Crusader 41
The End of British Hopes
Crusader 41 - small map in JPG format (118 kB)
Crusader 41 - large map in JPG format (807 kB)
| game no. | scenario | played as | outcome (-3 to +3) |
balance (-3 to +3) |
scenario rating (1-10) |
game rating (enjoyment) (1-10) |
| 5 | Crusader 41 | Axis | over.vic.(+3) | -1 British +1 |
7 | 10 |
For full explanation of table columns - see TOAW HQ home page.
Crusader 41 - prelude
Oh, yes! As you may see already - this was highly enjoyable game, one of the best and most enjoyable I ever played in TOAW...
Crusader is one of the obvious PBEM favorites: it is one of the original game scenarios (from the game "box"), it's of reasonable length even for "newbie" players (16 turns), being a desert war scenario - it offers a lot of space for manouver, and finally - it does not have "attacker" and "defender" roles written in stone... This last item is perhaps the most important: ie.: Axis, while initially assuming the role of the defender on most of the front, may go into attack in the Tobruk area, or may undertake adventurous recon or recon in force missions in other areas, since vast desert areas cannot be properly controlled by any of the sides here...
Now, I've heard many complaints as regards the supposed "impossibility" of victory here playing the Axis side. Fortunatelly, I didn't hear those rumours before starting this game :o) Let's read on and see what happened here...
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Axis initial plan
Playing the Axis, I had no special initial plan. This seems quite reasonable to me, as British player is the one with the initiative here, at least in the first few turns... British player - in the opening turns - decides where and when things shall happen, but - fortunatelly - not what and how it would happen. I was preparing to defend, to swiftly react to British moves, and to wait for the opportunity for a general counterattack, should such an opportunity ever occur. Flexibility is the order of the day here.
From my point of view - there are two major decisions for Axis player to take in the first turn, none of them I would call "strategic", though (well, maybe no. 1 is "partially strategic"):
1.) Shall Axis attack Tobruk or not? If the answer is yes - then the attack must be with utmost decisiveness, from the very beginning, and with all available forces (including 90th Light, but, of course, not 15th and 21st Panzer, as they are badly needed elsewhere). This is a major decision Axis player must take, and this decision must not be withdrawn or changed in the future, regardless of the ongoing events on the battlefield. This decision is on the Axis player alone - ie. it shall not be influenced by whatever moves British player may have taken in his turn 1.
2.) Where shall he commit his most mobile forces, namely 15th and 21th Panzer, initially deployed around Sidi Rezegh, Gambut and coastal road? Shall he use them for defending Sidi Rezegh area (link-up between Crusader forces and breakout Tobruk garrison is most likely to occur there) or shall he use them to reinforce crumbling Italian infantry defense further to the east, defending approaches to Sollum and Bardia? This decision is not as important as the number one above, or rather, in other words - it is as much important, but is most likely to be influenced by the moves of British player in turns 1 and 2, so it should be easier for Axis commander to come to the right conclusion here...
If you ask me - answer to the first dilemma is a resounding "yes, Axis should try to take Tobruk". Second dilemma may have different answers, depending on what the British decide to do in their first turns. There is also a "middle" way - commiting German mobile Panzer units as the need arises, in other words - keeping them in operational reserve, rather than tactical reserve. This approach is very cautious one, and may be costly for Axis, as it means more time to travel to the area of crisis.
Air war is a side-show here, and especially so for the Axis... Expect British to have air superiority for the whole length of the campaign, and most, if not all, of your air units on Reorganizing status, most of the time... Usual mixture of combat support and air superiority missions, with a little bit of interdiction and rest is what I used in this game (in those rare moments when I had the control over my units, anyway).
Scenario had two distinctive phases: initial British attack, and Axis counterattack (simple :o))
1. phase - British attack
British struck hard, but in too many directions, which was a mistake they constantly repeated throughout the first phase of the game. British have overwhelming superiority here, but that superiority is still not enough to go into "all out" attack in ALL directions. British player should pick his objectives carefully, as Axis is very strong on the defense here, especially Panzer units... British overwhelming superiority may melt down easily, if it is not used wisely...
