Op Battleaxe - Game 6: British Attack on Musaid

The last game for Turn 2 of the campaign would see the British launch an attack on Musaid...however, thanks to the fog of war element (as I am mostly playing as umpire), the British campaign commander found his attack heading straight into the advancing 15. Panzer Division...not good.

Right-most attack: 4 RTR (now with 'B' Squadron) and the Cameron Highlanders...stumble into
15. Panzer taking the scenic coastal route. Oops.

The British would be attacking here with 350 Pts against 500 pts of Germans & Italians. A tough ask; the only bright spot being that (thanks to schedules) I would be commanding the British force...

The British force.

Germans, with Italian infantry proxied by Germans (the shame!)

The Battlefield: the outskirts of Musaid on the right. Little else of interest.

Italian infantry infest the buildings... with an 88 in support!

British advance guard...three Matildas. They trade long-range shots with the Panzers, to no effect.

More reserves slowly come on (very sloooowly). The 88 is however KO'd by a 25-pounder firing over open sights!

Matildas move toward the village: the Italian infantry take possession of a perfectly good gun-pit (found unoccupied, owner deceased!). More Panzers arrive in the distance.

British infantry arrive....reserves still glacial. Rear most Matilda break-downs and is lost.

German armour decides to commit...time to be brave. Italians get shot at a lot by British infantry: they would eventually lose half the platoon, but retained the position.

Flank hits all bounce off the Matildas side armour, though a frontal hit gets through and a Matilda burns...typical!
An unlucky Panzer III G then rolls over an unmarked Italian mine!

Matildas claim a Panzer IV D in return...quite disappointing return fire mostly.

Another Matilda is subsequently lost, though in return another Panzer IV D is KO'd, as well a a Panzer III G.

The 25-pounder shifts position and... mostly misses things.

Panzers shoot back, eventually destroying it.

The close-range duel in the town ends when the Panzer III bounces rounds off the thick frontal armour of the British tank while the Matilda makes the return shot count.

German tank losses are mounting...but the British are running out of time.

With twelve turns complete, darkness falls and the British attack is called off.
Though it failed to take the position, the attack did inflict considerable German losses.

Bloody slow reserves meant I could't really win the game, but it was still pretty close despite the force imbalance. The Axis forces took a beating with 34/41 BR while the British losses were lighter and they suffered just 15/34 BR loss.


CdlT