One day I was reading about how effective the German 88 AA FLAK gun was in the desert so i decided to pull out a desert scenario that had the 88 in it. I picked Sidra Ridge as it seemed to be a good medium sized scenario that would fit on my smaller game table. The scenario notes do warn you that it is a difficult one for the British and the notes are correct. This was one of the attempts by the British to break out of the Cauldron; but unfortunately, it depicts one of their piecemeal attacks against the well prepared defenders by a brigade sized force of infantry and tanks.

The Germans defend along the long ridge of Desert Map 4 with infantry, tanks and ATG guns as well as some mines. They also have a better mix of artillery than the Brits. I decided to put the mines on the flanks to encourage a middle of the map attack and then defense in the middle of the ridge with dug in company packets about 5 hexes apart they each would have one of the 50mm ATG with the center one having the 88. In the middle rear I kept a reinforced PG Company mounted ready to move to and dig in behind the ridge wherever the British sent their main attack. I put two leaders forward to be OPs for artillery.

The British plan was to attack up the east edge of the map with a main attack aimed at clearing the defenders in that sector with a tanks forces supported by some infantry to do a supporting attack on the right and to protect that flank. Although that sector had mines in it there was a large enough gap to effect the attack and the mines may actually help holding the corridor.

I though the Brits would get clobbered by artillery when crossing the valley floor but they survived the artillery pretty much intact. The Germans immediately countered the flank with a tank attack that did not go well for the Germans. It soon retreated back to the ridge as the fight moved up on the ridge. Now things went bad for the British. The German artillery superiority hit the infantry hard as they climbed the ridge. The leaders kept failing their morale checks and this stalled the attack. The British decided to assault the German infantry with their Matildas and this broke the German line in the attack sector. However, the German reserve company moved into position and dug in behind the ridge so the Brits now had another line to clear. Also the Brits’ losses had reached the German VC level so now the British were fighting for a draw at best. Soon afterwards, German units that shifted over dug in and created a third line. Panzers reinforced this defense and it became formidable.

The British infantry rallied as new leaders arrived and they move up and about to come over the ridge to hit the Reserve Company. Then the green Howards Battalion Commander got KIA by artillery and the were not going to work, and this scenario shows it.

Now, this one may not be for competitive play, but it is a good showing of a historical fight with likely historical thoughts. I do think, the Brits could clear a 6 hex wide corridor if they attack well and have effective rolls. But holding it open is another thing and they will always likely reach their 10 point casualty cap limit and never get anything better than a draw; and that would be better than the real outcome.

Pictures and SITREP tweets are on my CSW blog. Just search for Sidra Ridge and you should hit the posts for the playings. Note they are spread out over a few weeks as it took me that long to play out the scenario. whole attack ground to a halt. Some tanks and infantry did finally move forward but it was too little, too late. And the Germans massed on the flanks and began a slow grinding counterattack. It was clear this was over with four turns left to go out of the 32 of the scenario. I called it a German victory.

This game went pretty much like the real fight: a desperate piecemeal attack against a well established defender. The brits lost the real fight badly too. I read were Von Mellinthin criticized the British commanders for a poor choice in making the attack. In the game, and likely in the real thing; the British needed to hit as much of the German line as they could to stress the German defense. Single pushes

It took 5 rather long sessions to complete this seriously unbalanced scenario. As published, I cannot imagine that there is a way for the British side to pull off a victory in this one. I played the German side and frequently found myself rooting for the British when they were close enough to assault my hedgehog-like defensive positions on the long ridge on Map 04.

We played this one using the awful Fog Of War (FOW) rule, which was a mistake, since the resulting, FOW-shortened turns made the British attack even more piecemeal that it was bound to be, and this greatly aided the overall German defense and counter attacks. The flow of the British attacks were canalized by mine fields in such a way that they had no real option beyond a frontal assault on ground covered by both 88mm and 50mm (PaK38) AT guns. In action, almost every step of Valentines, and all but 1 platoon of Matilda tanks was eliminated before my opponent conceded on Turn 26. German OBA proved devastating in the valley. Unfortunately for the Allies, their casualty cap was hit by the 8th turn, and the best they could play for was a draw.

Unusually for me, I had mostly good luck in morale and bombardment die rolls, while the British side had a dreadful time moving under fire from the time that they entered the northern edge of the map. As others have suggested in their AARs, a reserve of German mobile infantry formed a valuable "fire brigade" to reinforce weakened sectors under assault and to breakup opposing formations before they could decisively engage. I can't imagine how the British side could manage to keep a north-south corridor free of interloping German units by the end of play!

If played to the bitter end, this scenario would have been a near duplicate of the actual battle. The British side has no choice but to mount a desperate piecemeal attack directly into the teeth of a well-established defense with close local reserves. The victory conditions should be re-written so that there is some chance for at least a draw, by expanding the unrealistic 10-step loss cap for the British side.