Rommel Battles for Tobruk

7/31/2019 Rommel Battles for Tobruk

1/75


2/75


3/75

BATTLES FOR TOBRUKRules and Reference

CONTENTSIntroduction ................... ..............3The Course of Play......................3Lea rning to Play ........................... 3Starting ............................... .. .. .. 3The Strategic Maps ......................3The Tactical Map ....................... .4

Moving The Cu rsor. .................... .4Giving Orders ... ......... .... .. . ......... .4Other Keys ........... ........... ........5Ending the Turn .. ..............5The Allied Turn ... .............. 5Resolution ... ....................5Tum Re view ........... ... ............... 5Options ................. .................... 5Necessary Information ..................6Game Contents ............. ...... .....6Warranty .... .. ........................ ..... 6

Pre-Game Options .. .. ... . ....... .. .. .. ... .6Maps and Tables ........7The Strategic Maps ...................... 8

Finding Units With No Orders ...... 14Other Keys...... ........................ 14Quilting The Turn ........... 14Rcsolving the Tu r n ..................... 14Movement. ............... . 14Combat. .................................. 15Anti Tank and Conventional Firc.. . 16Defend .................................... 17Regroup...... ......... ............ 17Turn Review .................. . .... 17Visibility ...... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ........ 18Terrain . ............... .18fortifications .............................. 18Minefields ................................. 18Cllsualties ....... ............................ 19l\1orale ..................................... 19Fatigue .................................... 19Night ............... ........ . .........20Supply ....... ... ........... . ..... 20Headquarters.... ........ . ..... 20


4/75

Rommel: Battles for TobrukCopyright 1986 by Game Designers' Workshop. All rights reserved. Printed in U.S.A.

CreditsResearch and Design: Frank Chadwick.Programming and Anificiallntelligence: Worlds to Conquer, Inc. (Sleven Hokanson

and Bemard K. DehmeJt).Development: John Harshman and Worlds 10 Conquer.Playtesling : Stephen Ambruzs, Jerry Barker, Alan Chiras, Louis Desy, Arion Harris,Go rdon Larsen. Chris Many William Neumann, Frank Snead.Art Director: Barbie Pratt.Box COl'er Illustrator: David Deitrick.


5/75

IntroductionThis game is a detailed simulation offour World War II ba tt les, fought between

the German Pallzerarmee Afrika and theBritish 8th Army over control of thestrategic North African port of Tobru k.Each player takes the role of one of thetwo sides' commanding generals and . withthc same forces and limitations of thehistor ical general s. tries 10 defeat thc opposing army.T UE COURSE 0 .' PLA Y

Each ba ttlc scenario in Rommel consistsof a se ries of turns, each representing oncday; each turn is fu nher dividcd inlO 12 im pulses. The game is played on a map ofNorth Africa. d ivided into hexagonal cells

(hexes). Each hex represents an area about5 miles across. The arm ies consist of anumber of military units (battalions.reg im ent s. and brigades), each wi th up to2000 men or 70 tanks. The game may beplayed with two players or solitaire. withthe computer tak ing ei ther side .

The turn has four pan s:I . The Axis playe r gives orders to hi sunits. one unit at a time. orde rin g them tomove. assault. regroup. and so on.2. The Allied playe r gives orders to hisunits.

3. The computer executes both s ides 'orders. moving all uni ts simultaneously andresol vi ng battles as they occur.

4 . The computer displays a review ofthe tu rn. showing both players what hap.pened during the turn .

Afte r the tum review. the next tum stuns.rMPORTAN T: HOW TO LEARN THE GAME

You don't have to read this entire rules book in order to play the game. First. readand follow the instructions in the section below entitled Leaming to Pia),. You shouldthen be able to play by referring to the player reference card. The main body of therules shou ld be needed only for occasional reference.

Learning to PlayThis section is a shon. hands-on in maps are reduced verSion s of the tacticalmap . which is too big to fit on a singlescreen. Each hex of the map is repre se ntedas a small rectangle of color. Th is is the


6/75

THE TACTICAL MAPNow change to the tactical map with (!l

(You can get back to the strategic maps with0 .) What you now see is only a small partof the map. You can scroll the map by trying to move the cursor off the edge (seebelow).

The map shows several types of terrain:clear, rough, hills , roads, tracks , sea, impassable, fortifications, escarpments. andcliffs. Axis units are gray symbols; Alliedunits are blue symbols . The white cross isthe cursor. See the reference card for thevarious terrain and unit type symbols.

On the top of the map (just below the tuminformation) is a line giv ing the side current ly winning (Ax is) and the score (0),your side's "runners" (operational armored vehicles; you have 170), and thecursor's location (Sidi Azeiz); the cu rsorlocation is given by place name for important locations; otherwise it is given by column and row number.

Below the map are several lines whichgive information on all units in the cursor'shex. There is space for information on fourunits. although there is only one unit in thishex. the H/5 Panzer Battalion. From left toright, the information g iven is the unit's

explore the map . The hex location in theupper right changes as you move. Whenyou move the cu rsor within one hex of theedge of the screen. the map scrolls.GIVING ORDERS

To give a unit orders. you first have topick it up. You pick'!. the top unit in ahex by pressing () o Pressing the keyagain drops the unit and picks up the nextunit in the hex (if any). Move the cursorto a hex. with an Axis unit and try this.

When a unit is picked up, its informationline changes to reverse video, the cursorchanges to the unit's symbol . and two newmessages appear: the unit's current modeand the time (number of impulses) remaining in its turn.

There are 5 modes. or types of orders;to putlhe unit into a particular mode, pressa key from 4 to 8. See the reference cardfor a list of modes. Pl acing a unit in defe nd or regroup mode const itutes an order;in other modes, you have to move the unitto make an order. Each order subtracts Ior more impulses from the unit"s remaining time.

Movement: There are three modes usedin movement: adl'ance (@) , march (@ ),and assault


7/75

casualties aod to improve its morale.Derault Modes: To save you time inchanging modes, units stan the turn in ad

vance mode. During resolution. however,any time remaining without orders is spentin defend mode; for example, if after ordersa unit has a time remaining of3, it spendsthe last 3 impulses of the turn in defendmode. If you want a unit to defeod for theentire !Urn. don' t give it any orders at all.OTHER KEYS

There are several keys to help make iteasier to give orders.

Canceling Orde rs : Pressing cancelsthe last order of the unit which is pickedup. ( SPACE) cancels all the orders of theunit picked up. ICTRL} cancels allorders for all units; because this is sodrastic. the computer asks you to confirmyour in tentions.

Go Back: Pressing @ drops the unitcurre ntly picked up (if any) and returns thecursor to the hex in which a unit was lastpicked up. This is especially useful whenmoving stack s of units.

Next Unit: Press ing drops the un itcurrently picked up and picks up the nextunit (in the sequence listed in the order ofbattle). If no unit is picked up. ill picksup the first unit in the list. Th is key is usefulfor giving your units orders in se ueoce.

Allied player would now go through thesame procedure as you just did . Since thecomputer is playing the Allies. it doesn'tneed the screen to plan its moves, so it takesthe opponunity to tell you what it is thinking about and how much time it spends (inseconds).RESOLUTION

Once both sides have given their orders.the computer resolves all movement andcombat, moving both s ides' unit ssimu ltaneously.TURN RE VIEW

After resolUlion, the computer displaysa strategic map and shows what happenedduring the tum. Like the both sides map ,the review map shows both sides' unilS.The events of the tum are displayed one impu lse at a time. A unit flashes white whenit moves; it flashes in various colors if iltakes casualties (red for infantry or annoredvehicle losses, orange for anillery losses,lavender for anti-tank gun losses). Newunits entering the map flash green. Routingo r withdrawing units flash ye llow.Eliminated units flash black. A messagewith the same information also appears onthe bo ttom of the screen, and the unit'sidentity is shown above the message. Bothplayers (i f there are two) should watch the


8/75

important for recreating the banle conditions but increase the complexity of thegame. While learning the game, you shouldleave these options at their default settings.Once comfortable with play of the game ,you should consult the rules on these options and add them to the game.NECESSARY INFORMATION

The fo llowing information will help youmake proper decisions during play .Morale: A unit's morale can be excellent. good, fai r, poor. or awful. It affec ts a unit's ability 10 anack and defend.Morale is worsened by taking casualties.It may be improved by regrouping.

Unit Types: Th ere are a variety of unittypes, each of which has differentcapabilities. Annored cars, reconnaissance.motorized units , and most tanks movequickly. Tanks and armored cars are armored: they are vulnerable to fire only fromanitlery. an ti-tank guns, and armored units .Terrain: The time needed to enter a hexvaries wilh its terrain (as well as unit type

and mode). Experiment. The combat valuevaries too . Being behind friendly fortifications or on the up side of escarpmemsreduces enemy firepower, whi le firingdown an escarpment or hill increases yourfirepower. A minefield occupied by afriendly unit causes high casualties to attacking enemy units.Stacking: You can order as many as 12units to en ter the same hex, but only 4 battalions will ac tually gct there ; the rest willwait until the hex ha s room again to continue moving. For stacking purposes, anyunit that has ma rc than 640 men counts astwo batt alions (and 1280 cou nt s as three,etc.).

Facing: A unit in a movement mode hasa fro llt and a flank. Its front consists of thehexside in the dircction it is attempting 10move plus the two adjacent hexsides. Itsflank consists of the other three hexsidcs.Units are at a great disadvantage when attacked in the flank. A unit in defend orregroup mode has all-around facing: all sixhcxsides are its front.You now have enough infannation to play Rommel. Use the rest of the rulesbooklet for reference when you want to look up a specific point during a game .

There are also a great many options and capabilities of the program that havenot been described in this short section .


9/75

Three are different. as ellplained below.When ail options are set to yo ur satisfaction, you may begin the game by pressingm) .

