Table size is c. 8x6ft as suggested for forces of this size and the particularly dense terrain was generated at random using the terrain generator in the Torch book. The scenario was flank attack.
The shots show the situation immediately before the arrival of the first wave of DAK reinforcements. 10th Panzer have battled their way to the centre of the table and are about to take control of 3 of the 4 objectives and contest the 4th. However, this will be achieved at the cost of one destroyed Pz III and two immobilised Pz IV F2s. The British have 5 Crusader IIIs upper right of centre, trading shots with the 10th Pz armour. Both sides artillery is pinning tanks to prevent the expected flurry of AP shots if they don't pin.
Sadly for the Germans, who only have a beute Valentine coming on in turn 6, the Allies have a mixed force including Valentines coming on table in turn 9. We had to call it a draw at the close of turn 7 as it was past 11pm. The Germans had amassed serious BP chits, while the Allies were virtually unscathed, meaning yet another victory for the Allies, although we each thought we had a chance of victory if we could have progressed to a finish.
That means that out of five Torch campaign games, three decided by our map movements plus scenarios 1 and 2, the Allies have won 4 games by stunning margins and the Germans scraped one very narrow victory. As these game represent the start of the campaign, when the Germans were historically still achieving victories and advancing, we felt this less than historical. Even worse, the campaign is just getting tedious, certainly for the German player (me). The main issues seem to centre on the points system, which allows lots of cheap, but superior, Allied armour, artillery and scouts, compared with expensive, and largely inferior, German versions. In particular, it only takes one battery of 25lbrs or, even worse, one of 105mm guns to close down the entire German offensive. Couple that with cheap and fast moving tanks, like the Crusader III, armed with an effective 6pdr, and the German advance stalls. The campaign needs to be leavened with additional restrictions, which limit Allied artillery fire in the early stages of the campaign, and the points system, while they lead to an historical result (i.e. the Germans lose), does not allow any kind of German attack to develop. It took the Allies (well the US mostly) until the final battle of the campaign to co-ordinate their artillery into an effective battlefield weapon, but in the campaign as written, they can use it from the off. This leads to a lack of German success early on and their inability to contest the campaign.
It is interesting to note that the most popular periods of Battlegroup played at the club are Overlord and Fall of the Reich (including Wacht am Rhein and Market Garden), which always seem to offer very playable and nicely balanced games. Blitzkrieg and Barbarossa seem to offer some nicely balanced games as well, although the scenario that pits German infantry and Pz Is assaulting fortified Polish positions, in the Blitzkrieg book, is unplayable for the Germans. Sadly, Tobruk and Torch both seem to be so unbalanced that they appear to be neither playable nor fun. At least one player at the club won't pick up the Tobruk book because they think the rules are so unbalanced. They jar considerably when compared with, for example, a game of BG Market Garden that Will and I played last year (linky https://sedimentswargameblog.blogspot.com/2018/03/battlegroup-market-garden-test-game.html). This game last year was close run and I won it 2 points off my BP, but it was fun. The recent game of BG Tobruk that I won by a couple of points was most definitely not fun. Sadly, this must reflect scenario design and/or the points system and any fun game should be winnable by either side, depending on the tactical decisions and luck of the dice, not a foregone conclusion from the start.
I don't think we will turn our backs on Tobruk and Torch, but scenario design will need some significant work to make them fun to play. Will probably has his own views on the games we have played so far and I am sure he has enjoyed smashing my 251s with his 105s as payback for what I did to his US paratroopers!
As ever, thanks for looking.
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