In the central area (triangle: Bir el Gubi, el Gueitinat, Sidi Rezegh) three advancing British columns were noticeable after first turn (expectable). Strongest, northern column made the furthest advance - capturing Sidi Rezegh in turn 1! Much smaller was the column advancing towards Italians in Bir el Gubi (it was 22nd Armored Brigade - as it showed later). Further south - South Africans (SA) advanced towards Bir el Gubi from el Cuasc area, with small detachment being sent west from el Cuasc.
Further east - 4th Armored brigade (note: equipped with American M3 tanks) was sent on the road from Gebr Saleh towards Sidi Azeiz, where it clashed with strong German recon unit. Weak Italian infantry units, defending the easternmost area of Axis front were heavily attacked by mish-mash British (Indian, New Zealand, South African and British proper) forces in the area.
As it happens so oftenly in TOAW PBEM games - first few turns, or even the very first turn - set the "pace" for the whole game. In this particular case - it means: British attacking very uncautiously, in too many directions, over-extending their lines, and overestimating their strength. Axis (ie. - mine) general strategy, at least for the opening turns, thus became quite obvious: reinforcing the defence, not panicking if some objectives are to be (temporarily or even permanently) lost, and decisively counterattacking isolated and overextended British units. Quickly seeing how my opponent badly reacts to all this - I was willingly letting him advance into many directions, only to be caught into set-piece traps made of very strong Panzer, 88mm AT gun, and even Italian armored units. This tactic worked wonders here...
With regards to all of the above - I did the following in my first turn:
- Attacked Tobruk defence with all available forces. Since most of the Italian units around Tobruk are "locked" and unavailable for the first few turns - this means using German 90th Light division as main force (important note - many players playing the Axis seem to be tempted to use this fine unit elsewhere, for defensive tasks, being scared by the initial British advances - Wustenfuchs would not approve of such chicken-tactics :o))
- Dug in all the Italian units unavailable for attack or move. Dug in other Italians, too :o)) except those few units around Tobruk, which are used alongside German 90th Light for the attack towards Tobruk.
- Counterattacked, very strongly, British units occupying Sidi Rezegh. This is the first obvious advice to all the British players here: DO NOT advance to Sidi Rezegh itself in the turn 1! I was able to attack elements of British 7th Armored Division in Sidi Rezegh with almost complete 15th Panzer (artillery and all), and from opposing sides, with devastating results.
Units in Sidi Rezegh evaporated under German furious attack from opposite sides... Nearly the same thing happened in the turn 2 - more British units entered Sidi Rezegh, which proved to be a death-trap for them, as they were again attacked by waiting Germans, from opposite sides, with disastrous results for the British. This losses made 7th Armored, elite British unit in the theatre, a third rate, broken force in the first two turns!
Anyway, things weren't so sweet for the Axis - nearly all of the 15th Panzer were used for fighting in the area of Sidi Rezegh (successful, crushing counterattacks against elite British tankers of 7th Armored require VERY strong forces, and will to sustain losses - have that in mind), and since 21st Panzer and various Panzer Armee Afrika units were sent east, to help crumbling Italian defences in the area - that meant a road form el Gueitinat to Gambut, over mountain ridge, was undefended. Normally, this road may be defended by a single, and moderately strong unit, but driven by the "counterattack mania" I was not able to find such unit.
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This proved to be only a minor annoyance - Gambut itself was well defended, so British couldn't advance further east, and other units entering this "hole", never went back, even if some managed to wander as far as coastal road (!! - such was the shortage of Axis units in the area, because every available unit was needed for counterattacks in the Sidi Rezegh area, or for attacking Tobruk). Just like other British units - they were alone, and fell easily when counterattacked individually, and/or when general Axis counterattack started in turns 6-7.
Mentioned scenario - British units advancing into all sorts of traps, and evaporating after ferocious Axis (counter)attacks - happened all over the place, all of the time. Switching from war report to game mechanics - it is obvious that well known Player 1/Player 2 disparity also played a great role here, but - what the heck?! War is war.