Many options may be changed during thegame. See Mid-Game Options. page 27.Number of Players (P) : There are threeoptions: 2 players , I player with you commandi ng the Axis, and I player with youcommanding the All ies . (In the la tter twocases the computer commands the otherside .) Press P until you ge t the setting youwa nt.Computer Skill Level (L): This optiononly ma tters in a I-player game. L is low ,M is medium, and H is high. Adjust thevalue to your own experience. Press(!) un til you get the val ue you wan t.All Enemy Units Visible (V): If yes, allunits of both players are always disp layedon the screen. If no, only those enemy unitsadjacent to your units (see Visibility , page18) are displayed. This creates realisticuncenainty; you won't know what's happe ning behind the enemy front line and hewon' t know about you.Fatigue Active (F) : If yes, fa tiguechanges and has an effect on the game. Ifno, it has no effect, and is not disp layed.

Communications Active (C): If yes,headquaners units appear in the game and

them for last.Historical Setup (11): If yes , all the unitsstart in their historical positions. If no,players are allowed to freely repositiontheir units anywhere within friendly territory before the game begins: supply mayalso be transferred be tween headquarters.Sound Act ive (S) : If yes. sound is usedto provide feedback during the game. If110.there is no sound, except during the tumreview.Battl e Scenario (8): You may choose toplay any of the four battles for Tobruk.Press @ until you get the one you want.Brevity: 8th Army's first attempt toprobe Rommel's position. with the mainobjective of ca pturing jumpoff po ints forlater operations. Four turns. about 30(small-sized) units per side.Bartlea:ce: The followup to Brevity,trying to relieve the Allis siege ofTobruk.Eight turns. about 40 units per side.Crusader: Just as Rommel has accumulated the supply fo r a major assault onthe surrounded port, the British launch theirsecond. and eventually successful. re lief at-tempt. 18 turns, aboll! 50 units per side.

Go.ZiJla: The spring after Crusader, theBritish have heavily fortified the line westof Tobruk. from Gazala 10 Bir Ha chiem .Rommel lau nches a sweeping end run


10/75

down arrow (!:)).The Strategic Maps: Th ere are fourstrategic maps show ing va riou s combinations of terrain and combat units.Everything is in less detail than the tac ticalmap. but the entire map fits on the sc reenat once. To gel 10 the strategic maps. pressth e up arrow (0 ). To switch between different strategic maps, press @ . ,or (Y) .The Corps Tables: There are severalcorps tables . one for each frie ndly or enemyheadquarters (usua lly a corps). They areuseful for reviewing the status of friendlyand enemy un its. (h 's a good idea to examine the corps tables al the start of eachturn; you can check your army's generalcondition at a glance. ) When the visibilityoption is sel at no . the enemy corps tablesare very useful for keeping track o f enemyunits. To get to the friendly corps tables.press the left arrow (8 ). To get to theenemy corps tables. press the left arrowwhile on a frie ndly corps table. To switchbe tween different friendly or enemy corpstables . press a right direct ional key ffi@' @' or @) to go one way or a leftdirectional key (@ ' .,or @ ) togothe other.The Supply Tabl e: This table is

available if the communications option isset at yes. You use the table to transfer

above and be low each map; this information is the same as on the ta ctical map, andis explained in the next rules section.THE TERRAIN MAPThe first display to appear at the beginning of each player's turn is the terrainma p. It shows the coastal road in ye llowand rough/hillterrain in ora nge; clear terrain is dark brown and sea or impassablehexes are blue. Un its are not displayed onthis map, but information is sti ll displayedon units in the hex the cursor occupies.THE BOTH SIDES MAP

This map shows the units of both sides:Allies in blue and Axis in gray . The mapalways shows all your un its. If the visibi li ty option is sct at yes, it shows all the enem yunits too. I f the option is set at 110 . it showsonly those enemy units adjacent to at leastone of your units. (This is true of the oneside maps too.)ONE SIDE MAPSThere are two of these. Both show hilland rough hexes in ora nge . The Axis mapshows all Ax is units, and the All ied mapshows all Allied units.

CHANGING MAPS


11/75

Side Wiinni",ScoreTactical

MapWindow

Player MovingNumber

Unit 's Remaining Time

Unit Display:(HQ, Division,Unit ID, Type ,Force/Casualties,Artillery, ATGuns, Morale,Fatigue, Supply )

scrolled ove r the entire map by mov ing thecu rsor close to the edge of the screen .Each unoccupied hell displays its terraintype: if there is a unit in a hell, its terraintype is not visible (but see below). Someterrain is also placed between the helles (onthe hell -s ides).UN ITS

THE CURSORThe cursor is the white symbol on the

screen. !fno uni t is picked up. it's a cross:if a un it is picked up . it 's the unit 's symbol. The cursor is used to give orders tounits and to move the players attentionaround the map .


12/75

counts. These hexes are also named on theprimed map.

The fi rst five lines under the map (onlythree lines on the strategic maps) are theunit display, showing information about thetop four units in the hex the cursor is in.This infonnation is explained under Units.The bottom line shows. on the left. theterrain in the cursor's hex. I f a unit ispicked up. it shows additional infonnal ionabout that unit (see Units). The line is alsoused for error messages and prompts :messages from the computer to you.

The Corps TablesThe corps tables list every unit in the

game including eliminated units. reinforcements which have not yet entered, andminefields. There is one corps table fo reach friendly and enemy headquaners unit(usually a corps): un its which belong to noheadquaners are listed under the armyheadquaners. as are minefields. Occasionally. there are more units in a corpsthan will fit on a single screen: in suchcases. the corps is split into two screens (asif it were two separate corps).

For each unit, the corps table displays thesame information that appears on the unit

everything you know about enemy uni ts.See Units below.

THE CURSORThe line shown in reverse video is thecursor. You ca n move the cursor up byp e s s i ..Jill or 0 . and down by pressing

or (). If the cursor moves off the bottom , it returns to the top. and vice versa.

If you go to lhe tactical or strategic map.the cursor appears in the hex of the unit itwas on.

UnitsTroops are organized into units: you givethem orders one unit at a time.There are eight basic types of units:

tanks. armored cars. reconnaissance, motorized infantry, machinegun. infantry, flak: .and headquarters. Each type is representedon the map by a different symbol. as shownon the reference card. In addition to thebasic types. there are several models oftanks with differing characterist ics, andItalian Bersaglieri are a special type ofmotorized infamry.Tanks. and annored cars are impervious 10infantry fire, but other tanks, anti-lank guns.minefields, and anillery can ki ll them.


13/75

anti-tank gun s. These are mostly divisionlevel asse ts attached for the period of thebatt le. These attached gun s travel with theunit at all times.THE UNIT DlSPLAY

On the tactical map, the unit displayshows in fo rmation about the top four un itsin the hex the cursor is in . Further un its in(he hex (up 10 a tOal of 12) can be seen bypicking up the top units . On the strategicma p. the display shows the top two units.The corps tables show an entire corps at atime. Units are listed in me order in whic hthey appear in the order of banle in thehis to rical notes booklet.

The text line at the top of the unit displayshows the display's headings.Friendly Units: For friendly un its. theheadings translate as: me unit' s immediately supe rior headquarters (HQ), its division.

unit identifica tion, un it type, current unitstrength in me n or armored vehicles(Force), tou! casualties, nu mber of anillerypieces (Gn), number of anti-tank gun s(A T). and mree un it effectiveness factors:mo rale, fa tigue. and supply state,

Enemy Units : For ene my uni ts,casualties, morale , fatigue, and supply aremissing: in the ir pl ace appear " Tm",

dividual identification: see the histor ica lno tes booklet fo r an explana tion ofabbreviations.

Type: The uni t' s type. Abbreviations arcexpl ained in the table below.Tanks Other Units

Pnz ..... Panzer AC.........armored carMat .... Matilda Rcn ..... reconnaissanceVal ... Valentine Inf. .............. infantryCru ... Crusader MOL .. motorized infantrySiu .... .. . St uart Ber........... Bc rsaglieriMk6. ..Mark VIb MG .........machinegunGrt ..... .. Grant Flk ............... . .. . flakHQ ... headquarters

Force: This is unit's current strength. inmen (for most uni ts) or armored vehides(for tanks and armored cars). Startingstrengths are given in the order of battle andare as close a count of his torical strengthsas the records provide.

Casualties : T his is the number of menor tanks lost in battle. Some of these maybe recovered by regrouping.

Artillery: Thi s is the nu mber of artillerypieces now in th e uni L These may be lostin battle and can never be recovered .Anti-lank Guns: This is the number ofanti-tank guns now in the unit. Like ar

tillery. they may be lost in battle and can


14/75

directional keys: keys used to indicate thesix possible directions. There are two directional rosettes: the six keys surrounding I)and the six surrounding ill. See thereference card . When no unit is picked up .these keys move the cursor. t-:or example.pressing @ or (!) moves it one hex duewest (u p on the screen): pressing @ or C!)moves it one hex northwest. and so on. Ifthe cursor moves to within one hex of theedge of the screen. the map scrolls.

The directional keys are used 10 indicatedirections when giving movement orders 10units or to complete defend and regrouporders.Picking Up and Dropping: Press ing Q)

or will pick up a unit or. if a unit isalready picked up. drop it and pick up thenext unit in the hex (i f any). When a unitis picked up. it is shown on top of the unitdisplay. its line changes to reverse video.and its orders and time left appear on themode line. A unit may be given orders only if it is picked up.

Go Back: Pressing drops the unitcurrently picked up (i f any) and returns thecursor to the last hex in which a unit waspicked up. This key is particularly usefulwhen giving movement orders to a stack ofunits.

it up. Then set the unit's mode to the typeof order you wani it to pe rform by pressing the COrTect key. from G) to @ (see thereference card). The un it 's mode is show non the mode line. Each mode is used fora different order. Putting a unit inio defendor regroup mode gives it an order: formarch . advance. and assault mode. ordersare ente red by moving the cursor.

Orders take time. Every unit starts thetum with 12 impulses. Each impulserepresents I Ih hours durin g the day or 41hhours al ni ghl. The first ten impulses ofeach !Urn are day impulses: the last two im pulses are night im pulses (see Night. page20). When you give a unit an order. thetime the order takes is subtracted from theunit's remaining time. If you cancel theorder. the unit gets its time back .

