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MISSION: Stop German's 8th Panzer Regiment of 15th Panzer Division near Gabr Saleh to stop them from reaching Birel-Gubi.

DATE: November 20, 1941 - 18 turns

LOCATION: Gabr Saleh - 40 km WSW of Sollum, Libya

FORCES: Elements of the British 4th and 22nd Armour Brigades: 36 plt Stuart 1 Light tanks, 6 Rifle plt, various AT guns and corresponding Carrier units. There were 4 rounds of airstrikes and 6 rounds of smoke. REINF: Entire 22nd Armour Regiment of Crusader tanks.

ENEMY: 8th Panzer Regiment which was mixture of Pz IIF, Pz IIIG, Pz IIIH, Pz IVD, Pz IVE, and PzJg I. Some recon units and mobile AA units along with infantry units from 200th Motor Rifle Regiment. There were two rounds of airstrikes and 6 rounds of smoke.

CONDITION:Major Win 500
Minor Win 400
Minor Loss 300
Major Loss 200

TERRAIN: Desert terrain at its finest. No significant landmarks present except for three features. Gabr Saleh is an extremely small town with some Palm trees around. Got el-Haragh where many sand dunes are located is the first line of defense. Due west of Got el-Haragh is Gabr Farhat. This is another small town located on a rocky hill. The elevation gradually slopes down toward south and west. Gabr Saleh is located near the center in a valley.

There are 3 100 VP hexes near three landmarks. All three Hexes are held by Allies. There are three exit points for German forces on the west edge of the map.

The weather is clear but dusty. The visibility is somewhat limited due to dust.

OPPONENT: Bill Hartman

Germans were located on the eastern edge of the map. Initially, no force was visible. I had no forces up north, so that I directed a company of Stuarts toward north during my first three turns. My guess was that Lt. Hartman would try to swing up toward north, and then southwest toward the exits. Sure enough, I started to see some of his forces near top of the map. I decided to force the issue and sent another company of Stuarts up there.

Oops! What in the world am I doing? I engaged Pz IIIs and Pz IVs with Stuart Light Tanks!!???!! Two Stuart companies were getting beat up pretty badly when I realized my mistake and withdrew them. I changed my tactic to delay the enemy until my reinforcements start to come around turn 10.

Around turn 7, Lt. Hartman threw me a curveball. Instead of swinging up north, he came straight toward Gabr Saleh and tried to capture the objectives. I was not really sure what Lt. Hartman was up to at this point. I realized that his force up north was a diversion! It was a pure dumb luck that I withdrew Stuarts toward southwest. By doing so, I reinforced Gabr Saleh area. His axis of advance was toward Got el-Haragh and Gabr Saleh. He somehow played into my hands. Even with superior tank forces, I was able to delay his advances long enough for my reinforcements to arrive in the battlefield.

Although I lost Got el-Haragh, I still had enough Stuarts and Infantry units to hold off Gabr Saleh. I used arriving Crusader tanks to counterattack Got el-Haragh. Lt. Hartman was focusing entirely on my tanks and ignoring my infantry completely. For some reason, my Stuart tanks were more effective against Panzers than Crusaders. From turn 13 to 18, the tank battle between German Panzers and British tanks were extremely fierce. Interestingly, PzJg I tanks were doing most of the damage. They were able to knockout Crusaders with ease. I had to make a priority to take out these. Fortunately, I was able to inflict enough damage to keep Germans from advancing into Gabr Saleh.

Eventually, Lt. Hartman realized that the battle was a stalemate. He was not able to come anywhere near the exit Hexes. When we completed the game, there were not many units left on either side. Both forces were completely spent.

RESULTS Allies Major Victory - 689 points.

LESSONS: 1. Stuart Light tanks were able to take some poundings from Panzers even though they are overmatched.
2. Crusaders could not hold up too well against German Panzers.
3. Try to avoid PzJg Is. They did some serious damage against Stuarts.

CONCLUSION: This has always been one of my favorite scenarios. With an ideal terrain and a small enough battlefield, the battle becomes extremely tense and fierce. Since the reinforcements come around turn 10, delaying German's advance is critical to win this scenario. I was fortunate that I was able to find Lt. Hartman's primary Axis of advance rather early to delay his advance. If he tied down some of my forces near the center and directed his forces north, I could have been in serious trouble. (I won this scenario by doing exactly that before. Right, Mr. Poli? ) Overall, this scenario seems to slightly favor the Allies. However, it is very possible to get a victory as German.

Bill Hartman is a dangerous opponent. He is extremely aggressive with his tanks and will not hesitate to attack if there are any weaknesses in defense.

Yong Park XVIII Airborne Corps "Not all pain is gain."