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Meanwhile - eastern defence line (Bir el Sheferzen-Sidi Suleiman-Halfaya Pass) was already in the British hands beginning turn 2, with Sidi Omar and Sollum still holding on... Italian infantry in the area was in poor shape, and unable to significantly delay the British. Immediate help was needed, and it came in the form of 21st Panzer, plus some Panzer Armee Afrika units. Some of those units had to be used to stop the 4th Armored brigade, moving from Gebr Saleh towards Sidi Azeiz, that were delayed by recon unit there. Fortunatelly, given the much better quality of German tanks over M3s in the 4th Armored, and a certain amount of 88 AT guns - not too many units were needed for this task, and others could proceed to help further east, where they were badly needed.
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Exception to the generally very bad shape of Italians in this area was Sollum garrison, which held out very well, using its favorable defensive position. In the first few turns I constantly counterattacked the British (Indian) units "waiting" to attack outside Sollum, inflicting terrible losses. I was using limited attack, ignore losses orders - so to attack ferociously, but without advancing outside the city of Sollum itself (and thus losing good defensive bonuses of the city). Note (see picture) that I towed very strong Italian artillery from Bardia fortress garrison, plus some German artillery, and placed them behind the city of Sollum. Strong artillery bombardment, combined with devastating attacks from the Sollum itself, made British pay very, very hard for the capture of the city... By the way - both Sollum and (especially) Bardia are extremely precious for British player and expect British to fight to the death to capture them. (British receive significant amount of permanent points for capture of those cities - points that are unavailable to the Axis even if they manage to recapture the cities later. This is, I believe, to simulate British destruction of port facilities in the cities, badly needed by Axis logistics. Plus, both cities are worth their "price" in "regular" victory points - 30 for Sollum, 80 for Bardia.)
Turns 2-5 went on like smaller replays of turn 1... British player advanced and attacked, only to be crushed by well directed, very strong Axis counterattacks, supported with lots of artillery (Italian artillery rules here!). This happened in front of Sollum, Bir el Gubi (defended very well, against SA infantry and 22nd Armored brigade, by the Italian 132nd Ariete division, helped by some Corps units and artillery), and Sidi Rezegh.
Sollum finally fell to British in turn 6, after they brought 3rd SA brigade to help the Indians, but the price paid for this objective was terrifying... Unfortunatelly - Axis didn't pull very useful artillery units supporting the Sollum defence on time, and they were cut off, and destroyed a turn later...
Meanwhile, my attack towards Tobruk was going well, and with the steady rate. I assumed I would be able to capture Tobruk by turns 12-14, maybe even 10, should the need arise to make do-or-die final push. Note: there is provision in the scenario setup, that game may end abruptly if Axis take Tobruk. That is to simulate British cancelling their operation, as it was conceived to relieve Tobruk in the first place. With nothing to relieve - operation does not have sense anymore, and it's reasonable for scenario to stop. Well, maybe... and maybe not... Here, there is 50% chance that scenario will end with Axis capture of Tobruk, and if it ends there - ending is with the "normal" victory tally. Ie.: whatever objectives you have at the moment of capturing Tobruk - are yours, and your opponent's are of your opponent. In certain situations - such ending (or rather - victory tally) may be unrealistic.
Knowing all this (it is stated in the scenario briefing) I decided to have my units into "sure bet" position over Tobruk, and to try to use them as some sort of "switch" to (try to) end the scenario quickly, should the things go badly in other sectors of the map. It wasn't to be - fortunatelly.
2. phase - Axis counterattack
Fall of Sollum was signal for general Axis counterattack... It started slowly, in turns 6-7, and in some areas earlier than in others, but - except in the eastern area of the front - Axis attack is going to be constant for the rest of the scenario.
First to attack were - very surprisingly - Italians of 132nd Armored, 25th SemiMotorized and 17th SemiMotorized divisions massing in the Bir el Gubi area. Within a turn or two they captured el Gueitinat and Bir el Essem, meeting almost no British on their way... My opponent completely underestimated Axis strength, while overestimating his own. Frankly, I was shocked to see how weak British were in the area - I wasn't expecting it...