When you pick up a uni t . its mode is thesame as the last order entered for il and itsremaini ng time is the same as it was whenyou last dropped it. If no order has beenentered. its mode is advance and its remaining time is 12 impul ses.Note: If a unit has any unused time after

all its orders are entered. it will spend thoseimpulses in defend mode. If you want a unitjust to defend for (he entire !Urn. you don'thave to give it any orders.


15/75

hexside crossed. as shown in the movementcosts portion of the unit characteristicstable.Stacking: When giving movement ordersyou can move your units through enemyunits and can stack up 10 12 friendly unitsin a single hex. When movement is reosolved. however. a unit can' t move into anenemy hex until all enemy units haveretreated from it and any minefield has beendestroyed. In addition, no more than fourfriendly baualions may be in the same hexat the same time. (Thus. up 10 12 units maybe ordered to move to a single hex, but onlyfour battalions will actually enter and stackin the hex.) Each armored unit (tank or armored car unil) counts as one battalion:each other unit count s as one battalion foreach 640 men (or fraction thereof) in il. Forexample. a unit wi th a strength of900 menhas 2 battal ions: only two such units willfit inlO a hex.Headquarters and minefields do not counttoward stacking. and terrain has no effect.Stacking has no effect on combat: up to 24battalions could attack a single hex (4 eachfrom the six surrounding hexes), althoughonly four of these unils could advance intothe hex if victorious.

If your units get in each other's way. extra units wait until there is room in the hex.

battle. To find the 13th or higher unit ina hex. you must move some of the otherunits OUI of the hex.

Facing: Units in a movement mode arealways faced in the direction they are attempting to move. A moving unit's frontis its facing hexs ide plus the two adjacenthexsides. The OIher three hexsides are itsflank. Units in defend or regroup modehave all-round facing ; all hexsides are theirfronts. All sides of a unit in disorderedmode are flanks. If a unit is attacked fromits flank, ils casualties arc increased and itsreturn fire is less effective. However. aflanked unit's casualties are not increasedif it is stacked with another friend ly unit indefend mode: this allows you to withdrawsome of your troops from combat withouttheir be ing attacked in the flank. by leaving a rear guard.DEFEND

Putting a unit in defend mode (0 ) completes a defend order. Further defeod ordersmay be entered by pressing any directionalkey (or ill again). A defend order takes Iimpulse. When attacked. a unit in defendmode takes fewe r casualties than if it wasin any OIher mode. Funher defend modeuses are to give the unit all-around facing,to hold certain positions (see below). to


16/75

morale.CANCELING ORDERS

You can cancel a unit's orders at anytime. When a unit is picked up, pressing cancels its last order. By repeatedlypressing 00. you can cancel all of a unil'sorders. To cancel all of a unil's orders atonce. press ' SPACE 1Occasionally you may want to cancel allthe orders for all of your units . Th is is thesame as restan ing your ponion of the turn.This can be done easily by press ing ( CTRl )and 00 at th e same time. Since this canhave drastic effects. to guard against accidentally pressing this key the computergives you a chance 10 change your mind;press {CTRl} again to restan the turn .Note that doing this cancels all orders forall of your ground units; it does not cancelany bombing miss ions (if you are using theairplanes option) that you may have assigned to your squadrons.REVIEWING ORDERS

Re view ing orders works on the tacticalmap only. If a unit is currently picked up.you can review its orders by pressing{RETURN} . The computer will quickly runbackward through the unit's orders (toshow you where il came from) and will then

message "A ll units have orders" willappear.To locate all the units without orders. go

to the tactical jP orl) oth sides strategicmap and press SHIF and CD at the sametime. The cursor will jump from unit tounit , flashing the message "No orderentered" for each unit without orders, andskipping units which have orders. This canbe stopped at any time by pressing 00 .(The computer will finish the unit currently bei ng examined.) You can pause bypressing (SPACE )OTHER KEYS

Pressing @ or @ cycles the unitthrough the various modes in order. Notethat entering defend or regroup mode wi th@ does not complete an order; you mustpress a directional key for that.Pressing (!) cycles through the modes inreverse order.

Press ing (!) (zero) drops a unit withoutpicking up the next one in the hex.QUl1TING THE TURN

After you are finished wilh all yourorders, quit the turn by pressing @. Toprevent doing this by accident. the computer asks you 10 co nfirm your intentions.Press @ again to qu it.


17/75

eOle r the same hex as an enemy uni t, andat most four friend ly battalions may be ina hex at one time. If movemeOl is notcarefully thought out, this may result incons iderable delay as un its get in eachothers' way.

Enemy Units: If units of both sides tryto enter the same empty hex during thesame impulse, only one will actually enter:the one which has spent the longest timetry ing to enter. Thus if it takes one unit 2impulses to eOler a hex and it takes anotherunit 3 impulses, the second unit gets in. (Ofcourse , it must have started one impulseearlier.) If both units have spent an equalamount of time. precedence goes in o rderof type with fa ster units winning the hex;for example. antlored cars before other armor, motorized infantry ahead of other infantry. If the two uni ts are of the same type,the computer chooses alternate s ides eachtime throughout the game. The uni t wh ichdoesn' t make it in tries again in the nextimpulse.If a unit tries to enter a hex already occupied by an enemy unit, combat occurs.See Combat below.

Friendly Units: If two units of the sameside try to enter the same hex and thiswould result in more than four battal ionsin the hex, only one will actually enter.

tacker and defender firing andlor disengaging at different times. The general outlinefor combat resolution is as follows:

1. Attacker fires artillery .2. Defender fires all weapons.3. Defender takes casualties from attacker' s artillery fire.4. Attacker takes casual ties fromdefende r's fire and fires all weapons except

artille ry.5. Defender takes casualties from attacker's fire (except artillery).

Within this sequence, both sides checkfo r disengaging, as explained below. If thedefender disengages and the attacker doesnot. the attacker advances into thedefender's hex if the required time formovement has elapsed .

Disengagement and Morale Checks:When a un it takes 100 many casualties, itdisengages from battle, ignoring the rest ofits orders for the tum and assuming defendmode. A unit which disengages takes areduced number of casualties in the impulseit disengages. Recon and annored car uni tsin advance mode take fewer casualties whendisengaging than other units (they arespecially trained to scout the enemy). If aunit d isengages. the uni ts it was attackingtake reduced casualties. The number ofcasualties a uni t will accept before


18/75

morale is improved ifit is in a fortificationor minefield hex. (W hen a hex containsbo th - like the Tobruk perimeter-it is extremely difficult to dislodge a defender.) Aunit's morale is impaired if il is in marchor disordered mode. is being attacked fromits flank. has poor or awful fat igue, or hassuffered a large number of casualties sincethe start of the turn.[ f feds of Mode on Combat: Marchmode is unsuited to combat : if a unit inmar('h mode atlacks or is attacked, itau tomatically forgets its orders and followsthis sequence, remaining in place: it spendsone impulse in march mode. three impulsesin disordered mode, and the remainder ofthe tum in defend mode. In march mode,onl y armored vehicles and recon troopsmay fire, and at reduced effectiveness:enemy fire effectiveness is increased. Indi sordered mode. all weapons fire at reduced effectiveness and enemy fire effectiveness is increased .

Advance mode is the most generallyuseful mode for combining movement andcombat. All weapons may fire, although artillery and anti-tank guns fire at reduced effectiveness. The unit continues attackingun til one side di sengages or is destroyed.

Assault mode is useful for attacking fixedpositions, especially if the attacker has a lot

creased when firing at uni ts in march ordisordered mode , and decreased when firing at un its in defend mode.

Morale : The beuer a unit' s morale. thegreater its firepower.FaIi8ue: The belleTa unit's fatigue, thegreate r its firepower (if the fatigue optionis set at yes).

Supply: Uni ts which run ou t of ammunition stop firing. Uni ts which run lowon ammunition stop firing their artillery (ifthe supply option is set at yes).Terrain: Units fi ring up escarpmentsor into enemy fortifications have theirfirepower reduced . Units in defend modefi ring down escarpments o r down hills(from a hill hex to a non-hill hex) have theirfirepower increased.Flanks: A un it' s firepower is red ucedif it is firing toward its flank. A unit' sfirepower is increased if it is firing at itstarget' s nank and there is no unit in thetarget hex in defend mode.

Divisional Inte8rity: When two ormore units with different division ID s attack together (the same target hex). theirfirepower is slightl y reduced. The mo rediv isions firing, the greater the red uction.Units defending in the same hex are not affected. A unit with no division ID may attack together with any un it without reduc


19/75

tillery do both, and fire both separately.Anti-tank fire inflicts losses on armoredvehicles: conventional fire inflicts tosses onmen. (Arti llery and anti-tank guns takelosses proportional to those of the men orvehicles in their units). Thus men have noeffect on annored ve hicles, and anti-lankguns have no effect on men. The discussion of combat above applies to both typesof fire .

Conventional fire losses are applied as apercentage of Ihe target unit's strength.However, when there are fewer than 100me n in a hex. Ihe percentage lost increases.and when there are mo re than 640 men ina hex, the pe rcentage lost decreases.Ant i-tank fire losses are applied asnumbers of vehicles lost: a hex containing100 tanks loses the same number as a hexcontaining 50 tanks.If an armored vehicle is destroyed during an impulse. it doesn't fire conventionalfire in thaI impulse.DEFEND

Defend is the defau lt mode: if you dontgive a unit any orders, or if it runs out oforders. it spends the rest of the turn in defend mode. Defend mode decreases thecasualties a unit takes when attacked. Unitsin defend mode fi re all their weapons at full

there is an absolute limit to the number ofannorcd vehicles a unit may reCOver in oneregroup order: 2 for Italians and 6 forBritish and Gennans. Artillery and antitank guns are never recovered.Turn Rev iew

After the turn has been re solved. thecomputer displays a review of Ihe turn'sevenlS on a strategic map. Both playersshould watch this display together.The map shows Axis and Allied units.The turn is displayed one impulse at a time .showing all movement and co mbat. Whena unit moves. its un it symbol flashes whiteto draw your attention. When it takescasualties it flashes in va rious colors,depending on the type of casualties: red forinfantry or armor losses, orange for artillery losses, lavender for antitank gu nlosses. Units entering the map flash green.Routing or disengaging units flash yellow.Eliminated units fla sh black. A messagewith the same infonna(ion appears on themessage line. A text description also appears, giving the unit" s estimated strength sal the end of the game (Urn .

