Între Acte {B} BKCII Game Conclusion

Location: Halfaya Pass, Cyrenaica, Libya
Date: August 1942
Situation: Deutsches Afrika Korp's 21st Panzers Attacking Halfaya
Rules: Blitzkrieg Commander II {+50% movement/weapon ranges for 15mms}
Modifications: Added FOW dust cloud rules.
Suggestion: Click on images to make them larger.
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While General Pettygree and Muljadhi are in limbo in 1899, please view concluding photos of our Colonial BKCII activities of 30 March 2010. We return to Halfaya to the right side of The Pass where....

7th Armoured Division Crusaders have dashed into a maelstrom with DAK panzers. The ensuing combat went against 7th Armoured especially after....

A pair of Stuka JU-87 dive bombers caused mischief. BKCII uses dice on the ground indicating hits. Four red dice reveal one hit per vehicle. No paperwork! "Saving Throws" can reduce some damage. (One red die formerly had two pips/hits showing.) Hits might cause suppression too. Hits could carry over (optional rule) or as we prefer, they are removed at the end of each Active Player Turn. Easy and fun. 

Meanwhile behind The Pass on the back table, panzers approached the village and supply dump. A forlorn hope of Marmon Herrington Armoured Cars attempted to put up dust clouds to discombobulate this DAK group. It failed to do anything significant especially since the Grant tanks that had been in reserve to use the cover of dust to attack were ineffectual in numbers and range.

Surviving Crusaders retreated to the left side of The Pass gaining the advantage of two more 2 Pdr. AT guns fortified there. The lone surviving Grant (of three) joined the group. This was a good defensive position which might have caused a lot of trouble to the foe but....

Twas to no avail. The 7th Armoured reached "break point" (one over actually) and failed the subsequent and mandatory 2D6 throw to remain in combat. A 1 through 7 throw was needed. Nope. The retreat commenced back to the wire on the Egyptian Frontier. The Pass is off screen at the top as are....

Surviving members of the DAK 21st Panzer Battlegroup consolidating on the ridge to the right of The Pass. The Pass is offscreen to the bottom. Well done Chuck L. and John B. commanding DAK forces!

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CLOSING REMARKS
1. Game concluded 30 March 2010.
2. Try a table covering with almost anything underneath to simulate near real topography.
3. You can do it.
4. House Rule: Dust reduces the probability to hit in the open from 1D6 = 4-5-6 to 1D6 = 5-6.

5. 7th Armoured's battle plan was completely scrapped in Game Session #1 on 23 March because of DAK maneuver. The plan was to mass the nine Crusaders on the LEFT of Halfaya Pass hidden by a loooooong ridge. They would hide waiting for the Marmon Herrington Armoured Car Squadron (6 cars) to zoom out to create dust to cover their eventual advance. Once the dust was up, the Crusaders would dash forward en-masse at 37.5 cms per command throw, assisted by two Hurricanes, a captured and mobile Italian 20mm AA, one 2 Pdr. AT gun and an eight gun battery of off-table 25 pdrs. The hope was to utterly crush one end of the DAK force blitzkrieg style. All rubbish! The problem was...the foe had nobody there to attack.

6. The 21st Panzer Battlegroup massed all forces to attack the ridge to the RIGHT of The Pass. Their right rear flank was protected by a battery of two 88s, a mobile AA and  three 37mm AT guns. Once my Armoured Cars realized this they withdrew. Clever DAK chaps, eh?

7. Hence all units above except the 2 Pdr. raced toward The Pass to engage the foe as seen in Între Acte {A and B}. I positioned four dug in 2 Pdrs. there to slow any DAK attack in a refused wing style. Slowing them with these did happen since they are very hard to knock out when dug in.

8. General Pettygree et al return before the end of April.
9. Comments welcome below.
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Între Acte {A}

Location: Halfaya Pass, Cyrenaica, Libya
Date: August 1942
Situation: Deutsches Afrika Korp's  21st Panzers Attacking Halfaya
Rules: Blitzkrieg Commander II {+50% movement/weapon ranges for 15mms}
Modifications: Added FOW dust cloud rules.
Suggestion: Click on images to make them larger
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While General Pettygree and Muljadhi are in limbo in 1899, please view a few photos of our BKCII activities of 23 March 2010. We commence with a dreaded....

Battery of 88mm AA guns configured for anti-tank operations. They guard the right rear of the attacking panzers which have exited the area in your direction.

Viewed from the rear now, we better see the 88s guarding the right rear of the DAK attack. The tanks have disappeared over the distant ridge. Some kicked up dust clouds are still visible. One panzer is in flames.

Crossing and descending the same ridge the panzers have been surprised by dug in 2 Pdr. AT guns and a squadron of Crusaders in the Pass itself. One AT gun was knocked out after it took out a DAK armoured car in the upper right.

RAF Hurricanes try to stop the panzers but it is up to....

A squadron of Crusaders trying to get closer. The 2 Pdrs. near you are out of range.

That's it lads! Come on and good hunting!

A Crusader on the left has been lost to 88 fire but the rest used cover and dust to escape more losses. The red dot toward the upper right is a point of light from a laser pointer. We use actual slopes and line of sight just as if we are outside. No conventions. LOS is real for us and fun. Usually our eyes are enough but occasionally we use a laser pointer.

This is the British rear directly behind the Pass and the Crusaders - on a back table. A squadron of Marmon Herringtons have retreated to the village. Looks like they will block the RHA 25 Pdrs. in front of them if they don't move out of the way soon. In the village are three Grant tanks, one of  which is out of action from the panzers on the ridge off screen to the upper left.
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CLOSING REMARKS
1. Game resumes 30 March 2010.
2. Try a table covering with almost anything underneath to simulate near real topography.
3. You can do this too.
4. Comments welcome below.
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