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| NB. The map is/was from a truly excellent web source at https://web.archive.org/web/20080221021931/http://www.geocities.com/firefly1002000/map-1.html |
My regular opponent and wargaming buddy DG and I have shared a goal for some considerable time to find the perfect set of WWII rules... (I know, I know...) Having finally agreed they don't exist (and we've tried most of them...) we each set out to write our own. I thought that a campaign might be the ideal opportunity to generate lots of little skirmishes to test them further, hence Operation "Sonnenbloom" - which is based on the actual historical campaign of that name...
DG and I had a very enjoyable couple of months battling out the various skirmishes and battles in the campaign, which yours truly as the Germans won...but given the campaign parameters this was not unexpected. Have to say, of all the campaigns we've played DG definitely got the short end in this one!!
- Day One... [Clicky] March 30th
- Day Two... [Clicky] March 31st
- Day Three... [Clicky] April 1st
- Day Four... [Clicky] April 2nd
Operation 'Sonnenbloom'(Sunflower) - Background
Most of the background information for this came from various books I had, but specifically Correlli Barnet's "Desert Generals" (cracking read), Colin "Rapid Fire" Rumford's scenario book for the early desert war (less than a fiver, and it's brilliant..) and web sources (especially the one that provided my map on the Tobruk Campaign home page..)
Sunflower
The leading elements of the Afrika Korps (comprising the German 5th Light Division) landed at Tripoli on 14th February 1941. They had been sent by Hitler to help bolster the faltering forces of his erstwhile ally, Mussolini.
Wasting no time at all, Rommel ordered a number of reconnaissance missions, and following these he concluded that the British forces in the area were weak. With unerring accuracy he sensed an opportunity to recapture all of the ground in Cyrenaica lost as a result of the hugely successful Operation Compass.
Rommel as usual was right..
Most British units had been withdrawn to the Nile Delta following the success of Compass, leaving only the British 2nd Armoured Division and the Australian 9th Infantry Division in the area.
At the same time other units had been stripped out in order to provide the support Churchill had promised to assist the Greeks in defending their country from the recently launched Italian/German invasion.
The British forces in the area were not in good shape. The 2nd Armoured Division was very badly equipped with a mixture of worn out cruiser/light tanks and captured Italian M13/40s. The Australians were minus an infantry brigade, which had been left behind in Tobruk to repair the old Italian fortifications.
This campaign seeks to recreate part of the British withdrawal on Tobruk,
and the advance of the Afrika Korps - the first of what the old 8th Army
salts came to call the "Benghazi Stakes".
Back to the top..
Operation 'Sonnenbloom'(Sunflower) - Campaign Rules
Objectives
Rommel actually divided his forces into 3 separate columns after the battle at Mersa Brega.
This campaign seeks to recreate the battle at Mersa Brega and the subsequent advance of the coastal road column. We should assume that at the same time simultaneous advances by further elements of the Afrika Korps and their allies, are also taking place to the east.
The German objective is to destroy the British forces opposing them, the British objective is to avoid this, and withdraw as many troops as possible to Tobruk. Starting Grid
It is the evening of March 29th.The German forces deploy as follows:
- 5th Panzer Regiment starts in grid 2781 (Mersa Brega)
- Other units are deployed elsewhere - you don't know how many, or where�
The British forces can be deployed anywhere along the coastal road (Benghazi/Tobruk road) with the following limitations/notes.
- the vast majority of the Australian Infantry is not motorised - this is historically accurate but should be born in mind by the British player
- in the actual campaign the Australian infantry was mostly deployed north of the Jebel Akdar mountain range i.e. north of a line running from grid 962 to 1015, and west of a line running between Derna & Mechilli - the Australians therefore need to deploy on the coastal road (or close to it) between Benghazi and Barce.
- All the elements of the 2nd Arm'd Division must deploy at Mersa Brega.
Scale
Each square is approximately 5 miles.
The day is divided into 7 two-hour moves (0600-2000) - night fighting was not a feature of the campaign so to simplify this campaign there is no forced march/night moving.