I f the visibility option is sel at 110, onlythose units visib le 10 both sides will beshown on the map. Units which move away


20/75

press of0 or Q) moves the review oneslep forward. showing one event happening to one unit (moving a hex. taking onetype of casualties. routing. etc .).

@ stops the review and moves it onestep backwards. so you can back up torera t sonthing you missed.SPACE cOnlinues the review if it hasbeen stopped by any other key .E) increases the delay of the rev iew(making it go slower); G decreases thedelay (making it go faster). Each press ofthe key changes the delay by a smallamount: it takes several presses to have amajor effect.Any other key stops the review.

VisibilityI f the visibility option is set at yes, allunits of both sides are always visible to both

players. Jf the option is set at no. only thoseenemy units can be seen which are adjacentto at least one friend ly unit. Note that newenemy units do not appear wh ile you aregiv ing orders- since your units haven'treally moved yet, they can' t see anythingnew either. When the visibility option is setat no, you should pay especially close attention to the tum review: enemy un its maymove completely through your line during

between hexes. on hex-sides. Terrain affects movemenl and combat. (It also affectssupply; see Supply . page 20.)

Movement: The length of time it takesto enler a given hex is shown on the unitcharacteristics table.Roads and Tracks :The value fo r roador track is only used if the uni t is in marchmode and is entering the hex or crossingthe hex-side on a road or track .

Escarpments: The cost for crossing anescarpmenl applies whether moving up ordown and is in addition to the cost of entering the hex . Roads and tracks negateescarpment costs for units in march mode .Combat : Units firing up escarpments orinto enemy fon ifications have theirfirepower reduced. Units in defend mode

fi ring down escarpments or down hills(from a hill hex to a no n-hill hex) have theirfirepower increased.

FortificationsFortifications represent substantial effortsmade by the Allies around Tobruk and byIhe Axis around Bardia, to form a strongperimeter posi tion to hold an imponant harbor. They were composed of bunkers, antitank obstacles. barbed wire, etc. Units infonifications receive considerable protec


21/75

units may enter enemy mi nefields (after en-during their fire , of course) , and theminefield is eliminated as soon as the unitenters its hex. Entering the minefield's hexis the only way to kill it; firing has no ef-fect. Units may freely enter and leavefriendly minefields without taking losses.Minefields improve the morale of friend-ly uni ts stacked with them; un its in defendmode will also accept more casualliesbefore disengaging.Casualties

A unit's casualty total is the number ofmen or armored vehicles il has lost in com-bat. The unit's current strength is its initialstrength minus its casualties. Heavycasualties can lower morale: for every 10%of its initial strength a unit loses. it dropshalf a morale level. Casualties (and thusmorale) can be recovered by regrouping.This represents the return to the unit ofstragglers who became separated in battle;for armored units it also represents repairand replacement of vehicles.

If a unit' s cu rrent strength ever drops tozero or its morale ever fa lls be low awful.it is eliminated and immediately disappearsfrom play .

and, if the supply option is set at yes, byone level if it has no ammunition left at theend of the turn. However, no uni t's moralemay drop by more than one level in a singleturn. Each peaceful regroup order raisesmorale half a level.

A unit's effective morale (for determina-tion of di sengagement or rout) can bedrastically modified by the local situation.See Combat, page 15.

FatigueFatigue represents temporary loss of ef-fectiveness through exertion and stress. Itis easily gained and easily lost. Fatigue

changes and affects the game only if thefatigue option is set at yes. The levels offatigue are the same as those of morale.Fatigue affects combat and movement.Movement : Units which travel on foot(infantry and machinegun units) take two

extra impulses to enter each hex if theyhave aw ful fatigue.Combat: The worse a unit's fatiguelevel. the lower its firepowe r. Units in

assaul t mode are greatly affected: units inadvance, march, or disorganized mode areless affected: units in defend or regroupmode are not affected by fa tigue at all. Inaddition. a unit' s effective morale is re-


22/75

NightThe last two impul ses in eac h tum are

nigh t. Eac h night impu lse represents 4ifzhours instead of th e usual llh hours.However, because darkness slows downmovement and combat. they are resolvedin the same way as in a day impulse. Oneactivity can lake adv3mage of the ex tratime: rest. Defending is three times as effec tive al removing fa tigue duri ng a nightim pulse.

SupplyIf the supply option is set al yes, un itsmust consume supplies in order to move

and figh t. and a complex system to movethose supplies. featuri ng headquaners andthe supply tab le. is added to the game. Ifthe supply op tion is set at no, none of theseco mpl ications are included.

Supply is measured in supply point s.eac h representin g seve ral tons of fuel . ammuni tion , or food. BOIh si des receive supply points each turn in off-map depots,from which they are transferred first toheadquarters and then to combat units,where they are consumed. Supply po intsbegin as generic poims; when Iransferred

Types of "Qs: There are three types ofHQ : off-map supply depots. army HQs,and corps HQs . Each si de has one off-mapsupply depot. one anny HQ , and either twoor three corps HQs, depending on thescenario. (NOli!: In Brev ity and Battleaxe .because of their small numbers of units.some of the "corps" HQs are actually divi-sio n o r kampfgruppe HQs. In Brev ity,neither side has army HQs.)

Attacking HOs: HQs may be attackedby conventional fire. Instead of casuahies.enemy fire destroys supply poims. If thereis no fri endl y combat unit in the HQ's hex .an enemy unit may enter. eliminating theHQ. Nearly half its supply points are captured. and are added immediately to theclosest enemy HQ. Of the remainder, someare destroyed and some appear along withthe HQ when it is replaced.

Replacement of HQs: A destroyed HQis replaced on the second tum following itsdestruction; for example. a HQ eli mi natedon tum I re-appears at the beginning of tum3. A corps HQ appears stacked with its army HO . An anny HQ (or a corps HQ ifits army HQ has been destroyed) appearson a friendly depot hex (see Supply Transferlines. page 2 1).SUPPLY TRANSFER


23/75

ScellarioBrevityBattleaxeCrusaderGazala

Supply AvailabilityAxisISOISO100250

AlliedOff-map Tobruk125 25150 25225 125250 125

The Supply Tab le: You can gct to thefriendly supply table by press ing the rightarrow


24/75

next tum.Depot Hexes: Supply transfer lines to theoff-map depots are traced to a number ofroad and track hexes on the edges of themap. For the Axis, these depot hexes arehexes2iOl. l50L 1301. and 0901. For theAllies, they arc hexes 0932, 0532, 0432,0132,0127,0122,0121, and 0114; also,hex 1711 is the depot hex for the A ll iedTobruk HQ (only).Hidden Units: I f the visibility option isset at no, you may sometimes find yourHQs without supply transfer lines for noreason that you can tell. If you have countedhexes righl. this means that there is an unseen enemy unil (or more than one)somewhere along your supply line.SUPPLY DISTRIBUTION

Supply is distributed from HQs to combat un its automatically, as it is needed.Command Structure: A unit can' t

receive supply from just any HQ: it mustbe the right HQ. A unit with a corps identification gets supply from its corps HQ; ifthat is not possible, it gets supply from itsarmy HQ. A unit wi th an army identification gets su pply from its army only. A unitwith no HQ identification gets supply fromany friendly HQ. whichever is closest. No

sistently suffered from fuel shortages in thedesert. This is simulated abstractly: only \4of the supply points in each HQ at thebeginning of each tum (after supplytransfer) are available for use as fuel . Whenthe HQ has distributed that many points tounits as fue l, it may not distribute any morepoints as fuel for the rest of the tum. Whena HQ runs out of fuel during the tum. thisfaci is shown on its unit display in the nextturn by the notation "FUEL".SU PPLY CONSUMPTION

Each unit has internal supply storagecapacity. Most of the time. a unit"s internal storage remains full, and it draws supply from its HQ; the internal capacity isused only when the unit can', gel supplyfrom its HQ . Each unit has two separatesuppl y capacities: one for fuel and one fo rammunition. Capacities and consumptionare per battalion: a twobatta lion unit hastwice the stated capacity and consumption.Fuel:Capacity: A battalions fuel capaci tydepends on its type, as given in the unitcharacteristics table. The capacity is givenin hexes: to determine the capac ity inpoints, multiply by the number of points expended per hex. which also depends on unit


25/75

SUPPLY CONDITIONAs a unit consumes ils interior supplyreserves (which happens only i f it can't gel

supp ly from its HQ) . its supply conditionchanges. as shown on Ihc unit display.How Supply Condition is Displayed: Aunirs ammunition supply co ndition isdisplayed us ing the same terms used formorale and fatigue. E(excellent) means thatit is receiving supply from its HQ.Anyth ing else means that il is rely ing oninternal siores, and Ihc exact conditiondepends on Ihc number of points il has left:9 or more points is G (good); 7 or 8 is F(fair); 4-6 is P (poor): less than 4 is A(awful).Fuel supply is given just 10 thc left ofammunition supply. If the unit has fewe r thaniO hexes of movement remaining and isbelow its maltimum fuel capacity (someunits have a capacity tess than 10), its remaining capacity is displayed . Otherwise,nothing is displayed .Effects: A unit without ammunit ion can'tfi re at all; a unit with 8 or fewer ammuni tion points (conditions fair or worse) can'tfire its an illery . A unit without fue l can'tmove : if it routs, it remains in place andtakes increased casualties. (Exception: in

based off the map, and only appear on themap when bombing targets. All air operations are handled using the airplane table(one for each side) which can be reachedby pressi ng 0 .SQUADRONS

The upper pon ion of the airplane tablelists all the fr iendly bomber squadrons andtheir characteristics: nationality (Na), unitidentification (unit), aircraft type. numberof opera tional planes (Up), number ofdamaged planes (Down), and the impulseof arri val on the map of three sonies (Sri.Sr2. and Sr3). Nationality and unit ID arefor historica l information only. Aircrafttype determines a squadron's bombingstrength and its hang and turnaround times(see below). Operational planes are allthose available for sorties: damaged planesdo not fly but may be repaired (made operational ) later . Sorties are explained below.