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Basically, in the areas west of Gambut - that was it... scenario was all but over for the British, and in turns 9-10 it was obvious that no objective west of Gambut may be held by the British. Tobruk defence was also crumbling, with Axis (Italian) units attacking it being gradually redirected elsewhere, as Tobruk defences became weaker turn by turn... Still, the 90th Light remained as the strongest and most dependable Axis force attacking Tobruk.
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A sidenote, and partial flashback: British attacks were all but stopped, and my counterattack was about to move on, when in turns 5-7 British tried to capture Rotunda Segnali, with some units from 1st SA Motorised brigade (that, I believe, were received as reinforcements) rushing over open desert towards it. I noticed them imediatelly, and reacted, and Italian 101st Motorised division not only stopped them, but - with the help of some Blackshirt units taken earlier from divisions attacking Tobruk - completely encircled and destroyed adventorous South Africans. After eliminating this threat, 101st proceeded towards el Cuasc and British supply point in SW part of the map, capturing them both by the end of the scenario.
Few turns after the start of my counterattack (in turns 8-10) only the situation in the east was undecided, and it was obvious that British player wrote off all the western objectives, concentrating his attacks towards Bardia, which, if taken, may be enough to give him a draw. (Bardia is worth a LOT of points here, especially for the British - in fact, it may be wise for very cautious or unexperienced British player in this scenario, to concentrate on Bardia and Sollum only, together with objectives leading to them, of course, and to stage only spoiling attacks elsewhere...).
Seeing how badly British want to take Bardia, and noticing that Axis defences in the area (consisting of all sorts of mish-mash troops, best of them from 21st Panzer and Panzer Armee Afrika troops, but many of them badly mauled) are not up to the task of stopping the British, in turn 11 I disengaged 90th Light from Tobruk, decided to push towards Tobruk with Italians alone, and rushed 90th Light towards Bardia using the coastal road...
It proved to be the very last moment to do so! In turns 11-13 Bardia was on the edge of falling to British, with very hard battles being fought there... I underestimated the British, thinking it was all over, and by losing Bardia, I might have paid dearly for it... Most probably I would have recaptured Bardia later on, but at the moment my forces were engaged elsewhere, in mopping up operations, or in attacking Tobruk. At the moment game was in the area of Axis marginal victory, and by losing Bardia - it may well have gone into British marginal victory (only temporarily, I am sure, but with Bardia lost, if only temporarily, Axis would never be able to get to the overwhelming victory).
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In turns 13-14 90th Light came to the rescue of Bardia garrison and badly mauled supporting troops in the last moment, and this time it was really all over for the British...
Since the British player commited nearly all of his usable forces in the vain attempt to capture Bardia - other areas were defended very weakly, or not defended at all, enabling Axis to walk all over the desert in all sorts of directions. Exception, to some degree, was Gebr Saleh area, still defended by remains of some British units, thus disabling Axis forces of turning left, towards Sidi Azeiz, to help units around Bardia. Anyway, 90th Light did the job of saving Bardia - with help of 90th Light, even the British in Bardia sector were put into bad shape during the remaining turns...
In the very last turn, turn 16, I have taken city of Tobruk, I don't know whether game ended because of Axis taking of Tobruk, or it was "regular" ending of the scenario after 16 full turns. Pay attention - Tobruk itself isn't worth a single point here... objectives are hexes around the city, so - the capture of Tobruk itself is not that important for the Axis. More important than victory points is the fact that scenario may end after capture of Tobruk...
Final outcome was overwhelming victory for Axis, with captured all objectives, except two (Fort Capuzzo and Sollum): 520 points for Axis against 60 for British. Losses: Axis 83, British 189. Add 50 permanent VP to British for capturing of Sollum. Total result: 516 points, overwhelming victory.
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Analysis/Commentary
This was a highly enjoyable game (for me, that is).
