| Campaigns and Commanders
Vol. 2: The King’s Officers
Desert War Diaries Chapter Four
19 November 1941, 1500-1545 Hours
By Doug McNair
August 2009
Both hills become infernos and the Germans are forced to make some tough choices in today’s chapter of Desert War Diaries:
1500 Hours
British initiative drops to 2 due to last turn’s losses, while German initiative is still at 1.
Burgoyne: Once more, with feeling! (the Brits beat the Germans by two activations, and Burgoyne spots for OBA on the southern hilltop and rolls a 6 for an M result and 1 LP. But the gun rolls a 2 to pass the morale check easily).
Right, can’t just sit here anymore or that 88 will kill the rest of the Stuarts. CHAAARRGE!! (the tank leader riding the Crusader unit in the hex behind Burgoyne activates his own tank and the neighboring Stuarts and charges up the hill past Rall to within 2 hexes of the 76.2mm German artillery there).
Rall: Aim carefully unt obliterate zem!! (the guns hold fire to avoid the -1 penalty for hitting a moving target).
Von Breymann: Vere did I leave my keys … ja, hier zey are. (he recovers morale while his fellow Lieutenant in the hex assaults the now-leaderless Brits on the south flank. The assaults scores a 1 result to kill an INF step for 1 German VP, which is not credited to Von Breymann since he spent the segment recovering. The full-strength British INF in the hex is demoralized and the reduced one is disrupted).
Gage: Oh God, those poor bastards!! (trying to avert disaster, the last remaining good-order British officer at the south flank goes into the assault with a fresh INF, while activating Gage and the other disrupted and demoralized units and leaders in the adjacent hexes to get them to recover. Gage and his fellow LT both recover, but the INF unit with them does not and flees, and so does the demoralized INF in the assault hex).
Von Breymann: Capitalistic imperialism is folly. (The British assault Von Breymann on the 9 column while Von Breymann defends on the 18 column … and it’s a disaster. Von Breymann scores a 1 result on defense to kill a step of the fresh British INF and demoralize all the British infantry and kill the British leader, who rolls a 3 = 1 = 2 and dies. Von Breymann scores 2 LPs and 1 German VP).
Rall: NOW!! SHEISEEEE!! (The 76.2mm gun on the hilltop fires and rolls a modified 9, bouncing shells off the Crusaders but failing to hurt them).
Burgoyne: Hah, we have them!! (the Lt. Colonel activates Burgoyne, who charges up the hill with the Brens and the infantry. But Rall’s infantry screen is devastating, rolling a 2 with point-blank opportunity fire on the first INF to score an X result and 1 German VP, and an 11 on the second op fire at another INF that demoralizes it as well. But then Burgoyne leads another INF and four Brens up the hill to within firing range of the hilltop guns and point-blank on Rall.
Rall: Zey haff schlpit our forces. Vee mast vissdraw to the road und leave zee hill to Von Breymann.
Then the Lieutenant commanding the late, lamented Carleton’s detachment sends half his troops in for an assault on the north end of the German line at the northern hilltop, sending the rest of his troops north to try and circumvent the northern German flank. The Captain commanding the German line lets them go rather than fire at them, since he can redeploy his troops northward to block them. The disrupted British INF units also recover, and while both sides inflict morale checks in the assault everybody passes them. The German captain then redeploys his forces up the line to counter the British move, piling into the nearer assault hex with an armored car while sending his Sergeant to the north end of the line with an MTC. He counterassaults the British but neither side takes damage.
Then after fire, recoveries and redeployments on both sides:
Von Breymann: Rank hass no relevance (the Major who commanded Rall and Von Breymann’s position on the hill and then assaulted the Crusader tanks assaults them again, but the Crusaders roll a 6 on defense and demoralize him and his INF unit. They then counterassault him but he’s saved when they roll a 1. The turn then ends on a Fog of War roll).
1515 Hours
British and German initiative hold at 2 and 1, respectively.
Rall: TAKE ZEMMMM!! [The 76.2mm gun on the hilltop fires again at the Crusader tank in front of it, and this time it rolls a modified 12 to kill one Crusader step as well as the tank leader aboard it!! That leaves Burgoyne’s force with no tank leaders and scores 2 German VPs (not credited to Rall), but the Crusader rolls a 3 and passes its morale check].
Burgoyne: Damn, take out that 88 on the other hilltop so our tanks can fire without it killing them (he spots for OBA on the 88, and rolls a 9 for an M1 result that gets him 1 LP but does not harm the gun. The 50mm AT gun on the northern hill fires at the Crusaders in the hex with the demoralized Germans but misses, and then the Lt. Colonel activates Burgoyne who swarms the hilltop with his Brens and an INF unit. The Lieutenant Colonel tries to rally the demoralized INFs but they both fail and flee. He goes with them).