The lower pan of the airplane table isused lO assign sorties (miss ions) to individua l squadrons. Which squadron thelower pan of the table refers to depends onwhich squadron the upper pan' s cursor ison; this squadron is shown in reverse video.The upper cursor can be moved l! bypressing @ or (I) . or down with or


26/75

this is called the squadron's turnaroundtime.Squadrons can Oy so rt ies during any ofthe first ten impulses of the tum; no sorties are allowed during the last two impulses (night).To assign a sonie, first move the uppercursor to the squadron you want. Then picka sonie by pressing Q) or (f). On the lowerpart of the table , the lower cursor will appear on the first sortie; 10 pick the secondand third sorties press Q) or ill again.Whi le a sortie is picked. you can', movethe upper cursor. Press ing Q) or I) whenthe third sonie is picked will drop all sorties and leiS you move the upper cursoragain. A sortie has three characteristics. alldefined by the player: impulse of arrival(Interval), hang lime. and target area.

Impulse of Arrival: This is the impulsein wh ich the squadron reaches its targetarea and, if there is a target in the area,drops its bombs. When you fi rst pick asquadron's first sonie, its arrival impulseis set at 1. You can delay a sonie's arrival( e a s i ~ t number of the impulse) bypressing u or 00 ,or speed its arrival bypressing or @. (Note that these samekeys are used to move the upper cursorwhen no sonie is picked.)Ha ng Time: This is the number of im

Target hexes are designated using the airtactical map. a marginally modified versionof the tactical map. To get to the air tactical map. press 0 when a sonie ispicked. (If no sonie is picked, you will endup on the regular tac tical map.) The air tactical map's cursor is an airpiane symbol andcan be moved around the map thedirectional key s. Press ill or (J todesignate the cursor's hex as a target hex;if the hex is already a target hex, Q) or cance ls the target hex. All the target hexesof a single sonie must form a single. contiguous group. If you try to add or cancela target hex so as to make the target areano longer contiguous. the computer won'tlet you.After you have defined the target area toyour satisfaction, return to the airplanetable with0 . NOle that all the hexes of theson ie's target area are now listed on thelower pan of the table.Changes: Yo u can change any featuresof a sonic at any time. up 10 the point whenyou qui t the tu rn . However. see be low.

Ca nceling a Sortie: Pressing ISPACE)on the airplane table when a sort ie is pickedwi ll cancel that sortie and all highernumbered so rt ies.

Limits: A squadron can fly at most threesorties during the ten impulses per lurn


27/75

especially if you give your sorties high hangtimes. NOle Ihal no sort ie may extend paslimpulse 10 .BOMBING

When a squadron perfonns a sortie, itnies 10 its target area and bombs all unilsit finds there, splitting its attack evenlyamong all units in the area . Important : asquadron makes no dist inction betweenfriendly and enemy units: it will bomb anyfriendly units in the target area. )fthere areno units in the area, the squadron will bombthe first unit that enters the area before itshang time is exhausted.Bombing causes losses to me n and armored vehicles just like combat: the losseshappen before any ground combat in thatimpulse. A squadron's bombing power (andthe losses it inflicts) depends on ils numberof planes and their type.AIRCRAFf LOSSES

Before they drop their bombs, squadronsmay take losses from enemy fighters andanI i-aircraft guns. There are two types oflosses: damaged planes and destroyedplanes. Damaged planes are un serviceable(""down " ) but may be repaired: destroyedplanes are eliminated permanently. Planeswhich are damaged or destroyed do nOI

for tanks to shoot.Repair: Roughly 1fl of airplane losses

will be only damaged . Every turn , if thesquadron flies any sorties, \4 of its startingtotal of damaged planes are repaired at Iheend of the turn . If the sq uadron doesn'l flyany so rties, Yz of its damaged planes arerepaired. Repairing a plane changes it from" down" to "up".

Free SetupWhen the hi sto rical setup option is set atyes, a ll units start Ihe game in theirhistorical positions and all HQs in play aregiven their historical supply levels.When the option is set at 110, both playershave an opportunity to change their un its'positions and supply allocations before thegame beg in s. Units ma y be movedanywhere wi thin friendly terri tory exceptin to an impassable hex: stacking limits maynot be exceeded .

Se tup works in the same manner as aturn . The Axis p l ~ e r sets up first: whenhe quits (presses (g)twice), it' s the Alliedplayer 's turn 10 set up : when he quits, thegame begins with the Axis first tum .When your setup lurn begins, all yourunits are in their hi storical positions. If thevisib il ity option is sel at 110 , no enemy units


28/75

command. The three un its of Trieste maynot be moved.If the supply option is set at yes, all sup

ply can be freely d istributed (using the supply table) among all HQs with supply linesto each other.Once you have positioned your army toyour satisfaction, press @ twice to endyour setup. If you have overstacked anyunits, the computer will move the cursorto the overstacked hex and give you an error message. You must move un its out ofthe hex until it is no longer overstacked.The computer will not let you end yoursetup with units overstacked.

If you are playing a oneplayer game, thecomputer will also move its un its duringfree setup.

Reinforcements/Inactive UnitsSome scenarios have reinforce mentsandlor inactive units .The only inac tive units are the ItalianTrieste division (lhree units) in Crusader.

Historically, these un its were no t underRommel's command at the start of the battle but we re controlled directly by theItalian high command. They we re transferred to Rommel during the banle. In gameterms. they are in defend mode and may

preference . Axis reinforcements arrive inhexes 2101, 150 1, 1301, or 1901.

VictoryVictory in Rommel is based on the pointscore at the end of the game. The cu rrentscore is displayed during the game to keepyou posted on how well you are do ing. Thescore is based on both sides' unit strength(compared to their original strengths) andon territorial objectives. The score displayshows the side that is currently winning(Axis or All ied) fo llowed by a number.High numbers mean the player is winningwith a large advantage; low numbers meanthe player is winning but the game is close.At the start of the game. the score is alwaysAxis O. At the end of the game, a player'slevel of victory can be determined from thefollowing table :

Poillls Level0-400 . .. .. .. . .. . . ..... . .. . . ..... Marginal401 -800 . . .. .. .. .. . .. .. .. . . .. ..Moderate80 1- 1200. . .. .......... . .Substantial1201-1600... .... .. .. .. ..... . ... Decisiveover 1600.... . .. . . .. .. ..Overwhelming

Note: use Ih these totals for Brevity.Poi nlS scored for unit strength are based


29/75

to have a un it in the hex; the All ied playercontrols Tobruk if he was the last to havea unit in the hex and Tobruk is not isolated.Tobruk is not isolated if a supply transferpath can be traced from Tobruk to anyAllied off-map supply depot.In Gazala, each airfield is wonh 50points. (There are ai rfields at hexes 1904 .1213. 13 18, and 1122.) A player controlsan ai rfield if he was the last to have a unitin the hex and no enemy unit is adjacentto the hex.Usually. if one player loses control of anobjective. the other player gains control atthe same time; the score thus changes bytwice the objective's value (one player losespo ints and the other player gains them).Thus. if Halfaya Pass changes hands. thetotal change in the score is 200 points. Inthe case of Tobruk and the airfields it ispossible for an objective to be under neitherplayer 'S control; if one player loses contro l and the other player doesn't gain control (or if a player gains control of an uncontrolled objective) the score changes bythe value of the objective.Most objectives begin the game controlled by one side. The exceptions areTobruk in all scenarios except Gazala (it'sisolated ) and Gazala airfield in Gazala (theBritish were the last to have uni ts there but

save or enter a tum's orders for either side.or change va rious features of the game.

To do any of these, 'i.5!u must first stopthe game by pressing l!l tw ice. The diskdrive works for a wh ile and the gamestopped menu appears. The various optionsare covered below.DISK OPERATlONSYou can save or restore a game pos ition,

save or enter a player's move. or play bymail. using options I through 6. These options are described in a separate folder included wi th the game.CHANGING OPTIONS

Press ill on the game stopped menu todisp lay the option menu. You can changethe number of players. computer's side andskill level. visibility. fat igue and sound.You can't change supply, scenarios,airplanes. or historical setup. Procedureand effects of changing options are the sameas for the pre-game options.Everything except number of players andcomputer's side changes immediately: thelatter two change at the beginning of thenext player's tum. If, for example. you areplaying the All ies against the computer andchange your s ide to Axis, you would stillhave to complete the current Allied move.

ing (ID (zero). Iy when all opt ions are in effect (visibi lit y


30/75

The JoystickMost game functions can be handled us

ing the joystick (in port 1) instead of thekeyboard. if desired. Using the joystickdoesn't disable the keyboard. and you canfreely mix both types of control. Since themajority of players find keyboard inputeasier for most functions, elsewhere in thisbook refe rs to the keyboard only. andjoystick input is described by referring tothe keys of the keyboard.Pick Up and Drop: To pick up or dropa unit (or any other functions ofthe0 andQ) keys). press the joystick fire buttonbriefly and release it.Dirt.'Ctions: To enter one of the six directions (cursor movement. increase anddecrease supply quantities. etc.), move thejoystick with the fire butt on up, as shownon the reference card. Note that moving thejoystick directly left or right has no effect.This is to make it easier to enter the fourdiagonal directions. For example, it is easyto en ter the upper right direction by firstmoving the joystick right and then up.Other Commands: To en ter other co mmands, press the fire button and hold it

down while moving the joystick. The cor

in panicular should be set at 110), andespecially at the high skill level. Becauseof the complexity of its artificial in-telligence routines. the compute r player cantake a fairly long lime to make its move.The time ranges from under 3 minUies(Brevity with all options off, low skill level,and a s imp le game position) to over 15minutes (Oa1.3 la or Crusader with all options on, high skill level, and a complexposition).Unlike many o th er computer games, thecomputer player does not cheat when making its move. The same information-nomore and no less- th at is available to aplayer is available to the computer playerwhen it is making its move. For example,when visibility is sel at /10, th e only enemyunits whose locations the computer playerknows are those adjacent to its units. Alsounlike many other games_ the only difference between skill levels (and betweenone-player and two-player games) is in the"inlell igence'- of the computer player;there arc no rules or unit strength chan ges.The game itself uses a pseudo-randomnumber generator to resolve eventS; allgames between two human players willhave identical results if the players choose

identical options and enter identical orders.


