Tunisian Skirmish

On tuesday night we took a well overdue rest from Ancients and time travelled forwards to the 20th Century.

We did wonder what other uses we could put Simon's terrain boards to.  One of the other Muswell Miltiamen had recently acquired a copy of Tide of Iron. We have played Memoir '44 with 15mm figures in the past but all three of us thought the rules a tad simple for capturingthe essence of a more complex but equally fun and fast WW2 game.

So last weekend I dug out my (growing) 28mm WW2 Western Desert forces and added them to Simons hex boards using the Tide of Iron rules.

You can see the British and New Zealander forces deploying in a small village. They had 10 infantry squads, a couple of mortars and two HMG's, an anti tank section and a Sherman along for support. They were commanded to hold the village but also try and acquire the ruins to their front.

The germans at the other end of the board were tasked with taking the village. The forces were not that different - the germans had 13 infantry squads, a mortar. a flamethrower section and two HMG's. For support they also had a Panzer III and a Panzer IV and a truck.

It didnt take too long to grasp the rules -I think it was just after the british had effectively used concentrated mortar fire to obliterate 2 german sections! The germans advanced and caused some minor casualties - but the British threw caution to the wind and sent three section of infantry sprinting out of the village in a bid to snatch the ruins from under the germans noses! The situation got worse for the germans when the British then won the initiative and were able to entrench themselves in the forementioned ruins - causing a real thawn in the Axis plans. British Mortar fire continued to be effective. It took 3 german assualts (and casualties!) to storm the first of the ruined buildings. On their right flank the British had advanced their armour and caused havoc on the german armour opposing it - significant damage slowed the Axis armour on that flank. Some minor skirmishing then developed. We had to call it a night at that point. Both sides had the same Victory points (3 each) - but the British claimed a winning draw due to the sheer carnage they inflicted on Rommels already stretched forces. It was an enjoyable game and Simon, Ian and myself felt it lended itself brilliantly to 28mm WW2 gaming. We are now planning a Tunisian Campaign with this rule system. So watch this space!