Time To Figure Out The Next Campaign Game

Hello Everyone,

It is probably about time to:

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1) Pick a date or dates for a next N. African Campaign Game.

This could occur on several Wednesday evenings or on a Saturday.
Chuck usually works on Saturdays so perhaps it could be in the evening, combinations of Wednesdays and a Saturday or?

Unavailable dates = 10/20/12, 11/10/12 and 12/01/12.

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2) The current situation is:

Italians (Todd B, Michael M. and Chris K.) hold boxes in NW Egypt, hold all of Libya, garrison Sollum, Bardia, Tobruk, Benghazi and Tripoli. Rommel (Chuck) is arriving with the first elements of the 5th. Light Div. in Tobruk and/or Benghazi. Why?  Libya is still in Italian hands. Though Rommel would probably have not been sent to N.Africa with the successes of our Italians, that's no fun. So Rommel is arriving anyway.

Commonwealth forces (Jim H. and Bill P.) are receiving reinforcements east of the Italian boxes.

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3) What Shall We Do?

Idea #1:
The Brits. pin the Italian boxes frontally while swinging wide into the desert to come around behind them. If the Brits. win, the Italians pull out of Egypt to Sollum, Fortress Bardia, Halfaya Pass and Fort Capuzzo, etc. Leading elements of the 5th Light arrive to help mid-game. Perhaps Halfaya Pass should be on the table as the objective for both sides. It was a super important choke point.

Idea #2:
The Brits. are receiving reinforcements east of the Italian boxes. The Italians decide to attack them. Rommel arrives with leading elements of the 5th Light mid-game to help. The Brits. would probably be in their old works built for prior campaign games. However, the Italians could swing wide into the desert avoiding them.

Other Ideas?
??????
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Please leave thoughts at "Comments" below.

The most important thing is to select a date or dates.

Tally-Ho,
Bill
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Next Campaign Game

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We will be making improvements to BKCII in April/May relative to command control things that bother most of us. After tests we will have a next campaign game before October which might look something like this:

March 1941 Western Egypt
Main Table divided into two independent sectors, each 6'x12' approx.
Back Tables too.

No communication or movement between them.
Perhaps airpower could be called to either. Not sure.
Each table will play at its own speed.

One table will be infantry heavy.
The other table will be armor heavy.

Possible Overall Commanders:
All current units in the campaign are being withdrawn for refit and being replaced with:

DAK and 5th Light Div. Chuck.
Italian Ariete Armored Div.: Todd or Michael.
Italian Trieste Motorized Infantry: Todd or Michael.

6th Australian Div.: Jim.
2nd. Armoured Div. Bill.
Small Allied units: FFL, Poles, etc. if we have any.

All other players will fill in anywhere as needed.
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Ideas welcome.
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Background
Next Things For January-February 1941 In Campaign Time:

Italians:
Old Italian formations fall back to boxes in western Egypt to recover and wait for Rommel and new Italian formations arriving at Tobruk-Benghazi in February 1941. Afterwards old Italian formations are pulled out to refit in western Libya.

Commonwealth:
Pull out 4th Indian and 7th Armoured to refit. Finish bringing in the 6th Australian, add the 2nd Armoured and add tiny units, if we have any; Poles, FFL, etc. Move forward to the Italian defensive boxes in Western Egypt.
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Respectfully,
Bill

Proposed Tactical Rules Changes And Next Things:

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Proposed Changes To Make BKCII A Better Game
And Less Of A Simulation:
1) No future command value reductions when using initiative or opportunity fire.

2) Reduce the number of command throws from four to three for non-Germans.

3) Take out or revise severe Blunders such as officers permanently having their command throws reduced -1 or -2 for the rest of a game.

4) Free Stuff For Every Corps (not a Battle Group) :
2x Fighter aircraft
2x Air Observers (use arty.stats)
3 Armoured Cars
Transport
All non-German CO and HQ command values will be upgraded +1 for free.
This does not apply to observers

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Reminder:
5 Even if an officer fails, he does not need to stand there and do nothing. He:
5a) May use Initiative Fire if close enough in the Initiative Phase of the turn. (Page 10) 
5b) May use opportunity fire in the Command Phase. (Page 21).

6) Some hull down positions were not used when they could have been in the 17 March game. It happens and can't always be helped.

7) Players are reminded to look at the enemy Back Table. Forgetting about it is dangerous.
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Respectfully,
Bill
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From Todd:
I’m thinking the nasty blunders like the one discussed ... are really geared more to the couple hour games that a standard rulebook scenario would produce. For clubs or gamers that play smaller games more frequently, a one off bad game really isn’t too big a deal. In our case, these North African games are more like a convention game. Many of us only play the game during our campaign games. In that sense, a big swing early on in the game can really skew things.


