Campaigns and Commanders
Vol. 2: The King’s Officers
Desert War Diaries Chapter Three
19 November 1941, 1400-1445 Hours
By Doug McNair
August 2009

Operation Crusader hangs in the balance as the British Army tries to break the German flank:

1400 Hours
Gage: Firing all along the line! (The British beat the Germans by two activations and the Crusader tanks open up point-blank on Von Breymann’s armored cars. The first tank scores a hit and kills an armored car step for 1 British VP, disrupting the other step. The other tank finishes it off for another British VP, neither of which is credited to Gage.  Von Breymann is unhurt. Then the Major leading the attack on the German south flank tries to finish off the reduced German INF in the assault hex before reinforcements can join the fight. Unfortunately, he rolls a 1 while the Germans roll a 4, and both sides score an M result. The Germans hold morale, but one British INF becomes disrupted and another demoralized!)

Gage: Rallying the men now (Gage activates and tries to rally the demoralized and disrupted INF units he’s with. He succeeds with both, earning 3 LPs!).

Rall: Take ze tinks! (A Lieutenant on the northern hill activates the 50mm AT gun there, which fires at the Crusader tanks attacking the south flank but misses. He also fails to rally a demoralized INF).

Von Knyphausen: Ach, mein gott (the British assault the forward roadblock again and the dug-in Germans get an M result on first-fire, disrupting an INF unit. The British then perform admirably, rolling a 5 on the 18 column to kill a German HMG step for 1 British VP and disrupting the other step). 

Rall: Wilkommen! (the secondary roadblock sends an Lieutenant and an INF unit south to reinforce his position).

Gage: Firing dying down (the Captain two hexes from Gage tries to rally his troops but only succeeds with one unit; a demoralized HMG fails and flees).

Von Breymann: Ach … es is kein gut, Herr Major (the Major who left Rall in command of the gun positions assaults the Crusader tanks with an INF unit, but the tanks pass the M morale check while disrupting the INF. But he also activated Von Breymann, who successfully rallies the MTC unit in his hex for 1 LP). 

Burgoyne: Right, you there! No time to waste, what-what? (he uses his Increased Endurance to run 5 hexes south to join 4 Brens, 2 Crusaders and 2 Stuarts with the intention of leading them around the German flank).

Von Breymann: You zee, artificial constructions of rank bear no resemblance to personal merit (the German Lieutenant in the assault hex on the south flank brings in an INF unit and counterassaults the British, scoring an M1 result that disrupts both British leaders and an INF unit, demoralizes another one and inflicts a step loss on a third due to compound demoralization, for 1 German VP!)

Burgoyne: My God, those poor devils are being trounced. Right, form up there! (Stuart and Crusader tanks move up to Burgoyne’s position).

Then after many recoveries and ineffective fire from both sides.

Von Knyphausen: You English try to gazzer yourselfs, bat you shall not pass! (after the British force that moved toward Rall’s position recovers morale, Von Knyphausen uses his Rifle Combat Skill to fire on them for an M2 result that demoralizes a unit and gets him 1 LP).

Carleton: Right lads, can’t just sit here forever. GOOD GOD!! (as two INF units lay fire on the north end of the northern German line, others move toward it to form a firing line. As Guy moves in, most of the German line opens fire, rolling incredibly well to force multiple morale checks. But the entire British line makes it into position in good order, while Guy himself becomes disrupted. Nevertheless, that gives him 3 personal morale checks with no demoralization, which will get him Mentioned in Dispatches IF he can earn a net gain of 8 LPs this scenario and never become demoralized).

The turn then ends on recoveries and redeployments, with Burgoyne acquiring more forces and the Lt. Colonel joining the reconstituting force advancing on Rall’s position. 

1415 Hours
German initiative drops to 1 due to the losses suffered last turn. British initiative holds at 4.

Gage: Have lost contact with the Major on the hill, but his Lieutenant says situation is deteriorating. Must go in with available units to stabilize. We have them where we want them, but … GOD IN HEAVEN!! (the Major in the assault hex fails to recover but his Lieutenant does, and one demoralized INF flees the hex while the other units recover morale. Gage then takes a fresh INF into the hex and assaults the Germans, using his Rural Assault Skill to up his strength to 9. He gets the upper hand initially, demoralizing the German Lieutenant in the hex with an M1 result and disrupting both his INF units!  He earns 1 LP for his efforts, but then the Germans score an M result in return and Gage rolls a 12, becoming demoralized and losing 3 LPs, also putting himself out of the running for Mentioned in Dispatches. His INF unit also rolls a 12 and becomes demoralized, too).

Von Breymann: Zees mast end, I vish to go beck to mein books. Ach, du lieber. (he orders a fresh INF unit into the assault hex and goes in with it, directing the MTC unit in the hex he leaves to fire point-blank on the disrupted British Captain next to him. The point-blank fire scores an M2 result that gives him 1 LP but does not hurt the Brits.  Then in the assault hex, the demoralized German lieutenant recovers morale but Von Breymann’s assault makes no headway, and he suffers an M2 result that disrupts him and demoralizes the half-strength INF in the hex. He has now spent one turn in assault combat for medal purposes).