My opponent made some rather huge mistakes, and some of them (the most crucial ones, like attacking in all directions) he made constantly, throughout the first phase of the game. Honestly, it is quite obvious that I wouldn't win an overwhelming victory here without my opponent's "help". Marginal victory - maybe, but surely not overwhelming. Fine by me, though, I'm not complaining :o))) In certain manner - it is historic, too :o) - British making funny mistakes, letting Rommel play cat and mouse with them.
British player also made a mistake of overrating his reinforcements. Not only the British are very strong initially, but they are also receiving almost constant inflow of reinforcements, but - anyway - they are not to be overrated! If used unwisely, in too many directions, and piecemeal - British units, both from the initial deployment, and from the reinforcements - will not last long. I stress this again - British player must very carefully sort his priorities, and act accordingly, that is, push with utmost ferocity towards priority objectives, while all but ignoring others. Dispersed towards all the objectives, and used piecemeal - British units are easily broken by the Axis defence, which is exactly what happened in this game.
Anyway, do not think that my opponent was some kind of newbie, and that this victory is of no value at all! My opponent was experienced enough. We played games against each other before this, so he knew my style of play, too, and he made me sweat in those earlier games of ours - he ain't no newbie! He made few mistakes in the opening turns, things went badly for him and, you know what they say: "When it rains, it pours." I'm stating all of this so that you don't react like "oh, this victory ain't worth a dime, you played against total newbie, and it does not prove Crusader is winnable as Axis!". It proves just that.
I feel quite stupid here, trying to "defend" my opponent from the accusations that are not even being made, yet... oh, well, you understand... :o))
If things start to go bad for British player here - and they may well go that way, as this game proves - he should find a fine line between pushing his forces too much and too far, and switching into general defence. Broken British initial attacks does not have to spell British disaster here... it's just that British player must find a subtle line between "do or die, attack everything" and "save what you may, defend what you have" approach. If things go badly - British player should always be able to at least try to capture Bardia and Sollum, giving him at least a draw (I believe). British initial superiority is much bigger in this, eastern part of the theatre.
Because of the nature of terrain, battlefield, and weapons used - both sides are given many devices of deception and trickery in this scenario. Perhaps Axis more so, because they are defending, any may lure British into some fine set-piece traps, especially around Sidi Rezegh, as it may be approached from one direction only, because of escarpments... Such traps are more suitable for some tactical situations and tactical games (like West Front), but it's quite interesting to find that they work even here, on the operational level. Well known Rommel's trick of using weak, but fast forces to lure British tanks into set "killing fields" of 88 AT/AA guns or Panzers worked in this scenario, on a much larger level, too!
Speaking of scenario - it is very fine, but has (or had) some quirks and bugs... (I rated "scenario quality" 7 out of 10). Perhaps most noticable and most annoying bug was unmovable German Marder AT unit east of Gambut. I rationalised this by "explaining" it to myself that they were left without gas for their vehicles... oh, well... :o)) I needed those Marders badly...
Also, some Italian units are "captured" west of Tobruk, and are unable to move more than 2-3 hexes left and right, because of escarpments.
Bardia and Tobruk are made "anchorages" here. What this is supposed to mean, I believe, is that British player, capturing Bardia, may be able to move some of his units by sea (British are given enough sea transport points for this) to Tobruk, as reinforcements. Well, it does not work, because both Bardia and Tobruk harbors are surrounded by "shallow water" sea hexes, unpassable for ship transports carrying troops! (It didn't matter in this game, as British were unable to capture Bardia anyway.)
(Note that this game was played under TOAW version 1.04. Patch 1.06 brought updated version of this scenario, with Marder unit finally movable, and Italians able to "escape" escarpment trap, but still no sea lane between Bardia and Tobruk.)
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Photo of Italian tank in the desert from
http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/Quarters/4635/index.htm
Photo of 88 AT/AA gun emplacement from
http://www.geocities.com/HotSprings/7181/
All sorts of feedback are welcome. oleg@bug.hr
Copyright 1998-1999 Oleg Mastruko. Contents of Oleg's TOAW HQ may not be copied, reproduced, printed or published on the web or paper or wherever without my prior consent.