31/75

ing to one in progress from saving or entering a position or lurn. Insert the game diskwi th side B up and press (RETURN) .Insert side A and press any key: Youare restaning the game and Ihe computerneeds 10 read from side A of the game disk.To continue. insert the game disk with sideA up and then press any key.

Unknown key, (ESC) exits: You .are inthe midst of saving or entering a positionor turn . The compUie r didn't understandyour lasl keystroke. You could try to pn:ss~ r o p r i a l e key or simply stan over withU!JProblem with disk/disk drive. Correctdisk and side? (ESC) exits, space barretries: You are in the midst of staning agame or saving/entering a position/tum.For any of a number of possible reasons.the co mputer is unable to read/write to adisk. Check the drive and disk to make sureeverything is working correctly (the rightdisk is in the drive, the door is closed, etc.)and then press! SPACE l to have the computer try it again or press.C!Jto returnto the mid -game menu. There is very littledanger to the game in progress or the gamedisk. The computer will try over and overagain until it succeeds or you give up.Target added: You have just added a

if you first move another unit out of thehex.Earlier arrival not possible: You have

tried to change the arrival of an airplanesonie to an earlier time and either the arrival time is already I or there has not beenenough turnaround time since the previoussonie .Later arrival not possible: You have

tried to change the arrival of an airplanesonie to a later time and either the arrivaltime plus the hang time already add up toimpulse IOor there will not be enough rurnaround time for a later sonie which hasalready been defined.Hang time at maximum: You have triedto increase a son ie's hang time beyond theaircraft type 's maximum.

All ava ilable supply transferred: Youhave tried to increase the amount of supply transferred from a headquarters beyondthe maximum.Transfer amount zero: You have triedto reduce the amount of supply transferredbelow zero .Friendly and enemy units in hex: Unitsfrom both sides are stacked in the hex. This

message is to help you notice when yourunits have been moved to an enemyoccupied hex . Usually. only the enemy


32/75

cancel the order of a unit with no orders(t his always appears when you cancel alla unifs orders with I SPACE i) ,or you arelocating units wi thout orders on thest rategic map.No unit in hex: You are trying to pickup a unit in a hex in which there are nofriendly units (a lthough there may beenemy uni ts there).Last unit: You have pressed with thelast unit listed in the 08 picked up. To getto the first unit in the 08, drop the unit andthen press @.Key undefined: You have pressed a keythat has no meaning in the game.Key undefined here: You have presseda key that is used in the game. but not atthe moment.HQs cannot: You are trying \0 have aHQ do something other than march ordefend.All units have orders: You have justsearched for units without orders and nonewere fou nd.Review paused, press X to end review:You were in the middle of reviewing units'orders and pressed 00 . You can cancel the

res t of the review by pressing a ain. orcontinue the review by pressing SPACEStacking limit exceeded: You are try-ing to exi t from free setup and one or more

hexes has too many units in it. The cursoris positioned on one of the overstackedhexes. You must correct the overstackingbefore you can exit.End turn with Q: You have pressed @once. You can quit the tum by pressing @a ain or ca ncel the order by pressingSPACE

End game with Q: You have reached theend of the game and ha ve pressed @ once.You can end the game by pressing @cancel the order by pressingR . " ' ; ~ t u m with (CTRL) X: You ha vepressed ICTRl) 00 once. You can stan thetum over (cancelin all units' orders) bypressing (CTRl) X a ain or cancel theorder by pressing SPACEStop game with S: You have pressed once. You can stop the game and go thestopped game men u by pressing S againor cancel the order by pressing SPACE


33/75

AIRPLANE CHARACTERISTICS TABLEBomb Hang TmType S" TIme TImeJu-87 4 I 3Ju-88 4 2 5Br-20 4 5We ll ington 3 4 6Maryland 3 I 5Blenheim 3 2 5Boston 4 I 5Hurricane 2 I 3Ki uyhawk 2 I 3Baltimore 4 2 5Bomb Sfr (Bombing Streng/h): Relativeeffectiveness of aircraft types. Hang

TIm e: Number of impulses over targetarea. Tm (Turnaround) Time: Number ofimpulses between son ies.


34/75

UN IT CHARACTERISTICS TABLE- Combat Strel1gth- MOI'emel1f Costs - Fuel -

Type ArAtk ArDef COlII' Clear Rough ROld Track E" An'lt Cap U"Pnz 15 8 40 3 5 1 2 +3 6 14 2M\3 10 4 20 4 5 1 2 +4 6 12 2L3 1 2 10 3 5 2 +3 6 8 2L6 5 2 10 3 5 2 +3 6 I. 2Mat 10 16 20 5 5 2 +6 8 I' 3V,1 10 12 20 4 5 2 +4 6 9 2A10 10 6 20 4 5 2 +4 6 10 2A13 10 6 20 3 5 2 + 3 6 10 2Cru 10 8 20 3 5 2 +3 6 14 2S'" 10 6 20 2 +2 6 8Mk6 2 20 2 1 +3 6 14 1Gn 15 12 30 4 5 2 +4 6 12 2AC 2 10 2 4 I +2 6 I.Ren(g) 6 2 4 +2 6 14Ren(a) 4 2 4 +3 6 14Rcn(i) 3 2 4 1 +3 6 14Inf(g) 3 5 5 2 +6 8 14Inf(a) 2 4 5 1 2 +4 6 14Inf(i) 5 5 2 +6 8 I.Mot(g) 4 2 4 +3 6 14Mot(a) 3 2 4 +3 6 14Mot( i) 1 2 4 1 +3 6 14 1Be, 3 2 4 I +3 6 14 1MG 2 5 5 2 4 +6 8 14 1


35/75

BATTLES FOR TOBRUK

Historical and Players' NotesCONTENTS

Orders or Battle............................ 2 Gaza la ..................................... 19Brc vity ........... ........ .................. 2 Aftennath ................................ 25Battleaxe .......... ... . .... ................. 3 Tanks in the Desert ......................25Crusader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 British ..................................... 25Gazala ............... ...................... 5 Italian . .. .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27Historical Noles. .. . .. ..........6 Gemlan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28Prelude: Rommel Arrives ..............6 Stra tegy and Tactics ......... .28Brcv ity ............ .. .. ... ...................9 Brevity .................................. 29BauJeaxc .................................. 11 Baulcaxe ................................. 30Crusader ..................................14 Crusader .................................. 30The Benghazi Handicap............... 18 Gazala .................................... 31


36/75

Orders of BattleThe following orders of battle list the

forces ava ilable to each side in each of thefour scenarios. Axis formations are identified by nationality : It for Italian and Ge,fo r German .Note that in some cases units of one division are split between two headquaners.For example. in Brevity, parts of 5th LightDivision appear in Gruppe Herff and DAK .

Unit types on the orders of battle correspond to the unit types ass igned to the un itsin the game. In some cases, this differsfrom their official designations. For example. Gennan machinegun battalions wereused as motorized infantry in Africa andthus are identified as motorized in the gameand in the orders of battle.British unit designations are a bit confusing. Regiments are administrative units , Jl()(field units. A regi ment could have anynumber of battalions, all fighti ng in differen! armies; the Royal Tank Regiment(RTR), for example. had 24 (numbered1- 12 and 40-5 1) . Banal ions were referredto by a banal ion number and the regimental name. for example 42nd RTR: the 42ndBattalion of the Royal Tank Reg iment. Tofurther confuse things, some regiments had

Ariete Armored Divisioll (II)8th Bersaglieri Reg iment

3rd Battalion51h Light Division (Ger)

3rd Reconnaissance Banalion5th Panzer RegimentII Battalion15th Panzer Dh'is ion (Ge r)33rd Reconnaissance Battalion15th Moto rized Battalion

DeUlsches Afrika Korps4th, 5th. 11th Tank Battalions (It)Trefllo Infamry Dh';s iorz (It)7th Bersaglieri Regiment10th. II th BattalionsAri('/e Annored Division (It)32nd Armored Regiment

1st. 2nd. 7th Battalions8th Bersaglieri Regiment5th. 12th BattalionsBrescia Infantry Division (It)

19th Infantry Regiment1st, 2nd Batlalions20th Infantry Regiment1st. 2nd. 3rd Battalions5th Light Division (Ge r)200th Motorized Regiment2nd. 8th Batta lions

15th Ponzer Dhjsion (Ger)8th Panzer Regiment

Tobruk Garrison Deulsches Afrika Korps


37/75

18th Ind ian Cavalry3Td Armoured BrigadeKing Dragoon 's Guards.