Burgoyne: God, it’s hell up there! Take out that gun so we can go help them! (he spots for OBA on Rall’s AT gun, rolling a 5 for an M1 result that gets him 1 LP. But the gun passes the morale check).

Rall: Still no good (the AT gun on the northern hill fires at the tanks in the Major’s assault hex in front of Rall, but misses).

Carleton: Right lads, give them what for! (the Lieutenant at the north end of Gage’s line directs his fire team to hit the German line, but the Germans pass the morale check).

Rall: Zey are too timid, zese English (his mortars self-spot to hit the Lt. Colonel’s company on the plain before him, rolling a 10 that disrupts the HMG unit with him).

Burgoyne: (on the radio) Ah, Colonel! Good afternoon, sir! Follow you in? YES, SIR! (the Lt. Colonel takes his remaining two platoons toward the north end of the German line on the southern hill. The Captain in the lead becomes demoralized by opportunity fire from Rall’s INF, but the Lt. Col and his two platoons are OK. In addition, a LT the Colonel left behind rallies a demoralized INF all the way back to good order on a roll of 2!).   

Rall: Smesh zem, please (the artillery on the hilltop fires on the Lt. Colonel and scores an M result that does no damage).

Burgoyne: Right, after the Colonel, lads! (he brings his force in to join the Lt. Colonel and form fire teams).

Rall: Zey are becoming desperate. Aim carefully (the German Major in the assault hex recovers the morale of his troops).

Burgoyne: Out of the way, lads! (the disrupted HMG gets out of Burgoyne’s line of fire while another INF tries and fails to recover morale).

Rall: Und … NOW!! (his AT gun fires at a Stuart and rolls a modified 11 to kill one tank step, but the other step passes the morale check! Still, Rall earns 1 LP and 2 VPs for the Germans.)   

Von Knyphausen: Ach, mein Hauptmann (the British finally finish off the forward roadblock, rolling a 5 on the 24 column to kill the last HMG step and the Captain there for 1 British VP).

Rall: Not gut enough (the 88mm gun on the northern hilltop takes long-range fire fires on the other Stuart tank in front of Rall’s position, but misses on a modified 8).

Carleton: Right lads, get ready. (radio crackling) WHAT DO YOU MEAN, WITHDRAW?? (the mortars self-spot on the German line on the northern hill and roll an 11, demoralizing the Lt. Colonel commanding the line but not his INF unit. But before Carleton’s men can open fire, the turn ends on a Fog of War roll).

1430 Hours
Burgoyne: Right, get the gun now. Smashing!! (he spots for OBA on Rall’s 50mm AT gun, and this time he rolls a 3 and for an X result that kills the gun and its truck. The Brits get 1 VP and he gets 1 LP).

Rall: Sheise!! Zee annoying man is here again!! Smesh zem!! (the mortars self-spot on the Lt. Colonel’s hex and roll a 10 for an M2 result, but they all pass the morale check).

Burgoyne: HELLO, JERRY!! (the Lt. Col activates the entire formation except for two Crusader tanks, and everyone goes straight for Rall. The first INF platoon makes it adjacent to him, but then Von Knyphausen rolls a 12 on the LT Colonel with opportunity fire for an X result that disrupts the other British INF. The Colonel presses on through more opportunity fire and everyone comes up behind him. Von Knyphausen takes another shot at an ENG unit that opted not to ride a BREN for fear of being destroyed by AT fire, and he rolls an 11 for an M1 result that disrupts it). 

Von Knyphausen: Take ZAT, you impudent English!! (he gets 2 LPs and 1 VP for the Germans).

Finally, a demoralized HMG that Burgoyne activated before leaving rolls a 2 and recovers all the way to good order, giving Burgoyne 4 LPs!

Rall: Mein Gott, vee are breached!! VISSDRAW, VISSDRAW!! (he pulls back one hex with his mortars).

Burgoyne: Tally ho, lads! Oh, dear. (the Crusaders move up to join the Stuarts. The 88mm gun on the northern hilltop takes opportunity fire at one of them in Burgoyne’s hex, before it can reach the hill and become unspottable. It rolls a modified 10 to kill a tank step and demoralize the other for 2 German VPs. But the other tank makes it through to the hill).

Von Breymann: Von last chance to get home for dinner (he assaults the British on the south flank after a demoralized German INF flees the hex. He can’t bring in the MTC from the adjacent hex because he’s disrupted, but he rolls well and scores an M2 result that gets him 1 LP and demoralizes the British Major, disrupts his Lieutenant but does not affect the demoralized Gage. But a British INF in the hex becomes disrupted as well. Another German Lieutenant in the hex recovers to good order, and Von Breymann has now spent two turns in assault combat for medal purposes).

More Brits head for the breach in the German line, which throws confusion on the Germans. The turn ends early on a Fog of War roll, giving the Brits an incredible break!

