Bir Hacheim - Memoir 44 scenario playtest.

It was reading Martin Rapier's recent account of a 'Bir Hakeim' action played under the Memoir '44 game system, with add-ons, supplements and adjustments, that inspired this belated, and rather divergent, posting.  As such it was something of an experiment and the article as much a review of the game system and the success (or otherwise) of the modifications Martin had in mind (see here).

Scenario set up.  The dotted bits represent minefields, for
which I used AT obstacles.  Blue arrows are exit points fpr
Axis units breaking through; the grey stars
strong-point objectives.

 Reading this, I wondered just how the scenario would go with the basic Normandy game system - completely unaltered.  Mapping out the scenario from the photographs, I had to guess the number of command cards and 'victory points' for each side.

The Axis went first; both sides got 6 command cards.  The Allies got Victory Points by destroying enemy units.  The Axis get them by {a} destroying Allied units, {b} by occupying strong points held by the 'Free French' near Bir Hacheim' (grey stars) and {c} by exiting units from either of the two exit points marked with blue arrows on the map.

For this action, I used anti-tank obstacles to represent minefields, with no rules adjustment.  All the same, as the action developed, it became clear that the action would concentrate upon the less protected positions outside the fortified perimeter.  Partly this was due to the preponderance of sector orders to the right and centre.  Very few group orders turned up, an observation that Martin Rapier dilated upon.

Rough notion of how events unfolded.  The arrival of 2/3
of the Ariete Division tanks and the 'Armour Assault;
card led to almost the entire Indian Bde being overrun.

For quite a while, it looked as though the Axis were not going to flank the Gazala line at all - through Bir Hacheim, or around it.  Fighting was never more than desultory around the Bir Hacheim 'box' itself - such as there was being as much to turn over the cards as to inflict losses.  The defences were discouraging enough, but none too many sector order cards came up for this part of the field.

Between the ridges, the fighting was a deal more brisk, and the defenders were giving a pretty good account of themselves.  Early on, the Axis paused to bring up the artillery just one hex, to a more effective range of the dug in line.  Even so, the early Stuka raid (Air Strike card) and heavy artillery strike a few turns thereafter (Barrage card) were welcome to the Axis to keep up the pressure in what amounted to a battle of attrition.  A couple of tank units from 'Ariete' Division were called over - to reinforce what had become the main attack, but also to turn over a 'left sector 'Probe' card.

What sealed the deal for the Axis was the arrival of an 'Armour Assault' card, just as the Ariete Division was set to intervene effectively.  With it, the four tank units still available thundered into close assault, effecting a couple of overrun attacks and swept the Allied line - infantry and guns - from right to left.  Only the remnant still occupying the rise on the left flank survived.

Of course, the tank units of the 4th Armoured Brigade counter-attacked, and inflicted some loss.  The left hand unit even reoccupied some positions earlier held by the infantry.  But after their massed attack, the momentum rested with the Axis.  Soon the entire available Allied armour were wrecks littering the darkling desert.  Five Allied units destroyed and one Axis Panzer unit exited, to two Axis units destroyed (though at least a couple of others were down to a single element) it was a great Axis victory; 6-2 based on VPs.

The turning point was certainly sudden, and the Allies didn't get much in the way of group cards to help things along.  Still, for mine, a fascinating exercise, interesting scenario even under the basic Memoir '44 system... and ... a candidate game for The Portable Wargame!