3rd Hu ssars. 1st RTR.o Squadron 7th RTR9th Australian Infanlry Dil'ision18th Australian Infantry Brigade9th. 10th. 12th Battalions20th Au stralian Infantry Bri gade13th. 15th. 17th Battal ions24th Australian Infantry Brigade28th 3200. 43rd Baualions26 th Australian Infantry Brigade23rd. 48th. 1st Pioneer Battalions

BAlTLEAXEAxis

Pan 1.ugruppe Afrika1118 Flak Battalion (Ger)300th Infantry Battalion (Ger)21st CorpsPavia Infantry Division (/1)

27th In fantry Regiment1st, 2nd. 3Td Battalions29th I.nfantry Regiment1st. 2nd. 3rd BattalionsBrescia Infantry Dil'ision (II)

51h Light Didsion (Gu)3rd Reconnaissance Battalion5th Panzer RegimentI. II Battalions2001:h Motorized Regiment2nd. 8th Battalions

151h Pan zer Division (Ger)33rd Reconnaissan ce Battalion15th MOIorized Battalion

8th Panzer RegimentI. U Battalionsl04th Motorized RegimentI. IJ BattalionsI I 5th Motorized RegimentI. II Battal ions

AlliesWestern Desen Force4th Indian Infantry Dil'isiOl ICentral Indian Horse

4th Armoured Brigade4th RTR , 7th RTR11th Indian Infantry Brigade2nd Cameron Highlanders.5th Madras Light Infantry ,6th Rajputana RiOes22nd Guards Infantry BrigadelSI Buffs. 2nd Scots Guards,

20th Australian Infantry Brigade Bologna Infantry Division (It)


38/75

9th. 10th. 15th Battalions24th Australian Infant ry Brigade17th 28th. 43 rd Battalions26th Australian Infantry Brigade12 th . 23rd, 48th Baualions

CRUSADERAxis

Pant.erannee Afrika1118, 1133 Flak Battalions (Ger)Afrika DiI'ision (Ged300th. 111 /255.111 /347 Infan try Batlalions155th Infantry Regiment361 st Infanuy Re giment501'olla Illfanlry Division (1/)t5th Infantry Regimentt6th Infant ry RegimentBardia Garrison (It)Genova ~ c h e g u n Battalion

280th Infantry Regiment20th CorpsAriete Annored Division (It)132nd Annored Regiment7th . 8th , 9th Batlalions

32nd Armored RegimentIst, 2nd Battalions

39th Infantry Regiment40th Infantry Regiment

Deutsches Afrika Korps15th Pallur Dil'ision fGer)33 rd Reconnaissance Battalion8th Panzer RegimentI. 11 Battalions

I I 5th Motorized Reg imentI, II Baltalions200th Motorized Reg iment2nd , 15th Battalions

21s1 Panu r DMsion (Ger)3rd Reconnaissance Battalion5th Panzer RegimentI. 11 Battaliont04th Motorized RegimentI. n , 8th Battal ions

Allies8th Anny13th Corps

1st Tank Brigade8th RTR , C Squadron 42nd RTR ,44th RTR2nd New Zealand Infantry Division2nd New ZealandDivisional Cavalry

Ist South African Infantry Brigade 20th Infantry Regiment


39/75

5th South African Infantry Brigade7th Annoured Division4th South African Armoured Cars,11th Hussars,King's Dragoon Guards7th Support Group7th Armoured Brigade2nd RTR, 6th RTR, 7th Hussars22nd Armoured Brigade

2nd Hussars.3rd County of Lo ndon Yeomanry,4th Coumy of London Yeoman ryTobruk GarrisonCa rpathian Uhlans2nd Czech Battalion

Carpathi an Brigade32nd Tank Brigade1st RTR, 4th RTR,D Squad ron 7th RTR70rh Infantry Division3rd . 15th AUSlfalian

Infamry Baua lions14th Infantry Brigade16th Infamry Brigade23 rd Infant ry Brigade

GAZALAAxis

90th Light Africa Oh'ision (Ge r)200th Motorized RegimemI, II Battalions361 t Motorized Regimen!I. II Battalions

20rh CorpsTrieste Motorized Dil,ision (It)8th Be rsaglieri Battalion11th Tank Battalion9 th Bersaglieri Regiment65th Motorized Regiment

66th MOiorized RegimentAriete Armored DiI'ision (It)Nizza Reconnaissance Ba ttalion132 nd Armored Regiment8th. 9th. 10th Battalions8th Bersaglieri Regiment

LillOrio AmlOred Dil'ision (It)Lancieri di Novara Tank Ba ttalionI33rd Armored Regiment12th. 51st Battalions12th Bersaglieri Regiment

Deutsches Afrilw Korps15th Ponl,l!r Oil'ision (Ge r)33rd Reconnaissance Ballalion8th Panzer RegimentI, II BattalionsI 15th Motorized Regiment

20th Indian Infantry Brigade the 71h Armoured and 4th Indian Divisions


40/75

13th Corps1st Ta nk Brigade

8th RTR. 42nd RTR. 44th RTR32nd Tank Brigade4th RTR. 7th RTR50th In/anlry Dil'ision69th In fantry Brigade

150th Infantry Brigade151 SI Infantry Brigade1st South A/rican Infantry Division3rd South African Armoured Cars1st South African Infantry Brigade2nd South Afr ican In fantry Brigade3rd South African Infamry Brigade

30th Corps1st Free French Brigade1st Armoured Division12th Lancers. Royals20 Ist Guards Motor Brigade2nd Armoured BrigadeQueen's Buffs. 9th Lancers.10th Hussars. 1st Ri fle Brigade

22nd Armou red Brigade2nd Hussars,3rd County of London Yeomanry.4th County of London Yeomanry.3rd Sharpshooters7th Armoured Division

had attacked and overwhelmed the Italianforces guarding the Libyan-Egyptian fro ntier. destroy ing four Ital ian divisions. Inlate December the 4th Indian Division hadbeen w ithdrawn fo r employment in EastAfrica and 6th Australian Divis ion hadtaken its place. The division' s first actionhad been 10 storm Bardia fon ress , capturing both the harbor and the remnants of fourmore Italian divisions. In January Tobrukfe ll and in the first days of February the 7thArmoured Division cu t off and destroyedthe remnants of the retreating Ita lian 10thArmy at Beda Fomm. In less than twomonths a Commonwealth force never ex-ceeding two divisions had tota lly annih ilated an Italian army over five times itsstrength .Unfortunately, the Commonwealth forcewas almost completely spent in the process.7th Armoured Division, which began theoffensive with over 200 tanks, finished itswork a t 8eda Fomm with scarcely 50 . Inadd ition. political and strategic considerations seemed to requite that the British senda force to assist the Greeks in their waragainsl Italy . Thus, although the British hadreceived several new divisions, the besttroops would be sent to Greece and WesternDesert Force would go on the defensive for


41/75

The Desert WaI

an attempt to remedy the weakness inmobile troops on the fronlier, the Britishreinforced 2nd Armoured with th e 3rd Indian Motor Brigade. The brigade was madeup of good personnel but had no antitankguns. a crippling liability in the desen .While this changing of the guard was being accomplished. General Ronunel had arrived in Tripoli with the first cont ingent ofGerman ground troops. While he wasdesignnted as a corps commander. al first

o "--- 1001

French invasion from Tunisia. Now that itwas clear that the Vichy troops in Tunisiawould remain neutral. these divisions couldsafely be committed against the British.Next, there were the newly arrivedelements of the Italian Armored Corps, theTrento Motorized Division and the ArieteArmored Divis ion. Ariete's med ium tankshad been sem over ahead of the main body.however, and had been wiped out at BedaFomm. The division 's remaining armored

and by April I the vital narrows had been poned by the remaining lanks of 5th Light


42/75

cleared . Wi th German annor in the opendesert. the 2nd Annoured Di vision begangiving ground and losing tanks at an a1anning rate from mechanical breakdown. ByApril 5th. Bresc ia had rccapwred Benghaziand pressed on to Oriana. 5th Li ght's 3rdRecon Battalion had led th e way toBenghazi and then struck due east to Char-ruba. 5th Panzer Regiment was at Antclatand 2nd Machinegun Batlalion was atSccleidima. both closing in on Msus. In lIlesouth the 8th Machinegun Baualion and themain body of Ariete made the most im pressive gains, having reached BirTengeder by wa y of Maaten el Grara andBen Gania. By the end of th e first week ofApril Mechili was surrounded, Derna hadfallen, and advanced German detachmcntswere approaching Tobruk .On the British side , the si tuation lookedgrim. The forward troops of9th AustralianDivision had successfully disengaged fromBenghazi and delayed the Brescia Di visionwi th rearguard detachments and demolitions. Howcvcr. 3rd Annoured Brigade hadvirtually ceased to ex ist, its tanks spread theIcngth of Cyrcnaica, victim to mechanicalbreakdown or lack of fuel. 2nd ArmouredDivision's HQ and 3rd Indian MotorBrigade had been surrounded at Mech ili

Di vision. (During the frantic drive acrossCyrenaica Rommel' s ta nk officers hadrepeatedly requested hailS for mainlenance.arld Rommel had repeatedly denied pennission. The result was a lightning advance atlIle cost of tremendous mechanical attrition.By the time the division arrived at Tobrukit had only 38 tanks left of its originalslrength of 150. ) Up until this time, Rommel had enjoyed tremendous success withinadequate forces by striking swiftly andunexpected ly before the enemy was fu llyprepared to meet him . On Ap ril 14th.howcver. that run of luck came to a suddcn c nd . The alert and aggressiveAustralians gave the panzers a severe mau ling (knocking out 17 of the 38 tanks in action) and virtually wiped oul the 8thMachinegun Battalion.Over lIle ne xt several weeks new Germantroops arrived from the 15th Panzer Division and took up positions around theperimeter. However, the Australians conducted an aggressive defense punclUatedwith numerous night commandotype raidsand frequent battalion-scale countcrattacks.Two attacks by thc 2/48th Auslralian Infantry (identified in the game as the 48thBattal ion) overwhelmed and wiped out theIII Battalion, 61 st Infantry Regiment of

Both belligerent s were now at the pointof exhaustion and an uneasy point of coast road toward Halfaya and Sol1um andeve nlu ally link up with the inland force.


