by Zachary Grant, 9 February 2025
The dust is still settling from the excitement of the last turn, so I hope you are ready for turn five. The clock is ticking and I know I’m racing against time. My opponent knows this too and is intent on mucking up my plans, at least until I make another silly decision and cause myself more trouble.
Events of the first impulse
most images can click to enlarge
To reflect what happened historically, the Allies must withdraw one Indian brigade at the start of turn five. The Allied commander selects The 5th brigade, which is just south of Tobruk. The allies gain a Resource Point (RP) during the event roll and begin building a fortification at Bardia. The Allied commander shuffles his forces within Tobruk to improve his defensive positions and begins setting up units to block Axis advancement to the east. More supplies and replacements are sent to the front lines with a shipment of armor replacements arriving in Bardia.
The Allied Commander only used Tactical Movement, which limits ground movement to one or two hexes and this earns him a free Supply Point (SP). The two British units south of Bir el Gub both rally; however, the 11th Hussars are still Disrupted.
I get the German Air Support for the Axis event roll. Unfortunately, there is only one German Air Support marker for the Axis and because I already have it, this roll is wasted. The German 15th Division 8/II Panzer battalion, some German and Italian Replacements, plus two SPs, arrive from Italy safely to Tripoli and will be ready next turn.
I temporarily withdraw the Ariete 7th Tank battalion to meet up with the advancing Italian armored replacements, to bring the armored unit up to strength for the continued siege of Tobruk. I have three Mobile Supply Units to provide the necessary supply for both logistical and combat purposes. My new plan is to use the Italians to be the main siege force around Tobruk. The Germans will try to take Bardia and maybe Sidi Barrani if possible.
The 5th Light Division 5/I Panzer battalion and the 5th Light Division 2 Motorized battalion rally from Full Retreat to Disrupted. Although this is an improvement, it means their movement is reduced to a maximum of two hexes. I inch them closer to the Mobile Supply Unit just west of their position, knowing this will reestablish their supply lines by the end of the turn.
One of my concerns are the two Allied units in the fortified hex at Bir el Gub. The 11th Hussars and the 2nd Rifle Brigade could wreak havoc with my supply lines or smaller units if I’m not careful. Ultimately, I decide they need to be pushed out of their current location to clear the way for my continued advance.
All the German units adjacent to the fortified hex, except the 88mm Flak battalion, attack the British position. The fortification doubles the defenders defense strength and it prevents anyone from using tank shifts. It also reduces attacking armor strength by half, so this won’t be easy. Because I really want to clear this area of the Allies, I call in the Luftwaffe for support. The British in response lend the defending Brits defensive artillery support.
The fortified British defenders put up a very tough fight, eliminating the 5th Light Division’s 8th battalion; however, they fail their determined defense check, and are forced to retreat from their location. Because the Hussars were in a Disrupted state at the start of the battle, they deteriorate into a Full Retreat and the 2nd Rifle Brigade becomes Disrupted.
Events of the second impulse
The event roll for the second impulse sees the Allies get a RP. The 4th Royal Tank Regiment (RTR), gets much needed supplies and replacement vehicles from Bardia returning them to full strength. The Allied commander continues to improve the defensive line along the Trigh Capuzzo crossroads at key locations that lead to Bardia, while rearranging the units in Tobruk to maximize its defense. The 11th Hussars and the 2nd Rifle Brigade continue their retreat south, to put more distance between them and the Axis forces while they regroup from the last battle.
For my event roll, I get a RP; however, due to the Allies damaging the Tripoli port in a past bombing raid, I don’t receive it. The RP is used to repair Tripoli’s port. The Ariete 7th Tank battalion receives the necessary spare parts and replacement supplies to return them to their maximum strength.
Around Tobruk, I position the Italians at strategic locations to prevent the Allies from attacking west from their defensive position to disrupt the Axis lines of communication and supply. Where the Italians lack supporting armor, I place the Flak battalions. A group of German and Italian forces are tasked with guarding the area around Sidi Rezegh and to support the next German attack. Their job is to prevent another possible Allied counter attack to cut off the lead Axis units.
I need to clear a path through the Allied defensive line west of Bardia. To do this, I attack in the middle with a combined force composed of the 5th Light Division and 15th Division. These forces attack two Allied units, the 11th Indian brigade, who are supported by the D/7 RTR defending the Trigh Capuzzo track.
The attack doesn’t go exactly as the Germans plan. In the end, the result is an Exchange of units. I select the Matildas and the Allied commander eliminates the 5th Light Division’s Recon battalion.
This is the latest episode in a running playthrough of North Africa ’41 from GMT Games; you can find the links to all published episodes at the end of article, with new ones each Sunday
The impulse ends with the Germans chipping away at the path to Bardia and slowly closing in around Tobruk. I know I’m running out of time and I begin to wonder how much further I can advance before the game ends.
