In the early morning hours of April 23, 1943, British forces of the Grenadier Guards, 1st Guards Brigade advanced along a road leading to the town of Grich el Oued. Two Churchill VII platoons were east of the road, while 3-inch mortar units were advanced on Bren carriers along with 4 infantry units emerging from the woods. One additional British infantry unit was situated on the rocky ground west of the 20-meter hill. The Axis forces were comprised of a combination of former Vichy French, now referred to as “Phalange Afrique” platoons, and elements of the 334th German Infantry Division. The Phalange Afrique infantry were dug in both on the southwest 20-meter hill and east of the road 800 meters south of town. All remaining Axis units were in Grich el Oued under the direction of Lt. Gruyere. British units moved slowly north at 0300 hours, and the Axis infantry near the road retreated toward town. By 0400 hours, all of the Axis units had were located in town except for the infantry on the west central 20-meter hill. By 0415, the British had the town surrounded on three sides, and were assaulting the 60mm and NW41 units in the northeast sector of the town. The German captain and Lt. Gruyere were both KIA by 0445 hours, and the entire town was under British assault. The British had control of the northeast sector of town by 0530, but could not dislodge Axis units from the south and northwest sectors until 0700 hours resulting in the Axis claiming a minor victory.

This is a short scenario with a lot of tactics in it due to the limited sight range for much of the scenario. The basic objective for the British is control of the town, and the sooner the better. In this case, the Axis troops showed remarkable resistance in avoiding elimination in the town hexes despite some serious assault odds to the contrary. It took five turns to dislodge a single NW41 unit, and nine to clear the HMG from the northwest part of town. One British unit had moved to the north of town to tie up a returning Axis infantry unit so that the HMG could not be reinforced. The British finally cleared the town on Turn 17 when a DM HMG unit finally had to flee, holding the Axis to a minor victory. The key for the Axis is to slow the British advance with spotting for the NW41 and 60mm units, while regrouping to put the greatest strength in the town itself. Then it’s a question of endurance. In this scenario play, the British only lost two steps to the Axis loss of eight, and they had multiple action segments to open 11 of the 17 turns played.