Seminole
Posts: 2105
Joined: 7/28/2011
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I've been asked to put together my final AAR on this forum.
Liquid Sky is welcome to contribute, as I look forward to better understanding his intentions and perceptions.
I leaned very heavily on offensive operations in the prior rounds as both sides with excellent results. I felt my best chance lie in the same kind of effort for the final round, but I sought to calibrate my initial attack and forego the chance at the broadest sweep behind the enemy. Instead I feared LS might be as aggressive, and for that reason I tried initially to keep my panzer division held in reserve instead of leading the charge.
I felt more confident in my chances as the Allies overall, and so expected the best odds of the winning the tournament was to play just a touch more cautiously as the Axis than I had so far.
I did not put any thought into trying to count VP allocations round by round and final result to decide on a strategy. Instead I was aiming to obtain a points victory by virtue of controlling the battlefield. It worked splendidly the first two rounds, and if I could do it as the Allies I only had to play aggressively, but competently, as the Axis to secure an overall win.
That was the plan...
Initial recon revealed the Allied right flank was sparsely screened by green Free French forces. The Americans in the vanguard could be encircled and cause the disintegration of the Allied line.
To pull this off would require weakening the Axis right flank to provide a local superiority in maneuver forces.
Air Directives were assigned to try and recon the Allied rear as well as deliver unit bombing to the Allied right wing.
Luftwaffe maintains the upper hand early on, but I wish my losses had been lower.
By design I hit the French the hardest. Hope is to shatter these units with the initial blow, and not have to worry about their ability to screen any further advance on the Allied right flank.
Rommel had called in a favor and obtained the services of Hermann Balck, placing him in command of the Afrika Panzer Corps. Balck keenly perceived Rommel's overall intentions, and could be counted upon to utilize his own initiative to obtain the goals without further specific instructions. This was critical, as a stomach bug (perhaps related to Italian cuisine) claimed Rommel's command before the second week of operations.
Rommel's first orders were for the Italian commandos to probe the flanks of the French screen. Their motorization and fighting elan made them perfect as harassing units.
The 2nd Italian commando battalion spooked the Goums El FF Sahrien Cavalry with gunfire before retiring to the northwest and into the desert leaving the Frenchman to wonder if they had been overrun and no one had thought to tell them...
The Meharist Sahrien FF Infantry battalion, bivouacked on a mountaintop, could clearly see the 1st Italian commando battalion take up positions toward their northwest, blocking retreat toward Kasserine. The terrain played havoc with wireless signals, and when they observed German motorized infantry maneuvering past them to the south morale began to plummet.
Further south at Gafsa the 1st Luftwaffe Jaeger Brigade, reinforced with the motley crew of Kampstaffel Rommel, prepared to make the initial assault.
Their target was the Algiers Sahrien FF Infantry Battalion holding the extreme right edge of the Allied line.
Allied aircraft show up in droves, but cannot help turn the tide of 10-1 on the ground.
After the Algerian infantry are forced back toward Tozeur the German motorized infantry sweep back north, cutting off the Meharist FF on the mountaintop.
Rommel personally commands the battle, and the Free French are routed in spite of the Allies again taking command of the skies. It looks like there simply wasn't enough mileage left over after the bombing campaign for the Luftwaffe to also provide the expected air superiority to the battlefield.
Rommel radios von Arnim that the Allied right flank has been blown wide open. Afrika 5th Panzer Army shatters the Goums El FF Sahrien Cavalry battalion. Even with Allied air cover the animal mounted troops fled at the sight of Italian armored vehicles. Fredendall was unable to manage the retreat into the mountains under the harassment of the Italian commandos and the formation simply melted into the wilderness.
Only managed to destroy 1 of the 3 French formations on the enemy wing. Not the best start, but we're happy to have lodged a success in the face of unexpected Allied air power.
3/15th Pzr Div overtakes the Italian armored division to sweep in and block the pass west of Kasserine.
This advance displaces the routed French Meharist battalion, who gather at Tbessa.
With the pass blocked Balck now attacks the Americans in the valley to the east. The 2/10th & 3/10th Pzr Div are joined by the 47th Airlanding Bde. CCC 1st US Armored Brigade is simply overwhelmed, and again Allied airpower cannot offer enough help.
Von Arnim orders the construction of several fortified zones behind the right flank that is his responsibility. These are 99% intended for psychological effect, on both the Italians and the Allies, to provide the illusion of a line of defenses that simply doesn't exist.
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Rommel Attacks - Final Round Axis - 
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