Having limits on what a blunder can do along with mitigating command failures in general could help in the flow of these “convention” style games. Regarding command failure, maybe a rule that says that you can’t fail your first command roll two turns in a row. Maybe remove the -1 or -2 command options for a blunder.
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From Ross
The last BKC game we played, part way through we agreed that any officer who failed his roll got 1 move but could not try for a 2nd. That helped a lot.
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From Chuck
1) Abandon command control and simply paly I go U go.
2) Bill or like BAR with cards.

3)I had another idea Bill.  What if we came up with our own blunder chart?  We could keep it simple on a D3 or D6.

 

1-2  Stop fire penalty.  -1 to firing tests for that unit.  if you normally hit on 4,5,or 6 you hit on a 5, or 6.  If you already hit only on a six you re - roll all your 6's and score a hit on a 4, 5, or 6 on those dice.

3-4 hasty orders.  Move at half speed

5-6 Fog of war.  No firing for that unit

 

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Avanti!
Todd
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JEBEL KLAAHPUR RIDGE NEAR EL ALAMEIN

ITALIAN AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHS OF BRITISH POSITION 

Looking From West To East 

17 March 2011 Campaign Game (January 1941)

Italian Left Flank: El Bartar Village Along The Mediterranean Sea. 

Alexandria and The Delta are through the distant wall.

 Italian Center

More of the Italian Center.  Two mine fields are shown.

Italian Right Flank. Some barbed wire blocks the road into the interior.

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ITALIAN GROUND LEVEL PHOTOGRAPHS

From Left To Right

 Italian Left Flank: El Bartar Village

 Italian Center

Italian Center Moving To The Right A Little

Italian Center Opposite Jebel Klaaphur Ridge

Italian Right Flank

Italian Extreme Right Flank

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Note:

1) Behind the above images is the Italian Back Table where all Italians start before Turn 1.

2) Crossing from the back table to the main table consumes a command throw but you cannot fail.

3) Ditto for the British from their Back Table to the Main Table.

4) Main Table: 6'x12'.

5) Each Back Table: 2.5'x12'.

6) El Bartar and vegetation along the Mediterranean are off limits.

7) Each Army shall divide their Back Tables into six marked zones 1 through 6.

8) At 1:30pm (Italian) and 1:45pm (British) real Brown Deer time reinforcements arrive on respective Back Tables in one of the six zones. Throw 1D6 to find out which one.
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Next Campaign Game March ? 2012

NORTH AFRICA CAMPAIGN GAME UPDATE
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Date: March 17:
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Participants:
Bill P., Jim H., Michael M., Chris K., Nick K., Jon Poor, Dan Ervin, Morgan Ervin, John Beck.

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Don't Know Yet
George.
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Unable On Above Dates:
Todd B.
Chuck
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Venue: Brown Deer
Early Arrivals: 10:00-11:00am. Show and Tell, Chat, snacks, etc.
Set-Up: 10:00-11:00am am approximately.
Turn 1: 11:00am
Last Turn: Turn in progress at 4:30 pm approx.
Max. Players: 4-8 tops.
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Do Orders of Battle on the BKCII website:
+50% movement, stay metric, don't allow for +/- random pts.
Keep historical parameters on.

Todd B. and/or Michael decide who will do Italian orders of battle for the game.
Print and bring to the game for insertion into Quick Ref. charts.
Or email to Bill.

Bill and Jim will do Commonwealth orders of battle.
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SCENARIO
The choice of action was given to Todd.
He chose continued pursuit of the WDF deeper into Egypt without encountering a box.
Near El Alamein ridges. Brits are defending them.

Main Table: 6'x12'.
Italian Back Table: 2.5'x12'.
Commonwealth Back Table: 2.5'x12'.

Background: WDF lost the previous battle including lots of supplies and vehicles. The Italians are using these to continue their pursuit.
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Brits. At Start: 4,000 (Main Table) and at 1:45pm real time: 500pts. (Back Table).

Italians At Start: 5,250 (Back Table) and at 1:30pm real time: 750 pts. (Back Table).

 

Suggestions?

(1) Three Italian Battle Groups: 2,500, 2,750 and 750.

(2) You make up 1-2 Battle Groups from your collection. Perhaps (2,500 or 2,750) and (750)?

(3) I'll make up the missing pts. from Chris Kenth's collection. I have the whole thing here. He has lots of everything but I'll have to consult your armor book to identify things. Huge collection. Tell me in general what you want and I'll show you the result for approval/change.  

 

Otherwise:

Moving from Back to Main Table can't fail but movement consumes a command throw.

Brits: CO and HQ are +1 upgrades free. Two free fighter planes and two free air observers.

Italians: One CO or HQ per Battle Group upgraded +1 free.

Transport is free.

 

How does the above sound?

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The British Western Desert Force will defend a long and large ridge which can be flanked.

Forces: 7th Armoured Division, 4th Indian Division and some 6th Australian Div.

I'll send a photo of the general terrain several days before the game.