Von Breymann: Death is the great leveler [he assaults the two demoralized INF units in his hex who put up a brave fight. But Von Breymann rolls a 2 on the 30 column to kill both the INF steps (one by step loss and the other by compound demoralization) for 2 German VPs and 2 LPs. He has now cleared all the British out of his hex, but one of his INF units becomes demoralized by the M result and he is now standing in a 3-high-stacked hex that’s open to enemy fire. The Crusaders just to the north of Von Breymann then assault the demoralized Germans in their hex, killing the Major and an INF step due to compound demoralization for 1 British VP].
Rall: Von Breymann is in danger of being trapped. Fire on zee British so he can vissdraw! (Rall’s mortars self-spot on the HMGs near Von Breymann but they pass the morale check. But Rall also assists the INF unit next to him to recover morale for 1 LP. British units advance to cut Von Breymann’s retreat and form fire teams against him).
Von Knyphausen: I come, my brave comrade!! (he leaves his Sergeant in charge of the roadblock and dashes south to help Von Breymann). All the Leader Characters are now in the fight for the southern hilll. The HMG two hexes away from Von Breymann fires at his hex but rolls a 7 for no effect).
The German captain on the northern hill then continues his assault, but his INF unit becomes demoralized with no damage to the British. The British Lieutenant immediately counterassaults, bringing all possible units into the fight. He scores an M1 result in his own hex that demoralizes the German captain and kills an INF step due to compound demoralization for 1 British VP! The assault in the other hex does even better, rolling a 6 on the 9 column to kill a German step, but the other step holds morale! Nonetheless, the German line on the northern hill is frayed to the breaking point. The turn then ends on a Fog of War roll
1530 Hours
German initiative drops to 0 and British initiative drops to 1 due to last turn’s losses.
Burgoyne: Right, go in after them!! [he’d like to let the converging forces attack Von Breymann, but he only beat the Germans by 1 on initiative so he has to take-out the 76.2mm guns or they’ll blast his Brens point-blank. So he leads his INF unit and 3 Brens in on an assault after the fourth Bren fires ineffectively at it. The guns get first-fire since they’re dug in and they actually roll a 6, but Burgone and all of his units pass the M morale check, giving him his second morale check toward Mentioned in Dispatches. He then rolls a 6 on the 24 column that wipes out the gun and its truck, scoring 2 LPs and and 1 British VP. He takes the honor of planting the regimental standard on the hilltop].
Von Breymann: Time for dinner and bed. [With Burgoyne’s conquest of the hilltop, he will be in a position next turn to charge northward and outflank the northern hill. The Germans have got to withdraw from the southern hill fast to stop him, so Von Breymann takes the only rational withdrawal route he’s got: straight through the Humber armored cars. If he tried to run around them he’d take so much opportunity fire from the units converging on him that he’d never make it. So he assaults them while his fellow Lieutenant tries to rally the other units with him. The rally attempt brings the disrupted INF to good-order, giving Von Breymann something of a rearguard. But the demoralized one fails and flees (luckily doing so toward German lines). Von Breymann’s assault on the armored car causes it to fire on defense and thus place a Spotted marker on itself that makes it vulnerable to AT fire from the north (is zee power of logic, ja?). But both sides roll a 1 on the assault and neither does damage.]
Burgoyne: Take out that gun! DAMN, DAMN, DAMN, DAMN, DAMN!! (he knows his Brens are sitting ducks for 88mm fire now since they fired to kill the 76.2mm guns and are now Spotted. So he spots for OBA on the 88 on the northern hill. He rolls a 4 for an M2 result that gets him 1 LP, but once again the gun and its truck both pass the morale check).
Von Breymann: HYYYYAAAAAHHHH!! (He runs up to the hex next to Von Breymann and stops there, giving Von Breymann a place to withdraw to next turn. Opportunity fire from an HMG has no effect, and the Germans have a line, of sorts, on the hill).
With the German position on the southern hill strengthened, the Brits press the assault on the northern hill. The Lieutenant scores an M result that wipes out the INF unit in his hex due to compound demoralization for 1 British VP.
Burgoyne: Damn them!! (the 50mm gun on the northern hill fires on Burgoyne’s Brens, rolling a modified 13 to kill one of them for 1 German VP. Burgoyne is unhurt).
The other, leaderless Brits in the second assault hex on the northern hill press the assault and roll a 5 on the 13 column to wipe out the last German INF step in their hex for 1 British VP, but the dying Germans roll a 6 for an M1 result that demoralizes two of the British INFs! The German Sergeant in the neighboring hex immediately counterassaults them with an MTC unit, rolling an M1 result that demoralizes the one good-order INF and kills another INF step due to compound demoralization for 1 German VP!! A Sergeant runs up there to try to salvage the situation, making it through blistering opportunity fire from the last German INF unit on the line).
Burgoyne: DAMN, DAMN, DAMN, DAMN, DAMN!! (the 88mm gun blasts another of Burgoyne’s Brens for 1 German VP. Again he is unhurt).
