Refighting Ras El Madauur with Flames Of · PDF filePanzer III tanks assault through British...
4
Refighting Ras El Madauur with Flames Of War THERE WILL BE NO DUNKIRK HERE The British forces fought a series of separate actions as independent defensive positions and counterattack forces. The British force has no company headquarters and always passes any Company Morale Checks that it may be required to take. DEPLOYMENT AND RESERVES Deploy the British and German forces as shown on the map opposite, using the forces listed. The German player will have the first turn. The British reserves do not start the game on the table, but are held in Delayed Reserve. They will arrive in the order: 1 RTR, 7 RTR, then 2/48 th Battalion’s companies. All arrive on the main road at where the 3 rd Hussars start the game. The Italians will not join the German forces until they have widened the gap sufficiently by destroying bunkers R4 to R6. Once this has been achieved the Italian forces will arrive on the next turn, moving on from the table corner. VICTORY CONDITIONS The Germans were hoping to force a major breakthrough and exploit to the artillery positions around Bianca on the first day. However, bitter experience in April had taught them the need to get infantry forward with the tanks, so they needed to clear the perimeter fortifications before advancing the tanks deep into the defences. Accordingly, to win the game, the German player must clear the position initially occupied by B Company, 2/24 th Battalion at and either destroy at least eight bunkers or occupy Bianca. They will score a draw if they can either occupy Bianca, or clear B Company’s position and destroy four bunkers. Any other result is a loss to the Germans and a British victory. The first day of the battle at Ras El Madauur makes a great wargame. The forces are quite mismatched, but balanced, as the Germans have lots of tanks, but the defending troops have plenty of guns and minefields and are determined to fight it out. There are lots of ways that you could refight the battle, but since I play Flames Of War, I organised the forces and wrote some special rules for the battle using this system. To keep the forces small enough to fit our collection, I scaled things down so that a platoon represents a company. You could also wargame the pioneers attack on the night of 30 April as a small unit battle pitting a pioneer platoon against a bunker in the dark. The counterattacks on 2 and 3 May are also interesting infantry battles as both sides struggled to improve their situations. Ras El Madauur Scenario FOG AND SANDSTORMS Throughout the battle, both sides seemed to have considerable difficulty distinguishing exactly who and what they were fighting at long ranges. This was most likely due to fog in the early morning, and sandstorms later in the day (and on the following day). To reflect this, roll a die for each platoon immediately before it shoots. Multiply the die roll by 4”/10cm to find the distance that the platoon can see clearly. Any targets beyond that distance will be Concealed. This does not affect teams spotting for artillery bombardments as the artillery seems to have been highly effective throughout the day. PORTEE AMBUSH The early morning fog and undulating ground allowed the portee anti-tank guns of 3 RHA to hold fire until effective range before opening fire. The portee anti-tank guns of 3 RHA may be held in Ambush at the start of the game. When they are revealed, they may be deployed within 16”/40cm of the enemy as long as they are more than 8”/20cm from any enemy team. SURPRISE MINEFIELD The inner minefield caught the Germans by surprise, effectively taking a whole company of tanks out of the battle. Teams attempting to cross the inner minefield must reroll successful Skill Tests to avoid hitting mines. If the game has an umpire, they could keep the German player in the dark about the inner minefield by not showing it on the table until the Germans run into it. Even if the umpire does place the minefield on table, they could still not tell the players about its effectiveness until the Germans run into it. Special Rules H A Italian M13/40 tanks, L3/35 tankettes and L3/35 Lf flame-throwing tankettes assault the B Company defences.
Transcript of Refighting Ras El Madauur with Flames Of · PDF filePanzer III tanks assault through British...
�
Refighting Ras El Madauurwith Flames Of War
THERE WILL BE NO DUNKIRK HEREThe British forces fought a series of separate actions as independent defensive positions and counterattack forces. The British force has no company headquarters and always passes any Company Morale Checks that it may be required to take.
DEPLOYMENT AND RESERVESDeploy the British and German forces as shown on the map opposite, using the forces listed. The German player will have the first turn.
The British reserves do not start the game on the table, but are held in Delayed Reserve. They will arrive in the order: 1 RTR, 7 RTR, then 2/48th Battalion’s companies. All arrive on the main road at where the 3rd Hussars start the game.
The Italians will not join the German forces until they have widened the gap sufficiently by destroying bunkers R4 to R6. Once this has been achieved the Italian forces will arrive on the next turn, moving on from the table corner.
VICTORY CONDITIONSThe Germans were hoping to force a major breakthrough and exploit to the artillery positions around Bianca on the first day. However, bitter experience in April had taught them the need to get infantry forward with the tanks, so they needed to clear the perimeter fortifications before advancing the tanks deep into the defences.
