I am Archimedes, lead programmer at NS2Games, and today I bring you our first developer AAR! Today we will watch Italian and British forces square off in a 1942 random objective meeting engagement on the Tobruk map. The side that controls the town of Akramah at the end of turn 10 will win, and I will be playing the Italians.
Let’s look at the forces:
Meeting engagements are about speed, so for this battle I have selected the famous 131ª Divisione Corazzata “Centauro,” an armored division, and the 101ª Divisione Motorizzata “Trieste,” a motorized division. I will also bring a pair of independent tank battalions, the 3rd and 11th, to provide additional tank support for my motorized infantry. In total I field approximately 260 tanks, mostly, M13/40s and M14/41s, plus about 80 AB 41 armored cars. All of my armored units have seen combat and my Bersaglieri motorized infantry are battle hardened veterans.
This combination provides excellent mobility for the open desert terrain around Tobruk. The 101st will screen the inland right flank, and I will make heavy use of the reserve order to spread out its armor support. Meanwhile, the 131st advance down the coastal highway to outflank the objective and threaten the British rear. To make the 131st even more effective, I will reorganize its regiments into combined arms battle groups, containing infantry, armor, and artillery. Although this will expose the artillery to higher casualties, it will ensure that each unit has combined arms during maneuver and facilitate a highly aggressive playstyle
We will also have support from two squadrons of MC 202s for air superiority, one squadron of RE 2001CB for close air support, some JU-87s to strike enemy forces, and a squadron of Ca. 311s for reconnaissance.
Opening Maneuvers:
My first challenge is road access; I only have a single highway leading to Tobruk, as well as a parallel inland trail. The trail will reduce cohesion loss, but it won’t speed my forces up. Conversely, the British benefit from a denser road network coming from the south-east and can almost reach Akramah using the inland highway.
As expected, we’ve encountered some traffic jams, but the leading elements of the 131 are where they need to be at the head of the column. I will assign the RE 2001s to provide close support and push the entire division past Tobruk, setting up a J shaped hook maneuver back toward the objective over the next two days. Meanwhile, the 101 will screen the right shoulder. Some of the escarpments to our south are impassable to mechanized forces, so this could be risky if we fail to seize the crucial road junction at Acroma. If the British beat us to Acroma then my forces will be physically divided and this whole maneuver could become a disaster.
As the sun rises on the third day I’m in a good position. The 131 engaged recon and supporting elements of the British 51st division, badly bloodied the British right flank, and is now in a position to drive toward El Adem. The British 4th Brigade of the famous 7th Armoured Division has occupied Akramah; but my boys in the 101st have zone of control locked the highway, thereby forcing British reinforcements to either divert off the road or fight to push the 101 back to reach Akramah.
Breakthrough and Counter-Attack:
After two more days of fighting the British have amassed a sizable force around the objective but I’ve breached the eastern flank and I’m poised to threaten their line of supply and an encircle Akramah.
Unfortunately, the RAF is taking a heavy toll on my air cover. Although air control remains mixed the cohesion of my air units is deteriorating rapidly, and my Stukas are on the ropes.
Adding to these challenges, my initial attack on Akramah has failed to carry the position. Despite partial encirclement the 4th Armoured Brigade stands firm with the help of anti-tank guns and motorized infantry in reserve. Further, the British have recovered from the disruption caused by my flanking maneuver and they’re counter-attacking from the south-east.
The Last Gambles:
The British launched an unsuccessful attempt to breach the costal road, and initiated several indecisive skirmishes with elements of the 131 south-east of Akramah. The Brits are running up their casualty count, but they must collapse one of my flanks to relieve the siege of Akramah, or the beleaguered defenders may be overwhelmed. Heading into the final turn the British dominate the sky, and the most heavily engaged elements of the 131 and 101 around Akramah are starting to become exhausted. However, the encirclement and zone of control lock has starved the British defenders of supply, and they are taking heavy casualties from constant probing attacks launched by the Italians besieging them. Everything now rests on one final push.
Here we go! In the final determined assault of the game, my Italians overwhelm Akramah and secure victory on the very last day of the battle.
Debriefing:
The British fought hard, and they outperformed me in the air, but the seeds of Italian victory were sewn from turns 3 to 5. The British secured an early lead by concentrating their best forces on the objective, but they were not prepared for the sheer volume of firepower the 131 brought down the coastal road. Moreover, the early success of the 101 securing a foothold adjacent to the highway to Akramah forced the Brits to waste time and forces reinforcing Akramah’s eastern shoulder, when they needed to focus their efforts on preventing a total collapse of their coastal flank.
In summary, the British assumed the bulk of Italian armor would meet them at Akramah and overconcentrated their forces there as a result. With the coastal flank inadequately held, I was able to break through with the 131 and place the powerful British forces holding Akramah in an encirclement from which they could not easily escape, thereby denying the Brits of the firepower they needed to stabilize their faltering flanks. From then on it was a battle of attrition in my favor as British supply dwindled and I chipped away at the forces caught inside the encirclement. Had the British deployed a powerful combined arms battlegroup to the coastal road they may well have been able to prevent me from ever encircling Akramah, or at least stall my offensive for a few precious turns.