1445 Hours
British initiative drops to 3 due to last turn’s losses, and German initiative just barely hangs on at 1. 

Von Breymann: It is past lunchtime (The Germans roll a modified 7 to the Brits’ 3, and beat them by 2 activations. The good-order Lieutenant in Von Breymann’s assault hex orders the MTC unit into the assault, but it comes of poorly, with the Germans only rolling a 1 while the Brits roll a 4. Nevertheless, the disrupted British Lieutenant becomes demoralized, and another British INF becomes demoralized. There is only one undemoralized British piece left in the assault hex, a disrupted INF. For their part, both German leaders pass the M1 morale check and so do all the units. Von Breymann receives 1 LP and has now been in assault combat for the three turns necessary as one of the requirements for an Infantry Assault Badge).

Rall: Ja, kommen sie hier!! (the Lieutenant on the northwest slope of the hill moves to form a line with Rall to block the British tanks from charging up to the hilltop. But the British Lt. Colonel combines the fire of infantry, tanks and Brens in his hex and Burgoyne’s hex for opportunity fire. The INF unit just barely passes the first check on a 9, but fails the second on a 10 and becomes disrupted in Rall’s hex. That gives Rall some protection but also means he’s in a 3-high stacked hex now.) 

Burgoyne: CHAAAAAARGE!! (he leads his Brens up the hill and into cover so they can’t get hit by AT gunfire from the north. An INF unit he activated before moving also recovers to give him 1 LP, but a tank unit that activated while stacked with him in his hex fails to recover from demoralization and flees).

Rall: JA, JA, SMESH ZEM!! (the 88mm gun on the northern hilltop obliterates a full-strength Stuart tank units that fired to stop the INF in Rall’s hex, scoring 2 tank step losses for 4 German VPs.)

Burgoyne: Right, take the other gun down (he spots for OBA on the 76.2mm gun on the southern hilltop, and rolls a 9 for an M1 result and 1 LP. But the gun makes the morale check). 

Rall: Verdammt! (the 50mm AT gun on the northern hilltop fires and misses the other Stuart tank unit. A demoralized INF just within Stuart direct fire range fails to recover and flees up the northern hill).

Burgoyne: Right, join the fun, chaps! (a Lieutenant to the rear sends an INF unit up to join Burgoyne, and it makes it through Von Knyphausen’s opportunity fire from the roadblock.  But the Lieutenant fails to rally a disrupted ENG).

Rall: Keep wissdrawing (he pulls his mortars back one hex so they’re not in a 3-high stack anymore). 

Gage: Situation hopeless, must retreat!! (he and the other two demoralized officers fail to recover morale and flee the assault hex along with a demoralized INF. But the disrupted INF and the other demoralized INF both recover and stay in the hex. Gage loses 4 LPs for fleeing the assault). 

Carleton: THERE’S A WALL OF GERMAN FIRE!!  WE NEED HELLLLP!!  OH, GODDDDDDD!! (the Germans on the northern hill open fire on Carleton’s position, scoring an M result that demoralizes him and takes him out of the running for Mentioned in Dispatches, and also disrupts an INF with him. Carleton loses 3 LPs. The British mortars then self-spot on the German line and score an M result that does no damage.  More Germans fire on the line but the German Lt. Colonel fails to recover from demoralization and flees up the hill. That prompts the British Lieutenant on the northern end of the line to move his troops up to an assault position, while moving to take charge of the rest of the troops. Unfortunately, opportunity fire from the last German INF scores a 2X result that wipes out one British INF unit for 2 German VPs, and the second shot scores an M2 result that disrupts the other INF. More INF units fill in behind it and prepare to assault. 

The turn then ends on a Fog of War roll after many recoveries and redeployments, and Carleton rolls a 12 on his roll to recover from demoralization and DESERTS!! He rolls a 6 to determine his fate, and he is caught and imprisoned pending court martial (taken out of the campaign permanently). The disrupted INF in the same hex he was in recovers to good-order. The German 76.2mm gun on the southern hilltop holds its fire to keep the Crusader tanks from charging it and risking obliteration.

So at the midpoint of the battle, the German south flank has broken with Burgoyne and the Lt. Colonel having put Rall into full flight up the hill. But Professor von Breymann is laying waste to all before him including Gage, who is fleeing for his life. So, while the southern hilltop will likely fall to the Brits, they may lose so many units in the effort to make it a pyrrhic victory. Add to that the fact that Lt. Carleton is no more, and the Germans may yet have the last laugh. The current standings are:

Total Victory Points (only for steps lost)
British: 7
Germans: 19

Leader Character       LPs             VPs Scored         Other Data for Medal Purposes
Burgoyne                   9                  1                         Made one morale check
                                                                                  without being demoralized

Carleton                   IMPRISONED

Gage                         -5                    0                       n/a

Von Knyphausen      4                     3                        n/a

Rall                           5                     4                       n/a

Von Breymann         8                     2                         Has participated in assault
                                                                                   combat for at least 3 turns

Tune in next time for Chapter Four of Desert War Diaries!

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