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The End
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The El Bartar Handicap

Date: 29 December 1940/2011
Location: East Of The El Bartar Box
Situation: British Retreating Eastwards Are Pursued
Photos: None
For Previous History See The Battle of the El Bartar Box here:
http://northafricancampaigning.blogspot.com/2011/09/box-at-el-bartar.html
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After being defeated at the El Bartar Box, the British retreated and the Italians pursued. Two British 7th Armoured Battle Groups (1,500 pts. each plus B Echelon lorries and a 500 pt. Supply Depot) were intercepted and defeated by three Battle Groups (1,750 pts. each) of the Italian II Motor Corps. Everyone was heading eastwards except for a static British Supply Depot.

LEFT FLANK
Bill's left-hand Battle Group turned about in confusion (a "blunder" happened) to engage George's pursuing Italian armour on Turn 2. Result? Nine Cruisers knocked out along with two trucks conveying infantry in two to three turns. Italian losses were zero. British morale "broke" and the survivors turned about eastwards once again never to recover.

John's "B Echelon" (ten lorries) luckily was posted east of Bill's Battle Group. It somewhat hesitatingly covered a lot of ground heading east southeast finally entering the Supply Depot lager behind a prodigious hill. Upon arrival there very late in the game, it commenced loading supplies to be taken eastwards deeper into Egypt.

RIGHT FLANK
Jim's right-hand Battle Group successfully motored eastwards eventually arriving on the south (right side) of the hill and adjacent to John's Supply Depot lager.

Morgan's Italian Battle Group pursued from the rear. However, his officers suffered numerous command failures. Some fire was exchanged with disappearing British forces. Near game end Morgan and George's Battle Groups were climbing the hill soon to reach the top and pour devastating fire down into the lager.

Before this, on Turn 5 Dan's Battle Group arrived from the south flanking Jim. Dan and Jim hotly engaged each other. John's lager defenders also participated.

At 4:00pm the game was called and victory was awarded to the Italians. Why? There was little hope (none almost) that B Echelon would carry away the supplies in time. A throw of 2D4s resulted in four turns being needed to load the trucks. The game was called with three turns left to load them. Only numerous Italian "blunders" and command failures could save the supplies. Very very doubtful.

Though Dan's Battle Group was stalled attacking the lager, the imminent arrival of Morgan and George's Battle Groups predictably would win the day for Italy.
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Losers recover 25% of lost points and the winner recovers 50%.

7th Armoured Points:
Bill: (815 initially lost) x25% = (204 recovered and 611 lost)
Jim: (255 initially lost) x25% = (64 recovered and 191 lost)
John: (20 initially lost) x25% = (5 recovered and 15 lost)
7th Armoured had 2,855 pts. in theatre now reduced to 2,038

II Motor Corps Points:
George: No losses.
Morgan: (45 initially lost) x50% = (23 recovered and 22 lost)
Dan: (405 initially lost) x50% = (203 recovered and 202 lost)
II Motor Corps had 3,266 in theatre reduced to 3,042.
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Cards numbered 1-6 were drawn to post all moving groups. This resulted in random placement simulating the British in a confused retreat hotly pursued by the Italians.
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Thank you Sirs for participating.
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THE FUTURE?
Given British reverses, new thinking is occurring in Berlin, Rome and London.

Berlin:
OKW will still send the 5th Light Division to Libya in February to assist the Italians. Disembarkation likely will occur at Benghazi rather than Tripoli as was the case historically. The reason is Libya is still fully controlled by Italy. Crossing the Suez Canal thought to be a fantasy is becoming more real.

Rome:
El Duce demands that the Tenth Army and other forces move eastwards deeper into Egypt. Local commanders claim insufficient supplies and transport. The latter are correct though considerable supplies and lorries were just captured. They will move eastwards toward the Canal more, but how far?

London:
Churchill has ordered a stand west of The Nile at a practicable location. Reinforcements from Africa and The Middle East or anywhere are being sought. Already en-route is the 6th Australian Division to arrive in January at Alexandria. Plans to withdraw the 4th Indian Division have been put on hold. The latter will remain with The Western Desert Force given the serious situation.
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Australians On A Reverse Slope And You

The Australians Have Arrived

An officer supervises mortar fire on ruins in the distance while....

An observer perched on a ladder situated in a uniiversal carrier

spots for results.

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Closing Remarks:

Sometime in very late December or very early 2012, we shall resume our campaign in North Africa. Shall we have the British attack an Italian box again, have the Italians retreat to the fortified line at the port of Bardia or?

Australians painted by Jim. H. this past summer. Very nice!

Vehicles painted by Bill P. in mid-November.
See: http://www.flamesofwar.com/online_store.aspx?CategoryID=13121&p=e

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Would Todd B., Jim H., Chuck L., Dan/Morgan E., George R., John B. and Michael M. please comment as to what you would like to do next in the campaign?  Place your comment below please. Thank you.

Respectfully,
Bill P.