Movement is as follows:
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To tie the tabletop to real time/distance use the following
- There are 6 full moves (i.e. both side A and B have been moving player 6 times) in an hour. Therefore each full move is 10 mins
- 1' on the tabletop = 1 mile on the map
Note: The operational unit for the campaign is the company - all company's should be deployed within 1 square of their HQ company - other than this deployment is up to the player (this is only to ensure that regimental formations are retained).
Officers
Each side is under the overall command of a "colonel", each regimental unit is under the comcmand of a "major" - in campaign mode each player should note where these commanders are located.
Unless stated otherwise it is assumed unit commanders are with their HQ Coy's.
The player should stipulate which HQ unit the "colonel" is with.
Logistics
In the actual campaign the British were heavily dependent on static depots for supplies - this limited their ability to manoeuvre. In addition they were very low on motorised transport for the troops.
All units carry 10 days of supplies with them (representing food & fuel) - in Berthier terms, 70 units, used at a rate of 1 unit per move.
Every time a unit arrives at a town (depot), it is completely re-supplied up to the supply value it was originally defined with. It can't become supplied to a higher level than this.
Engagements/Breaking Off..
When a unit of one force is contacts the enemy, the players are faced with two choices - fight the engagement of break off.
Contacting player nominates whether to fight or break off first, followed by opponent.
If a player opts to break off then casualties to a total of 10% of the strength points of his contact force are deducted - fractions are rounded up to whole numbers. The player breaking off decides how to apportion the lost points among the units in his contacting force.
Once an engagement is called, then neither side is allowed to break off without taking a 10% casualty cost - points are apportioned as above.
Command Radius
All elements in a unit (regiment) must stay within 3 squares of their HQ element to remain in command.
Winning and Losing
The German task is to destroy the British forces before they can get to Tobruk. The British task is to retain as many troops as possible and get them to Tobruk. Needless to say, this means that in this campaign the British player is seeking to reverse history as in reality the German forces had destroyed (mostly by capture) the British units on the coastal road by the time they got to Benghazi!
As the British forces are low on transport and supplies however, I will weigh the finishing points in their favour.
The game ends when all British units outside of Tobruk are
destroyed/captured or otherwise removed. The British score 2 points for
every strength point in Tobruk at the end of the game, the Germans score 1
point/strength point they have remaining. The side with the most points
wins.
Operation 'Sonnenbloom'(Sunflower) - Maps
Tactical Map..
Here's a modern view of the area the campaign was fought over...
Scale is included with the map, but you can see that by the main coastal road, it's approximately 6 or 700 miles between Tripoli and Tobruk.. What aren't shown are the rough desert tracks that criss cross the desert between modern day Marsa al Burayqah, and Tobruk. It does however show the Jebel Akdar mountain range that butts up against the coastal road...
Berthier Stategic Map..
Back to the top..
Operation 'Sonnenbloom'(Sunflower) - OOB
Note: All the following were classified using my own "Panzer Grenadier" rules
British/Commonwealth..
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Notes:
- C Squadron 6th Battalion RTR really did have M13/40's! They'd been re-equipped with captured Italian equipment following the phenomenal successes of Operation Compass. This had only completed a few months before and had resulted in large volumes of captured Italian equipment.. always thought it would be interesting to read the views of the crews at the time, though I suspect it was one of "better something, than nothing"..!
- Tower Hamlets Rifles were made available to the Allied player part way through the campaign...
Axis..
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Notes:
- 5th Bersaglieri(which from memory were part of the Ariete Division in the actual campaign) were made available to the Allied player part way through the campaign...
Back to the top..
Operation 'Sonnenbloom'(Sunflower) - Campaign Diary - Day One (March 30th) ..[Clicky]
The campaign diary will open in a separate window, and is in Word format..
Operation 'Sonnenbloom'(Sunflower) - Campaign Diary - Day Two (March 31st) ..[Clicky]
The campaign diary will open in a separate window, and is in Word format..
Operation 'Sonnenbloom'(Sunflower) - Campaign Diary - Day Three (April 1st) ..[Clicky]
The campaign diary will open in a separate window, and is in Word format..
Operation 'Sonnenbloom'(Sunflower) - Campaign Diary - Day Four (April 2nd) ..[Clicky]
The campaign diary will open in a separate window, and is in Word format..
Back to the top..
Aftermath..