Accordingly, to win the game, the German player must clear the position initially occupied by B Company, 2/24th Battalion at and either destroy at least eight bunkers or occupy Bianca. They will score a draw if they can either occupy Bianca, or clear B Company’s position and destroy four bunkers. Any other result is a loss to the Germans and a British victory.
The first day of the battle at Ras El Madauur makes a great wargame. The forces are quite mismatched, but balanced, as the Germans have lots of tanks, but the defending troops have plenty of guns and minefields and are determined to fight it out.
There are lots of ways that you could refight the battle, but since I play Flames Of War, I organised the forces and wrote some special rules for the battle using this system. To keep the forces small enough to fit our collection, I scaled things down so that a platoon represents a company.
You could also wargame the pioneers attack on the night of 30 April as a small unit battle pitting a pioneer platoon against a bunker in the dark. The counterattacks on 2 and 3 May are also interesting infantry battles as both sides struggled to improve their situations.
Ras El Madauur Scenario
FOG AND SANDSTORMSThroughout the battle, both sides seemed to have considerable difficulty distinguishing exactly who and what they were fighting at long ranges. This was most likely due to fog in the early morning, and sandstorms later in the day (and on the following day).
To reflect this, roll a die for each platoon immediately before it shoots. Multiply the die roll by 4”/10cm to find the distance that the platoon can see clearly. Any targets beyond that distance will be Concealed. This does not affect teams spotting for artillery bombardments as the artillery seems to have been highly effective throughout the day.
PORTEE AMBUSHThe early morning fog and undulating ground allowed the portee anti-tank guns of 3 RHA to hold fire until effective range before opening fire.
The portee anti-tank guns of 3 RHA may be held in Ambush at the start of the game. When they are revealed, they may be deployed within 16”/40cm of the enemy as long as they are more than 8”/20cm from any enemy team.
SURPRISE MINEFIELDThe inner minefield caught the Germans by surprise, effectively taking a whole company of tanks out of the battle.
Teams attempting to cross the inner minefield must reroll successful Skill Tests to avoid hitting mines.If the game has an umpire, they could keep the German player in the dark about the inner minefield by not showing it on the table until the Germans run into it. Even if the umpire does place the minefield on table, they could still not tell the players about its effectiveness until the Germans run into it.
Special Rules
H
A
Italian M13/40 tanks, L3/35 tankettes and L3/35 Lf flame-throwing tankettes assault the B Company defences.
�
R13
R12
R11
R10
R9
R8
R7
R6R4
R5
2/24th Battalion, 26 (Australian) Brigade B Company: Rifle Platoon [page 143]
26 Brigade Anti-tank Company: Anti-tank Platoon 3x dismounted 2 pdr portees [page 153]
1st (MMG) Battalion, Royal Northumberland Fusiliers A Company: Machine-gun Platoon [page 146] D Company: Machine-gun Platoon [page 146]
51st Field Regiment, Royal Artillery: [page 156] Field Battery, Royal Artillery with either 4x 18 pdr guns and 4x 4.5” howitzers, or 8x 25 pdr guns
14th Light Anti-aircraft Regiment: [page 155] Light Anti-aircraft Platoon with 3x Bofors 40mm anti-aircraft guns
107th Royal Horse Artillery: Field Battery, [page 156] Royal Artillery with 8x 25 pdr guns (observers on table, guns off table using the Across the Volga rule on page 225 of the rule book)
3rd Royal Horse Artillery: [page 153] 3x 2 pdr anti-tank gun portees
3rd Hussars: 3x Light Mark VI B (as a reconnaissance platoon)
RESERVES (Arrive at )1st Royal Tank Regiment:
2x A9 Cruiser Mark I, 1x A10 cruiser Mark IIA
7th Royal Tank Regiment: 3x A12 Matilda II
2/48th Battalion, 26 (Australian) Brigade A Company: Rifle Platoon [page 143] D Company: Rifle Platoon [page 143]
Page references for the organisation of infantry and gun platoons from North Africa, the Intelligence Handbook for forces in North Africa and the Mediterranean 1942-1943, are shown in italics after each platoon. Use the Motivation and Skill ratings listed below instead of those in the book.
