Background
The Second Battle of El Alamein (23 October – 11 November 1942) was a battle of the Second World War that took place near the Egyptian railway halt of El Alamein. The First Battle of El Alamein and the Battle of Alam el Halfa had prevented the Axis from advancing further into Egypt.
In August 1942, General Claude Auchinleck had been sacked as Commander-in-Chief Middle East Command and his successor, Lieutenant-General William Gott was killed on his way to replace him as commander of the Eighth Army. Lieutenant-General Bernard Montgomery was appointed and led the Eighth Army offensive.
The Allied victory was the beginning of the end of the Western Desert Campaign, eliminating the Axis threat to Egypt, the Suez Canal and the Middle Eastern and Persian oil fields. The battle revived the morale of the Allies, being the first big success against the Axis since Operation Crusader in late 1941. The battle coincided with the Allied invasion of French North Africa in Operation Torch on 8 November, the Battle of Stalingrad and the Guadalcanal Campaign.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Battle_of_El_Alamein
The Game
One of my gaming buddies volunteered to set up a scenario to play for this Friday’s game. His collection is centered around the desert war, so he focused on a scenario during the battle of El Alamein. The scenario was loosely based on one from the Rapid Fire African scenario book. The scenario is set that the British are defending a position from an attack by the Italian army, with support from German armor. To add some flavor, the game also requires the defending British to launch a counter attack to outright win.
Victory Conditions: The Axis player must seize and hold the center hill and break into the British position to win. The British, must keep the Axis out of their position and counter attack and hold the center hill. Any other result is a draw.
Forces: The British force includes two armored companies (Valentine IIs and Crusaders) and two Australian Infantry Companies. The force has 25lb Artillery and 2lb Porties in support. The Axis includes three infantry companies attacking, with a German (PZ-IIIg) and Italian (M-14/41) armored companies that enter as reserves.
Terrain: The terrain is mostly open. The main road is hard pack and the rail line provides cover and requires a cross check. The British position is dotted with low height brush and a few hill.
Recap
The British plan was to tightly pack their forces within their deployment area to make it difficult for the Axis to break in. They positioned their Valentines close to the objective hill and awaiting their substantial artillery units to pound the hill top into oblivion so the Valentines could roll in. The Axis plan was to move to the British flank to roll it up, while allowing the Germans to seize the hill with Italian infantry in support.
Both sides stuck to their plans pretty reasonably. The British held their forces within their position and moved their mobile reserves to engage the attacking Italians. The Valentines maintained their position awaiting to launch their attack, pounding the hilltop all game. The Italians were able to seize the objective hill with their infantry and dug in amongst the hail of artillery shells landing around them. The Italian main armor attack assaulted the British flank, with their infantry leading the attack. The British were able to shift their forces and basically destroy the attacking Italians over time. Their bombardments on the hill were not proceeding as quickly as hoped. With the arrival of more axis units supporting the position, the British tried to attack the hill with their heavy armor, but were not able to break into the position. The game ended in a draw!
- Manteuffel