Events of the third impulse
The third impulse sees the Allies getting a second Air Support Marker for their event roll. Just what the Axis needs, more RAF firepower to help with Allied attacks. The 5th RTR, which is defending with the 3rd Hussars just east of Gambut, is the recipient of more armor replacements, bringing them back to full strength.
At the risk of sounding repetitive, the Allies continue to ship supplies to the front lines and British replacements to Tobruk. Not as many as at the start of the game; however, enough that it is causing problems for the Axis. The 3rd Hussars, currently guarding the approach to Gambut, moves to take up a defensive position at Sollum. The 3rd Indian brigade and the 1st RTR, leave Tobruk to support the defence at Gambut with the newly revitalized 5th RTR. The 11th Indian brigade, finding itself facing a sizable German force, tactically withdraws to join the 4th RTR and the other Allied battalions guarding the direct path to Bardia.
All this defensive adjusting has left Tobruk’s eastern flank very lightly defended. This catches my eye and I begin to consider changing my plan of attacking Bardia. Maybe I can capture Tobruk instead?
The Axis obtains 1 RP for the event roll. The panzer replacements are given to 5th Light Division 5/II Panzer battalion, bringing them back to full strength. I Special Transfer three trucks back to Tripoli, so they can continue to bring needed supplies and resources to the front.
The Italian Ariete 7th Tank battalion hussles back to Tobruk to help with the siege. Because the Ariete 7th is lending its armor support west of El Adem, I move the 33rd Flak battalion just east of El Adem to support the units guarding the track between Tobruk and Bir el Gubi.
It is at this moment I commit the mistake of changing my original plan of advancing to Bardia and instead I decide to attack the weak eastern flank in Tobruk. This area is lacking any fortifications and there are only two Allied units defending this space. A remnant of the Australian 24th brigade and a weakened British 16th Brigade.
My thought is, if I can dislodge these two units, I might be able to capture the port of Tobruk and maybe, just maybe, trap the Allied forces defending Tobruk and cause them to surrender. To do this, I swing the German panzer units to the north west to attack this weak spot.
Remember I asked you to remember to keep the brown line outlining Tobruk in mind, because we’d return to it? Now we can discuss this terrain feature in detail. This is Tobruk’s perimeter and it is a formidable defensive feature. It prohibits any tank shift when attacking into and across it. It also halves the attack value of any vehicle unit attacking into Tobruk. This means that although I have a formidable amount of firepower eager to break into Tobruk, it’s going to be very, very difficult.
The attack begins and it goes much better than expected for the Germans. I roll the best result possible; the defender loses a step strength and I can advance three hexes.
The Allied commander selects the Australian remnant unit to take the step loss, which is eliminated. The 16th brigade, sensing the danger at allowing the Germans to breach the Tobruk perimeter, puts up a massive determined defense. To aid in their successful defense, the Allied commander selects to use defensive artillery support to protect the defending Brits and inflict damage on the German attackers. The Allied commander now returns the favor by getting the best possible result for his determined defense check and inflicts a step loss on the German forces!
The successful determined defense also inflicts another step loss on the Brits; however, they remain in good order and no German advance after combat is allowed. The 16th brigade just stopped two Panzer battalions, an infantry battalion and an infantry regiment from getting a toehold in Tobruk. It is moments like this that make wargaming great!
The Germans can hear the 16th brigade’s cheers of celebration and the jeers of intimidation as the battle ends. The Germans know there are replacements waiting to refresh the beleaguered 16th brigade, plus the Allies can reshuffle the defending forces to shore up the eastern flank. Not good. Not good at all.
The impulse ends with the Germans losing 1 SP due to supply attrition, which also means there is little supply available for any attacks above 9 strength points, or that want to include tank shifts. This means any future major attacks are not happening anytime soon.
Conclusion & Discussion
On the positive side, the Axis forces finally cut off Tobruk from its supply lines with a substantial force that won’t easily be dislodged. On the negative side, this really isn’t helpful to the Axis. The Tobruk port capacity is okay and if the Allies get another RP during the next turn, they can repair the port, bringing it back to its full capacity. Just as the Germans were exceedingly lucky to escape the Allied encirclement almost unscathed, the Allies are now the very lucky ones by repelling the German attack into Tobruk. I don’t know if my opponent deliberately left Tobruk’s eastern flank weak as a tempting target for me to attack or not. I doubt it; however, my last minute change of plans gives the Allies more time to protect the path to the east and doesn’t help me get the necessary victory points I need to win.
NORTH AFRICA ’41 AAR
PART 1 ~ PART 2 ~ PART 3 ~ PART 4 ~ PART 5 ~ PART 6 ~ PART 7 ~ PART 8
Thank you for visiting the Regiment of Strategy Gaming and riding with The Armchair Dragoons.
Rather than list a bunch of social media links, the easiest thing to do is to check out our LinkTree, which connects you to all of our various locales around the web.
You can also support The Armchair Dragoons through our Patreon, and find us at a variety of conventions and other events.
Feel free to talk back to us either in our discussion forum, or in the comments below.