..and so the campaign drew to a close..
All remaining Allied/Commonwealth units have now surrendered to the Axis.
Given this campaign represents only a part of what was actually happening, we should assume enough "other" Allied troops managed to get to Tobruk, to put up the amazing defence that they actually did in reality.
Scores..
As per the original campaign rules, the British score 2 points for every strength point in Tobruk at the end of the game, the Germans score 1 point/strength point they have remaining. The side with the most points wins.
Points score is as follows..
- British/Allied: 0 points
- Axis: 48 points
Post campaign thoughts
Time line for the real campaign was as follows - I've matched this against what happened in our campaign (in italics):
- Mersa Brega. The attack by 5th Panzer Regt. went in early on March 30, but massed artillery fire halted them in their tracks. However, a more concerted attack the following day, supported by a flanking action by the 2nd Machine gun Bn. succeeded. Assisted by air support from their Stukas the attack continued throughout the day, and by late afternoon they had breached the 2nd Armoured's line of defence.
- By April 2 the Afrika Korps, followed by the Ariete Armoured and Brescia Infantry Divisions, had reached Agedabia and taken about 800 prisoners. This was two months ahead of the schedule laid down by O.K.H.
- Rommel then split his forces into three to chase the British back towards Tobruk and the Egyptian border.
- The advance resumed on 4th April and one column, consisting of the German 3rd Recce Battalion, entered Benghazi unopposed.
- The Germans turned east but were checked by an Australian infantry battalion supported by 25 pounders.
- Fanning out from Agedabia the other two German columns made their separate ways to Mechili. Each of these consisted of a mixed battle group of tanks, guns and infantry (built around the Italian Ariete and German 5th Light Divisions respectively). In the pursuit, the British 2nd Armoured Division ceased to exist as a fighting formation True enough in this campaign as well, but this had been following heavy skirmishing at Beda Fomm on the previous day.. and the Australians withdrew and took up positions inside the Tobruk defence perimeter. Unfortunately not our one's..
- At this point his Italian superiors were panicking about these daring moves, but Berlin finally signalled its approval and the "Desert Fox" was now on the move. The reconnaissance group of the 5th Light Division reached Benghazi on the night of April 3 and proceeded east towards El Mechili.
- The tank strength of the British 3rd Armoured Brigade had been reduced to twelve A-13 Cruisers, twenty M13/40 mediums and eighteen Mk. VI Lights. Later that day an RAF recon plane reported a sizeable tank force together with motor transport^ moving against the fuel dumps at Msus, so the garrison torched their fuel dumps. The following morning when the 3rd Armoured arrived to refuel they were met by nothing more than huge columns of black smoke. (^ In actuality, the force spotted had been a Long Range Desert Group patrol and a Recovery Section of 3rd Armoured, out looking for damaged tanks that could be recovered. Such was the confusion on this day).
- In another bizarre turn of events, Generals O'Connor, Neame, Carton de Wiart and Gambier-Parry were all captured by advance German units. A good portion of the 3rd Armoured Brigade and 3rd Indian Motorized Brigade also went into the bag.
- Rommel's thrust across central Cyrenaica was no cakewalk, and the severe terrain took its toll on his meagre motorized forces.
- The German armoured elements became dispersed after first being ordered to make for Tobruk, and then being reigned in by Rommel when he changed his mind and decided to concentrate all his forces on Mechilli instead. Pushing the tanks and other vehicles to the limit over treacherous terrain with limited fuel caused numerous breakdowns, and at times the troops reached the breaking point. The advance units, ordered to make for Derna to cut the coast road, were in such dire straits that they were forced to siphon the remaining fuel from most of the vehicles so that a small force could reach the objective. The rest of the troops were now stranded, and forced to camouflage their vehicles and wait it out in a small wadi.
- After a 3-day battle, Mechili was finally taken on April 8th in the midst of a blinding sandstorm. Mechili gave up 1700 prisoners, with 70 British officers among them, and a goodly amount of badly needed supplies.
- After taking Mechili on the 8th, Rommel struck straight for the coast in an attempt to cut off the British forces retreating from Benghazi, but as luck would have it the rearguard of the Australian brigade had already fallen back on Tobruk.
Back to the top..
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