 0 pp ( 0 pp in VH to capture) * Turn: 22
AI stance is Defensive Using map: 141
if BV: +100, Mersa Matruh , cap 2100, 16 turns prestige: 320
if V : +90, Mersa Matruh , cap 2100, 23 turns prestige: 460
if TV: +70, Mersa Matruh , cap 2100, 28 turns prestige: 560
Ls: Loss , turn prestige: 560
Infantry
Sturmpioniere , Büssing-NAG 4500 , , 3 bars , 360 exp , Germany , 7/10 , Aggressive Attack , 9 kill , 516 pp - U:006
Infanterie , Kfz.70 , , 1 bars , 198 exp , Germany , 10/10 , 3 kill , 216 pp - U:007
Sturmpioniere , SdKfz 251/1 , , 1 bars , 192 exp , Germany , 5/5 , 0 kill , 288 pp - U:008
Infanterie , Kfz.70 , , 2 bars , 272 exp , Germany , 9/10 , 2 kill , 216 pp - U:009
Tank
Pz IIIH , , 4 bars , 413 exp , Germany , 8/10 , First Strike , 17 kill , 312 pp - U:002
Pz IVD , , 2 bars , 241 exp , Germany , 3/10 , 12 kill , 336 pp - U:003
Pz 38(t)F , , 1 bars , 195 exp , Germany , 2/5 , 2 kill , 144 pp - U:014
Recon
* GS SdKfz 250/3 , HQ/[DAK] , 5 bars , 559 exp , Germany , 2/5 , Resilience , 0 kill , 0 pp - U:001
SdKfz 250/1 , , 2 bars , 210 exp , Germany , 3/5 , 0 kill , 114 pp - U:128
Anti-tank
5 PaK38 , Pferdewagen , , 0 bars , 92 exp , Germany , 6/10 , 3 kill , 156 pp - U:005
+ 5 PaK38 , SdKfz 251/1 , , 1 bars , 155 exp , Germany , 5/5 , 4 kill , 0 pp - U:013
3.7 PaK36 , Maulesel , , 1 bars , 115 exp , Germany , 5/5 , 0 kill , 66 pp - U:015
+ StuG IIIF , , 3 bars , 310 exp , Germany , 5/5 , First Strike , 3 kill , 0 pp - U:018
Artillery
10.5 leFH18 , Opel Blitz , , 5 bars , 615 exp , Germany , 10/10 , Overwhelming Attack , 6 kill , 336 pp - U:010
10.5 leFH18 , Opel Blitz , , 2 bars , 291 exp , Germany , 3/10 , Aggressive Attack , 1 kill , 336 pp - U:011
Air Defense
2 FlaKv38 , Pferdewagen , , 2 bars , 201 exp , Germany , 5/5 , 0 kill , 66 pp - U:017
SdKfz 7/1 , , 2 bars , 200 exp , Germany , 5/5 , 0 kill , 144 pp - U:020
Fighter
Me-109G-2 , , 2 bars , 225 exp , Germany , 3/5 , 3 kill , 354 pp - U:016
Tact. Bomber, Fighter-Bomber
Ju-87B-1 , , 5 bars , 573 exp , Germany , 10/10 , Resilience , 4 kill , 432 pp - U:012
Player 1 : Germany, Italy
Killed: INF:41 TNK:23 RCN:10 AT:8 FORT:11 ATY:24 AD:3 FTR:4 TB:8 Total: 132
Lost : INF:16 TNK:2 AT:6 ATY:6 AD:3 FTR:1 TB:1 Total: 35
BV 5
V 1
TV 0
L 0
Averages:
Infantry * 4 Units * 1 Leaders Total : 1022 exp, 14 kill, 1236 pp Average: 256 exp, 4 kill, 309 pp
Tank * 3 Units * 1 Leaders Total : 849 exp, 31 kill, 792 pp Average: 283 exp, 10 kill, 264 pp
Recon * 2 Units * 1 Leaders Total : 769 exp, 0 kill, 114 pp Average: 385 exp, 0 kill, 57 pp
Anti-tank * 4 Units * 1 Leaders Total : 672 exp, 10 kill, 222 pp Average: 168 exp, 3 kill, 56 pp
Artillery * 2 Units * 2 Leaders Total : 906 exp, 7 kill, 672 pp Average: 453 exp, 4 kill, 336 pp
Air Defense * 2 Units * 0 Leaders Total : 401 exp, 0 kill, 210 pp Average: 201 exp, 0 kill, 105 pp
Fighter * 1 Units * 0 Leaders Total : 225 exp, 3 kill, 354 pp Average: 225 exp, 3 kill, 354 pp
Tact. Bomber, Fighter-Bomber * 1 Units * 1 Leaders Total : 573 exp, 4 kill, 432 pp Average: 573 exp, 4 kill, 432 pp
* Summary: * 19 Units * 7 Leaders Total : 5417 exp, 69 kill, 4032 pp Average: 285 exp, 4 kill, 212 pp
Player 1 Germany, Italy has 43 units total (core+aux):
Infantry : 14
Tank : 4
Recon : 2
Anti-tank : 5
Artillery : 8
Air Defense : 3
Fighter : 3
Tact. Bomber, Fighter-Bomber : 4
Player 2 United Kingdom, Free France, India, Australia, South Africa has 16 units total (core+aux):
Infantry : 5
Tank : 4
Anti-tank : 1
Fortification : 4
Artillery : 2
* <- original core (don't count against cap)
+ <- BV prototype
pp <- prestige points
and followed up with an attack on my PzIV, while their artillery battered my pionieres. I trudged on for the pass. I sent my airforce and the Italians after the infantry in the pass and their 3 supporting 25 pdrs. Scoring several hits. Then I hammered the pass with my 10.5's. I used my AT's to attack the matilda and draw fire from the artillery in an attempt to run them out of ammo. This allowed my pionieres and surviving PzIIIH to push the Brits out of the pass. Then I surrounded the matilda near the fort with armor and infantry - eventually running him out of ammo. The pass remained vacant as it was too hot to capture immediately. I noticed my IkH was in range of the now empty matilda and I ran him south in his transport and gunned him down, forcing a retreat/surrender. That left one lightly wounded matilda, low on ammo and almost surrounded. All of their artillery was now empty and the airforce was choking their supply on all but one. Things were looking good.
John, you have already lost some of your 10/10 strength core units - why don't you repeat the turn to avoid this? I think you will have problems later in the campaign if you are only commanding 5/5 units.
Special props to the aux italian tank (the overrun master) who ended the scenario with 12 kills and no love from the high command.
This is not correct. The high command never lies 
It was still a long haul to the Alexandria supply line, but I was pretty sure I could make it.
