La Campaigne de Tunisie Scenario 11: The Seven Horrors of War

The Situation: It’s Franco-American armor against Italian guns in this small scenario. No geographic objectives in this one, taking out the other guy’s steps is the only objective.

Setup: The Italian force sets up first, with some 75s, a 100mm, some 47mm AT with Bersligieri, a motorcycle platoon and a AB41 backing them up. They also get some entrenchments, mines and wire. Seems formidable! But this is a two board map, so I concentrate them in two groups. The artillery and BERS set up shop on a slope in the upper middle of the map, with the troops entrenched in front of the guns. The 47mm ATs set up in a rocky patch about 8 hexes south, with minefields in front. The MTC and AB41 form a mobile reserve, hidden out of sight behind a hill. The idea is to make the open area in front and between these positions impassible to mechanized forces.

Recap: The Allies enter from the west in two groups. The armor, French S35s accompanied by American M3/75s, M3 Scout Cars and some Jeeps with 50 cals head for the artillery while the US Infantry company takes on the 47s. The Italians are badly restricted by the victory conditions, which only involve step losses. Thus they cannot base their defense around a specific objective. That, combined with 16 turns straddling dusk, gives the Allies and their mobility tons of options. In this case the northern force moves around the IT position to the north, with the Jeeps swinging all the way to the rear, the S35s moving up the reverse slope out of sight, and the main US force keeping the BERS occupied while staying out of range of the Italian guns.

After sunset they move in, with the Jeeps demoralizing a 75, which is eliminated on a recovery attempt, while the S35s get the drop on the 100mm and knock it out. The last remaining 75 gets off a couple shots at the S35s before being taken out. The Italian force was essentially frozen; if they tried to pack up and move the trucks would get caught in the open and the BERS would lose their trenches. So they stood and fought, but the dice were against them.

The battle to the south was less eventful. The GIs battled the mobile reserve and 47s to no effect, with the two sides swapping DMs and disruptions but nothing else.

By turn 14 the Allies have taken out 3 steps, enough for the minor win, but the additional 3 required for the major win will not be easy to get. So they fall back and take the minor victory. They also got out without a scratch. Final score 3-0 Allies.

Analysis: This was a fun textbook encounter between a mobile attacker vs a defender in a fixed position. Again, I feel the victory conditions make this one very tough for Italy; if the Allies had to take a hill or clear the road it would have been much harder. As it stands it’s pretty easy pickings for the French and Americans, as they have a lot of time and real estate to play with and can set up a coordinated attack. A good solitaire game.