The Wargamer

Introduction

The Wargamer is pleased to present an exclusive After Action Report (AAR) from Battlefront previewing the highly anticipated Combat Mission: Afrika Korps. Two Afrika Korps testers, Wyatt Barnett and Thomas Kiilerirch, square off in Operation Fruelingswind using a beta version of the game (so naturally the screenshots are subject to improvement). Here the vaunted Afrika Korps is seeking to wrest control of the road to Sidi bou Zid from entrenched but inexperienced Americans. Rommel's overall objective was to destroy American elements in order to weaken their advance through Tunisia. The AAR provides some great insight into some of the new features of this last installment in the Combat Mission series, including dust effects, improved and expanded terrain features, and new units and vehicles such as the dual-gunned Grant.

Allies Side: Deployment and Planning

My orders instructed me that "we do not expect an attack here. However, deploy in defense just in case." Translated into Combat Mission terms that means "The entire Afrika Korps is bearing down on your woefully inadequate positions." And this position was not well chosen to begin with. There is nowhere to deploy in an almost featureless wide open desert. More appalling is the lack of covered routes to redeploy my forces, dispatch reinforcements as well as counter-attack along. Once something is committed it will fight and die in place. Compounding this is the number of small rises in front of my positions, breaking fields of fire and giving some nice covered routes for the enemy to advance. Far and away the biggest danger is the wadi running down the middle of the map. The far end is a bit too far away to control through the firepower available. And once he has infiltrated it he can advance to within 300 meters of my lines without interference. To cover this advance he has a convenient ridge line running across the entire width of the map, a wonderful place to park the Tiger tanks that are probably coming my way.

Compounding this issue is the questionable quality of my forces. While adequately equipped, my men, like the rest of the Americans in Tunisia, are a bit on the green side. At my disposal I have one Infantry Company of about 180 souls, one tank platoon of five Grant Tanks, a pair of 37mm anti-tank guns, a 75mm artillery spotter and a few gun-toting halftracks. In addition I am promised an additional five Shermans as reinforcements. Sounds rather impressive until one considers the fact that my green infantry will not last in a firefight against the veteran Panzergrenadiers I expect, and my tankers have trouble hitting the broad side of a barn at 30 meters nor have any hope of maneuvering with the Panzers. One fact in my corner: Grants are tough.

Given the constraints of the territory I am to defend and the tools I have to defend it, I settle upon my plan. Overall I will try and fight from generally fixed positions. Since there is nowhere to hide, especially for my armor, I shall use them much like mobile pillboxes and hope the armor holds up. My artillery is the key reserve; it will be used to keep my infantry from being overrun should it come to that. My boys are not stopping veteran panzergrenadiers, even from foxholes. With all this in mind I break my forces into four task forces:

• Task Force (TF) Ham consists of one infantry platoon and a 37mm anti-tank gun. They are deployed on my left and far forward. Mission: hold down that flank and provide enfilading fire should he come down the gully and through the brush in my center. Hopefully the 37mm can get a few side shots in on some panzers.
• Task Force Anglin is deployed in the conveniently located olive orchard. I place an MMG, a 60mm mortar and the two halftracks under his command. Mission: provide fire support for Task Force Ham and anyone else who needs it.
• Task Force Little, under my company commander, is the final line of defense and occupies the only truly solid defensive position I have. Deployed in the center behind a stone wall lie the strength of one and half infantry platoons, my other anti-tank gun, the artillery spotter and a pair of 60mm mortars. To bolster this force I deploy a pair of Grant tanks behind the Mosque. They will act as my initial reserve until the promised Shermans show.
• Task Force Brookbank holds the bulk of my striking power. Positioned on my right, it consists of my remaining 3 tanks and an infantry platoon. In some ways this position is bad because there is no cover and no where to move to. But it also anchors the line and the small ridgelet in front of it also provides cover from long ranged fire. The key unit in this force is Lt. Brookbank's Grant. If it gets destroyed, my hard to handle green tankers will become positively inept.
• With my plan laid and my forces deployed, we can let the battle begin. Can the green Americans hold off the Afrika Korps?