Scenario 10, Le Campaigne Tunisie:

The background : This is a neat situation, with an odd assortment of Allies on the defense against Germans that bring halftracks, Panzers and Tigers (!!) to the party. The key is the three road junctions on the map, which are the primary objective for the Germans. The Allies saving grace is that is almost dusk, so if they can hold out they might be able to wear down the bad guys with some late assaults.

Setup: All three crossroads are in the open, so I placed most of the Allies in nearby cover. The main defense line I placed in the woods just south of the crossroads in the middle of the map, with the Moroccans in the town to the northeast, the Brits in the woods northwest of the middle crossroads, and the 75s in the town to the southeast. The American task force—Stuarts and M3/75s—start behind the woods to the west, out of sight.

Summary: The Germans come in from the north, with the main attack moving down the east side of the map, while the mountain troops take the village in the northwest. Right away the Allies score a coup, as the Morrocans rush forward and get the jump on a SPW251, destroying it along with the INF and Major on board. The Major was the ranking officer, so all other German officers take a morale check, which they all pass, but the German advance gets thrown out of whack. For a bit.

The Germans reorganize, take out half the Moroccans and shove the others out of the way. The tanks zoom south, with the Tiger covering the advance on the middle crossroads and the Panzers hooking around to take the crossroads to the south. With night falling, the Americans move forward and take on the Panzers. They take out a step, but the Germans are too much and eventually only a step of M3/75s remain.

Meanwhile the drive on the middle crossroads grinds on. The French in the woods rush forward and plant themselves on the crossroads, but they are assaulted by a force consisting of the Tiger, the SK 10/4 and infantry. The French keep feeding in reinforcements but the Germans steadily knock them down.

Finally, on turn 13, with the Germans holding all three crossroads and losses getting out of control, the Allies pack it in and withdraw west.

Comments: This was a surprisingly intense battle, with a lot of close fighting and high losses. While Tigers vs Stuarts makes this one look like a mismatch, I can see a path for the Allies to pull it out. The Morrocans bashing the Germans as soon as they got on the board worked well, and the US group maneuvered well but got mauled anyway due to poor rolls. Play this one 10 times and the Nazis probably win 8 or 9, the Allies have a puncher’s chance. Fun game.