Rall: Excellent accurate fire!! Now take out zee annoying man!! (his mortars self-spot on Burgoyne and his INF, but roll a 7 for no effect).
Then the last uncommitted British forces (the ones that took out the forward roadblock) leave the road and head northwest to try and save the dying assault on the northern hill. The demoralized German captain in that assault fails to recover and flees, and the Crusader tanks down by the southern hill finally wipe out the demoralized German INF in their hex for 1 British VP, and finally freeing themselves up for movement.
Gage: Oh, God, looks like we’ve been left behind. Major, sir? Major?? (he recovers to good-order along with the other Lieutenant and an INF, earning him 1 LP. But the demoralized Major fails to recover and flees).
The turn then ends on recoveries and redeployments, with lots of demoralized units fleeing the field.
1545 Hours
British initiative just barely hangs on at 1.
Burgoyne: I WANT the GUN, I WANT the GUN … HURRRAAAAAAHHH!! (he spots for OBA on the 88mm gun on the northern hilltop and rolls another 4 for an M2, and finally the gun crew becomes demoralized! The truck is disrupted, and Burgoyne earns 1 LP).
Von Knyphausen: LET MEEE AT ZEMMMM!! (He jumps into Von Breymann’s hex with an INF unit, and Von Breymann does a switcheroo and exits the hex with his MTC. That draws opportunity fire from HMGs and tanks, but Von Breymann and his MTC pass the morale check. Von Knyphausen applies his Rural Assault Skill and scores an M1 result for 1 LP, but the Humber holds morale. He has now spent one turn fighting in an assault hex for medal purposes).
The Sergeant who just arrived at the north end of the disastrous British northern hill assault jumps into the hex with the three demoralized INF to try and rally them. Two of them fail and flee the hex, but a miracle occurs and the reduced-strength demoralized unit rolls a 2 to recover to good-order!
Burgoyne: Hah!! (the 50mm AT gun on the northern hill fires at Burgoyne’s Brens again but misses. He then order them to move and lose their Spotted markers, jumping aboard one of them to protect himself from German direct fire. They form a line against any German attempt to retake the hill).
Rall: Vee vill deal viss zee annoying man later (mortar fire is ineffective and a rally attempt on a demoralized INF fails. The fleeing INF leaves a gap in the German line, so another INF moves one hex right to plug it).
Gage: Right, back at it (he assaults the south end of the German line on the southern hill to prevent them from withdrawing, while a Lieutenant with him tries to rally an adjacent unit. The rally succeeds, but the assault makes no headway, with Gage and his INF becoming disrupted).
Then after some redeployment, the German Sergeant at the north end of the north hill assault fights the British Sergeant who came in to save the day. Both roll a 6, and the reduced British INF in the hex dies for 1 German VP, but the Sergeant escapes. The Germans all pass the M2 morale check. Then in the next hex the British Lieutenant assaults the German armored car, but both sides score M results and nobody fails the morale check. But the demoralized German captain in the next hex fails to recover and flees. More British units move toward the northern hill, and the British mortars disrupt the now-leaderless INF unit at the south end of the German line, but it immediately recovers).
Burgoyne: They’re running, HUZZZAAAAAAHHHH!! (the 88mm gun unit fails to recover from demoralization and the gun crew flees, eliminating the unit for 1 British VP. The truck remains disrupted. Then the leaderless Stuart and Crusader tanks on the southern hill pull back one hex to form a straight line and block Von Breymann’s MTC unit from cutting behind them and onto the hilltop.
The turn then ends on recoveries and redeployments.
At that point, the German Lt. Colonel issues orders to his men:
“Men, you have fought bravely, but zee British reserves are coming and ve vill soon be outnumbered 2 to 1 hier on zee northern hill. Vee haff lost all our artillery support, and if we remain in place they will schplit our forces. One of zese hilltops must be sacrificed to reinforce zee other. Hier ve are vell-organized and can wissdraw in good order, but on zee sousern hill zere is only a Line of Leutnants, wiss no-one in command. Zey cannot organize a fighting wissdrawal, but we can! So we go to zem, und zen vee vill retake zat hilltop!!”
Rall: Jawhol, Mein Herr! We will hold until you arrive!!
Can they do it? Tune in next time for the last chapter Operation Crusader and find out! The standings at this point are:
Total Victory Points (only for steps lost, since territory taken may be retaken)
British: 14
Germans: 30
Leader Character Standings
Leader Character LPs VPs Scored Other Data for Medal Purposes
Burgoyne 14 2 Made two morale checks
without being demoralized. VPs
for hilltop hexes taken not
relevant for medal purposes
since he is only eligible for
Mentioned in Dispatches at this
Point.
Carleton IMPRISONED
Gage -4 0 n/a
Von Knyphausen 5 3 Has participated in one turn of
assault combat
Rall 6 4 n/a
Von Breymann 12 5 Has participated in assault
combat for at least 3 turns
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