Desert Rats 1940-1942 Compass 1

Hello friends, 

let's play Desert Rats 1940-1942 by Taktyka & Strategia. The game uses the Great Battles 1939-1945 system with one hex representing 5km of terrain. The game is played at at a scale ranging from company to as far as a division. Today I want to play the Compass 1 scenario which depicts the British, Indian and Australian attack on the Italians defending mostly around Sidi Barrani. The Italians start the game fortified. In reality they actually tried the static defense. 

The map and the box

All of the victory points locations

Initial setup

Turn 1 The British launch their attacks. Selby Battle Group goes for Maktila defended by 1st Libyan Division. Brits have some naval support in their favor. Around Nibeiwa the 7th Armored Division hits the Maletti Group while the 7 Royal Tank Regiment with the 4th Indian Division attack the positions occupied by the 2nd Libyan Division. To the West the Recon Regiment moved toward Sofafi in hope to capture it with the help of air support. It is faced by the 142 Regiment of the 64 Italian Division. 

So the 9th December British attacks did not go quite to the plan. To the West the Recon Regiment captured Sofafi but with heavy loses. In the Nibeiwa Region the A/Maletti Battalion was forced to retreat and got disorganized but so did the attacking British. The 2nd Libyan Division was forced to retreat but now it is surrounded with the B/Maletti Battalion. Selby pushed the Italians out of Maktila but got disorganized. 

Situation at the end of December 9. Italians of the 64th Division recapture Sofafi destroying the weakened Recon Regiment but they took some loses. The surviving A/Maletti Battalion withdraws north (game wise if it would stay where it was it had to attack the 7th Armored = suicide) 1st Libyan pushes Selby out of Maktila. Black Shirts units move toward Halfaya Pass just to secure it if needed.

10th of December 1940. The British 4th Armored Brigade of the 7th Armored Division captures Sofafi foricing the Italians to withdraw. In the center the combined attack of the 7th Armored, 7th Royal Tank Regiment and 4th Indian Infantry Division inflicts heavy casualties on the defending Italians destroying the B/Maletti Battalion but also sustaining loses. In the North Selby with the help of the Royal Navy support pushes the Italians far to the West.

End of the second day of battles. Italians push back Selby again with the help of the 2nd Tank Regiment. The 142nd Regiment of the 64th Infantry Division withdraws one hex to the West.

On the 11th of December the 6th Australian Division arrives and relieves Selby. The Australians push back the Italian tanks and follow them West. Selby rests for the day in order to regroup the disorganized forces. NW of Nibeiwa the Italians are defeated and the prisoners captured (see that "1" counter? That reflects the lack of supply because of the amounts of the captured Italian PoW's). A little bit to the North of Nibeiwa 7th Armored push back the Italian force Suddenly the situation of the Libyan Corps is starting to look bad. I have no picture of the Italian turn but all they did was pulling back towards Sidi Barrani avoiding direct contact with the Commonwealth forces.

Last day of the offensive. The British try to capture the crossroads leading towards Sidi Barrani and the one SW of Sofafi.

End game. The 4th Brigade of the 7th Armored is pushed back after an unsuccessful attack towards Sofafi. In the North the Italians are surrounded in Sidi Barrani.  

Actually, I have only managed to score 2 VP's in this game. Despite the Navy and RAF support the Allies have a touch time achieving their goals with only 4 turns to do so. 2VP's mean I will be sent to Hong Kong because it's hard to break something over there. Anyway, the game is fun and usually fast. You can play most of the scenarios in 20-30 minutes. I do think however that some of the scenarios are really one sided. Highly recommended for someone getting into hex and counters.