43/75

balance was reached around Tobruk. Thenext major action would see the growingBritish force on the front ier attempt to seizethe ini tiative from the Ax is screening forcesnear Bardia .BREV ITY

In early May the British received wordthat they would be receivi ng substantial armored reinforcemen ts by the end of themonth . This would enable them to launcha major attack in early June, bu t it alsomeant that they could be somewhat moreaggressive with their forces cu rrently on thefrontier, weak though they mi ght be. Withmore tanks du e to arrive shortly, a failedattack would not be the disaste r that itwould have been a week earlier. Thus, itwas decided to mount a modest operationby Brigadier Gott's mobile force .Gott' s force on the frontier consisted ofbits and pieces from several formations.The 7th Annoured Brigade (from 7th Armoured Division) co ntrolled one weak tankbattalion (2nd RTR , about 30 runners) andthree "columns" of the 7th ArmouredDivision 's support group. Each of thesecolumns included a company of motorizedinfantry and abou t hal f a ballery each of

On the Axis side. a few severely depletedformations were attempting to hold a verylarge chunk of ground. Brescia and Tren towere the on ly two infantry division savailable to hold the siege line and variousfrontier strongpoints, and both divisionswere und erstrength . Brescia had left one ofits six infantry battalions behind in Tripoli .Trento had detached one of its three Be rsaglieri battalions to ga rrison the oases inthe far south and one of its six infantry ba ttalions had been destroyed in mid-April ( a ~ related earlier). Containing the troublesomeAust ralians consumed mu ch of the Axisstrength : all of Brescia and virtually all ofthe infant ry from the two panzer divisionsand Ariete. The defense of the fro nlier wasentrusted to Trento and a small mixed German force called "G ruppc Herff'. after thecommander of the 15 th Motorcycle Bat talion , which fo rmed the kernel of thedefense. Shortly before the Brevity attackthe act ivi ty of the Au stralians req uired theAxis 10 reinforce the Tobruk perimeter andthey d id so by recalling Trento's Bersaglieriregiment. However, on May 6 the front ierforce was strengthened by the dispatch ofthe newly-arrived recon battalion of the15th Panzer Division as well as the II B a


44/75

The Frontierl.._

. Sidi Azeiz .._ . . . . . . . ....11 ' "

" 0

Capuzzoc,"I

...., f;;)- " .., ' ' - F = ; : m ~ ... .' : I I.. . : ...... . .... Point 208 :/ Blr Walr(Hafid Ridg.s>--1. " " . '... / . '.. ..' / .. ..... ..! / .j . ,tt

./...(:f!- \ .......... . .

Q-iles

..... . ' ......... : "./ .. ..... '.i._ - . .' ".

I

lime 41h RTR had los t nearly half its tanksand the advance stalled. Further inland the

26th . The Germans then sel about heavilyfortifying Halfaya and a number of posi


45/75

7th Annourcd Brigade Group captured SidiOmar and drove north toward Sidi Azeiz .

Rommel reacted quickl y to the Brilish attack. dispatching tank reinforcements 10 thefrontier and ordering Herff to counterattackwith the troops al his disposal. Herff pickedCapuzzo as the likely point to strike backand U15th Panzer drove the Durham Lightsback to to Musaid badly depleted . Bynightfall the 2nd Rifle Brigade had clearedthe area up to Sollum and 7th ArmouredBrigade was near Sidi Azeiz, but Axis armor was approaching from the west andHerffs mobile fo rces were thick in the SidiAzeiz-Capuzzo area.

In the early hours ofMay 16th , BrigadierGOII decided that 2200 Guards Brigade was100 exposed 10 an armored counteraltackand shou ld be withdrawn. They began doing so ea rly on Ihe 16 th while 7th Armoured Brigade remained in a coveringposition near Sidi Azeiz. IISth Panzer Battalion arrived there later in the day andwhen the Ge rmans began a general advancefrom Sidi Azeiz , 7th Armoured gaveground and skillfull y withdrew to the south .Brevity was a failure for a variety ofreasons. Foremost among these was thepsychological impact of the successful drive

tions o n dominating ground around it. TheBritish would nOl retake the ground as easily the next time they altacked .BATILEAXETwo day s after Halfaya fell 10 the Ger

mans, General Wave ll (Comma nder inChier Middle East Forces) issued his o rdersfor Operation Battleaxe. The "Tiger" convoy with tank reinforcements had arrivedon May 12th (too la te for its tanks to beused in Brevity) and it was felt that by midJune the armored forces would be againbail ie-wo rthy. The lengthy del ay wascaused mostly by two factors. Firs!. theva riety of demands placed on the MiddleEast command combined with its limitedresou rces had caused the fragmentation ofits a rmored forces to an alarming extent.Elements of the two annored d ivisions (7 (hand 2nd) had been employed in Tobruk, (hefronti e r. the Nile delta , Greece , Crete, andEast Africa . Time was needed to reassembl e the troops of 7th Armoured Di visionand reaccustom them to working as aunified formation . Second. the tanks sentout from England had been drawn from ava riety of active uni ts: the y were notfactory-fresh. Many of them needed repairs

very powerful. this brigade was attached tothe 4th Indian Division for the offen sive. while the three battalions of the 62nd Regiment held defensive strongpoints in the


46/75

4th Indian Division, it will beremembered, had been instrumental in theearly successes of the British winter offensive in 1940-41. but had then been sent toEast Africa, As that campaign had nowbeen successfu lly concluded. the divisionwas returning to Ihe desert. By mid-Ju ne,however. only the division headquartersand the 11th brigade had arrived, so th edivision was also given the superb 22ndGuards Brigade.In Tobruk. tank strengt h had also risenfollowing arrival of the "Tiger" convoy,and 3rd Armoured Brigade cou ld now fie ldover fifty operational tanks. including fifteen heavy Matildas.Wavell's plan for Battleaxe was largelya repetition of Brevity but on a larger scale.11th Indian Bri gade was responsible for thecoast be low the escarpment and would attack first Halfaya and then Sollum. 22ndGuards Brigade was again responsible forattacking above the escarpment toward theCa puzzo-Musaid area, but this time wassupported by nearly one hundred Matildasin 4th Armoured Brigade instead of onlytwenty . Inland. the 7th Armoured Divi sionwas given the rather vague task of covering 4th Indian Division's open left flank and

Sollum-Capuzzo area. 15th Panzer had its11104 Rine Battalion at Halfaya and the300th Oasis Battalion at Point 208 (sometimes called Hafid Rid ge: hex 0822). Bothpositions were well fortified and fonned thestrong flank anchors of the frontierdefenses. In addition, 88mm antiaircraftguns of the 1118th Flak Battalion had beenemplaced at Halfaya to stiffen the antitankdefenses. The d ivis ion 's 33rd Recon andHerffs 15th Motorcycle Battalion heldscreening outposts to the so uth while the8th Panzer Regiment , now with nearly onehundred tanks, lay in reserve at Sidi Azeiz.Most of the division's infantry, however.was still in the Tobruk siege lines.The British attack was launched on June15th and met with mixed success. On theinland flank the 7th Armoured Brigade advanced qu ickly to Hafid ridge but then werestalled all day. 300th Oasis Battalion's wellentrenched defense exac ted a stiff pricefrom the British tanks and by afternoon abattalion of 5th Panzer Regiment had arrived and joined the defenses. By nightfallthe brigade was down to only 48 runners .On the coast the 11th Indian Brigade ranint o a brick wall at Halfaya Pass and wasunable to advance all day. Only in the

operational Matildas. activity of 15th Panzer. even though it


47/75

During the night of June 1516, Rommelhurried the main body of5th Light, in compa ny with elements of 15th Panzer'smotorized infantry, toward Sidi Azeiz, andplanned a renewed attack in the morning.8th Panzer Regiment would again attacktoward Capuzzo to pin the British in placewhile 5th Light Di vision swung widearound the desert flank to launch an attackagainst the Allied rear. On Ihe Allied side,plans for the 16th included continued efforts by 4th Indian Division to captureHalfaya coupled with moves designed to increase its hold on the CapuzzoSollum area.4th Armoured Br igade was to rejoin 7th Armoured Brigade and destroy the Germanarmor in the Hafid Ridge area.8th Panzer Regiment's attack came inhard al dawn against Capuzzo. but the twobanalions of Matildas supported by the 1stBuffs drove the German ta nks back withheavy losses. (8th Panzer Regiment. whichslarted the battle with over 90 tanks. bynightfall on the 16th was down to 33 runners. ) However. this attack succeeded inconvincing 4th Indian Division to hold onto 4th Armoured Brigade . To the west. 7thArmoured Brigade and part of 7th SupportGroup grappled with 5th Light Division allday in a running fight from Hafid Ridge to

would ult ima tely be directed further south.again convinced 4th Ind ian Division to hangonto 4th Armoured Brigade. 5th Lightdrove east from Sid i Omar and soonreached Sidi Suleiman (hex 0524). Finallyaware of the threat to their communicationsthis move offered, the British called offtheir own a ttacks and ordered th ewithdrawal of their troops to Egypt. As 7thArmoured Divis ion harassed 5th LightDivision's southern flank. the dwindlingforce of Matildas in 4th Armoured Brigadefought a slow rearguard ac tion that enabled22nd Guards Brigade to withdraw in lact.In retrospect. Operation Battleaxe wasnot the humiliating failure it seemed at the

time. Several times during the battle theGermans had been in serious trouble.Halfaya was close to running out of supplies, 8th Panzer Regiment was reduced toa shadow of its original strength, and mostof the infantry and gu ns of the front ierdefenses were overrun or scattered. Ofgreatest conce rn was the ease with whichthe Matilda infantry tanks turned back thepanzers. Rommel at the time spokedisparagingly of the Matilda, bu t histankers, particularly in 8th Panzer Regiment . had an enti re ly differem opinion.As to Bri tish performance, there was lit

up a draw. but with the British armor gut sion. supported by the 32nd Tank Brigade


48/75

ted and the Germans sti ll full of fight forthe next morning.CRUSADERBy November of 1941 . the nature of thedesert fighti ng had changed considerably.While the sp ring and summer fighting hadbeen conducted by fairly small. improvisedforces, autumn had secn a considerablebuild-up by both sides. Past battles hadbeen division or corps-sized operations,while the next struggle would see two complete armies locked in a battle of majorproportions.

On the British side. Western DesertForce was now 13th Corps and had beenjo ined by 30th Corps headquarters. bothunder the command of the newly-organized8th AmlY. Most of the older uni ts were stillpresent, but there were many new faces.

7th Armoured Division still co mmanded 7th Armoured Brigade and 7th SupportGroup. but now also included the newlyarrived 2200 Armoured Brigade. completely equipped with new Al5 Crusaders. 4

Rommel Battles for Tobruk

Documents

Transcript of Rommel Battles for Tobruk