The Australians were entrenched in a good position behind an AT ditch. The problem was, German tanks got through in two places, creating a huge problem for the Australians. They had done well I opfire on the advancing German infantry though, and proved extraordinarily resilient in assault combat. The Germans quickly lost 3 steps of infAntry and the attack stalled. British armor finally made it on in turn 6. They got a step loss on the Pzr IIs, before all armor withdrew on turn 8. The Germans controlled two entrenchments, but lost 6 steps, draw.

J’avais envie de voir apparaître l’Afrika Korps. Sur un tout petit périmètre, les allemands avec pas mal de chars attaquent les fortifications de Tobrouk. Pour tester les défenses, semble-t-il. Eh bien, victoire pour l’Afrika Korps, au dernier tour, après pas mal de péripéties. Par exemple, des chars anglais arrivent en renfort à un moment, et sont éliminés en un tour : les chars allemands et italiens arrivent à faire trois onze de suite en une activation ! Puis, un tour avant la fin, les chars allemands doivent se retirer suite à une règle spéciale du scénario. La victoire se joue au dernier tour : il reste une demi-section d’infanterie australienne, démoralisée, dans un entrenchment. Le dernier assaut allemand l’élimine et permet de remporter la victoire in extremis. Scénario tendu, sur un petit périmètre : comment mener une attaque coordonnée blindés-infanterie. Je ne pense pas faire Babini, il faut deux cartes, j’ai pas la place...

Some lunch time gaming with another fairly short scenario. The first few turns gave me the feeling it was going to be a pushover for the Germans and Italians. Immediately on turn 1, following the Australian artillery, the dice roll for their continued support came up a 12 for one of the 3 batteries, so I knew I would have no more than 2 the rest of the game. When I could roll for British armor to enter, again die rolls failed. Oh, but what that artillery that I did have could do. At least once, anyway, firing at the location of the German Major and a mortar. The major felt no ill effect, but the mortar element got a 1X result. First German step loss and loss of what little arty support the German side had. As German units felt their way forward into the AT ditch line, the two central hexes turned out to be completely clear of obstruction. German elements attempted to assault 3 of the entrenchments but lost 3 more steps in the 3 assaults and ended up with demoralized or disrupted leaders as well. At the end of turn 4, the Germans had lost a total of 6 steps of infantry and that initial mortar platoon, and while the German and Italian armor were moving closer to the British entrenchments, my read of the victory condition was that even if I could dislodge 2 of the entrenchments, I could no longer win as the German, and I was due for a roll allowing the British armor to enter the game, so I ended the game and gave the victory to the Australians for holding out so valiantly. Great scenario for learning and for trying different approaches for infantry to attack in the open in these desert scenarios.

I played AK 21 -Tanks this summer, it was one of the first scenarios I played from AK! The Australian came away with the victory! My German INF couldn't take one entrenchment to fill the victory conditions. They kept getting disrupted and I had bad dice throws but also the ten-turn thing was a factor for me as well. Maybe I choose the wrong area to attack or break through or may it was my inexperience? I did wipe out the British armor, off the face of the map with the German & Italian armor! That might have been my problem; I wasted too much axis armor resources in anticipation of the British armor, which really doesn't count toward victory points. Next time I play, I'll concentrate all my resources on taking the entrenchments and may save only one axis armor unit to counter their- Allied armor.

The Axis forces assaulted on their right flank trying to break the first entrenchment near the board edge. It looked good at first as they were able to disrupt the units in that entrenchment on the first turn and got a few infantry next to it for a next turn assault. But the Aussie artillery played havoc with the Axis infantry all game as well as the cross fire form the Aussie infantry and HMGs. The assault on this first position never went anywhere as the Aussies kept recovering morale. The German infantry got close to the next entrenchment just to the left but made little progress on it either. Things looked good as the German and Italian tanks moved up into firing positions but the Australians were defiant knowing the were behind the AT ditch. The Axis bad luck continued with FOW rolls ending turns 4 &5 early before the tanks could have effect and then they withdrew on turn 6! The German infantry did skirt around the Aussies' left flank and reached the rear most entrenchment. There was a furious fight there and the Australians took casualties there but held the positions.

In the end the Axis lost three steps of infantry and Lieutenant. The Australians lost a step of infantry. It was light casualties just like the historical description. A fun a quick scenario but somewhat dicey.

In this 3-session play though, Axis forces tried doing what previous players have attempted, namely; to push-in on the right flank aiming to bludgeon the garrison and capture the first entrenchment nearest the west edge of the map (Hex 1901). As an experiment, we tried playing this scenario using the dreaded Fog of War (FOW) rule. This was definitely not fun for either side and the FOW rule ended up hurting the attacking Axis units worse than the defending Australians. Both players drew very poor leaders.

The Axis got off to decent start by clearing the first entrenchment by assault on turn 3 at cost of 1 step of German infantry and several units disrupted by Allied OBA. Unluckily for the brave Australian defenders, they lost their artillery support in the 4th turn. When the Axis tried to setup an assault on he next entrenchment (Hex 1803), again the FOW rule ended the turn prematurely. Between the interlocking fire from well-sighted Aussie HMG units, very aggressive Australian counter attacks, the constant FOW interference in attack sequencing, the chore of getting across the darn AT ditch, and excellent Aliied morale recovery throws, the next entrenchment held out for 3 full turns. However bad dice kept the 2 armored elements of the British 1st Royal Tanks off the map until turn 8. Axis tanks withdrew beginning on turn 7, just after the 2nd entrenchment fell at the cost of an additional 3 steps of assaulting German infantry.

As darkness fell on the final turn, the Axis had lost 4 steps of infantry, as well as 3 Lieutenants and a Sergeant who fled the field. The Australians lost 7 steps of infantry and 2 steps of HMGs along with their Captain -- thus suffering the effects of senior leader decapitation -- as well as a pair of Lieutenants, and their only Sergeant. The Axis won this one by the skin of their teeth, with both their HMG units disrupted and 3 infantry platoons demoralized and routed in the final 4 turns. The Axis side suffered no armored losses in the few turns that these units participated. This is a relatively fast scenario to play, but both opponents agreed that between the FOW rule-shortened turns, and the unfortunate loss of tank involvement, play devolved into a infantry slug fest that felt more like a tedious chore, than the enjoyable scenario that others have described in their AARs. I rated this one as a 2. Both of us agreed that the combination of the special rules pulling units in-and-out of play and delaying entry for others; and the Allies early loss of their artillery support made this one virtually unwinnable for the defending Australian side.