1
2
3 4
5
67
AB
E
F C
D
D
F
G
C
H
8
9
Water Tower
Forbes Mound
Bianca
British
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
H
(rated Confident Trained)
German(rated Confident Veteran)
II/5th Panzer Regiment, 5th Light Division Headquarters: 2x Panzer III G and 1x Panzer I A with flame-thrower
Light Platoon: 3x Panzer II C
Light Platoon: 3x Panzer II C
5h Company: 3x Panzer III G
6h Company: 3x Panzer III G
7h Company: 3x Panzer III G
8th Company: 2x Panzer IV D or E, 1x Panzer I A
Part of 2nd Machine-gun Battalion, 5th Light Division Panzergrenadier Platoon (dismounted) [page 63]
Part of 200th zBV (Special Purpose) Pioneer Battalion 2x Panzerpionier Platoons (dismounted) [page 67]
Priority Air Support [page 36] Ju 87B Stuka dive-bombers
10
Italian (Reserves) (rated as Elite)
VII ‘M’ Tank Battalion Carri Platoon 4x M13/40
I ‘L’ Tank Battalion 4x L3/35 4x L3/35 Lf with flame-throwers
XII Bersaglieri (Light Infantry) Battalion 1x Bersaglieri Company with 2 platoons [page 95]
10
10
10
1
234567
8
9
Reluctant
confident
feaRless
conscRipt
tRained
VeteRan
Reluctant
confident
feaRless
conscRipt
tRained
VeteRan
aRtilleRy
RegulaR
elite
�
ArmourVehicle Movement Front Side Top Notes Range ROF Anti-tank Firepower
Panzer I A Half-tracked 1 1 1 Twin MG or single MG with flame-thrower. With FW41 flame-thrower 4”/10cm 2 - 6 Flame-thrower, Cannot assault.
Panzer II C Fully-tracked 1 1 1 Co-ax MG, Protected ammo. 2cm KwK38 gun 16”/40cm 3 5 5+
Panzer III G Fully-tracked 3 3 1 Co-ax MG, Hull MG, Protected ammo. 3.7cm KwK gun 24”/60cm 3 7 4+
Panzer IV D or E gun Fully-tracked 4 3 1 Co-ax MG, Hull MG, Protected ammo. 7.5cm KwK36 24”/60cm 2 7 3+ Smoke. Firing bombardments 48”/120cm - 2 6
At present Flames Of War does not have any books dealing with the fighting in Africa in 1941, so I’ve used some game stats from our early-war playtesting for the tanks and guns used in the battle.
Ger
ma
n A
rse
na
lIt
ali
an
Ar
sen
al Armour
Vehicle Movement Front Side Top Notes Range ROF Anti-tank Firepower
L3/35 Half-tracked 1 0 1 Twin hull MG.
L3/35 Lf Half-tracked 1 0 0 Hull MG, Cannot assault. Lanciafiamme 4”/10cm 3 - 5+ Flame-thrower, Hull mounted
M13/40 Fully-tracked 3 2 1 Co-ax MG, Twin hull MG, Slow tank, Unreliable. 47/32 24”/60cm 2 6 4+
Panzer III tanks assault through British defences supported by dismounted motorcycle infantry.
www.FlamesOfWar.com
10
ArmourVehicle Movement Front Side Top Notes Range ROF Anti-tank Firepower
Light Mark VIB Half-tracked 1 1 1 Co-ax MG, Light tank. Vickers 0.5” machine-gun 16”/40cm 3 3 5+
A9 Cruiser Mark I Fully-tracked 1 0 1 Co-ax MG, Two deck-turret MG, Unreliable. OQF 2 pdr gun 24”/60cm 2 7 4+ No HE, Tally Ho!
A10 Cruiser Mark IIA Fully-tracked 2 2 1 Co-ax MG, Hull MG, Slow tank, Unreliable. OQF 2 pdr gun 24”/60cm 2 7 4+ No HE, Tally Ho!
A12 Matilda II Fully-tracked 7 6 2 Co-ax MG, Slow tank, Unreliable. OQF 2 pdr gun 24”/60cm 3 7 4+ No HE.
Weapon Mobility Range ROF Anti-tank Firepower NotesOQF 18 pdr gun Heavy 24”/60cm 2 8 3+ Gun shield, Smoke. Firing bombardments 64”/160cm - 3 6 Smoke bombardment.
OQF 4.5” howitzer Heavy 16”/40cm 1 7 2+ Gun shield, Smoke. Firing bombardments 56”/140cm - 4 3+ Smoke bombardment.
OQF 25 pdr Mark I gun Heavy 24”/60cm 2 8 3+ Gun shield, Smoke. Firing bombardments 72”/180cm - 4 5+ Smoke bombardment.
BRIT
ISH
Ar
sen
al
Visit our website to see a selection of follow-on articles including how the board was made and a battlereport of the scenario.
British 25 pdr guns, protected by Vickers medium machine-guns, pound the German tanks and pioneers.
