FOW5 Desert Station Zebra 1940

 

ITALIANS!  ATTTTAAAACKKK.......

"Egypt 1940, Mussolini orders his forces forward.   A mighty host of a 100,000 screaming Italians crash into just 30,000 British Empire troops."

Situated in the forward area, the garrison of Desert Station Zebra are ordered to fall back.  However the transports for the garrison are destroyed by the Italian Air force.  A small British Armored Force is dispatched  to cover the retreat from Zebra. 

Another small 33 point(ish) 10mm WW2 Flames of War game.   The SPAV would take the Brits, yours truly the Italians.

British Army -  33 points

Infantry HQ (2 pts)

Infantry Platoon (8 pts)

2 Pdr Anti-Tank section (4 pts)

3" Mortar Section (3 pts)

Relief Force

Matilda II HQ (6 pts)

Cruiser A9 Platoon (4 pts)

Vickers Mark VI Platoon (3 pts)

Vickers Mark VI Platoon (3 pts)

The Mighty Italian Army - 35 points

M13/40 HQ (2 pts)

M13/40 Platoon (5 pts)

M13/40 Platoon (5 pts)

L3/35 Tankette Platoon (3 pts)

L3/35 Tankette Platoon (3 pts)

L3/35 Lanciafiamme Platoon (3 pts)

Bersagliari Infantry Platoon (9 pts)

CR.42 Falco Airplanes (5 pts)

The Italians move first & attack from the South West.
The British Relief force comes in from the North East.

The British Infantry defend Desert Station Zebra.
Barbed Wire covers the perimeter.

The Bersagliari Infantry advance behind the Italian Tanks.
The Flame-Throwers would hit the fort from the south.

'ADVANCE, Brave Italians!'

British Turn
The Mighty Matilda trundles along the road

First blood to the Boys Anti-Tank Rifle!

Italian Tankettes ready to machine gun the walls...

British 3" Mortars find their range...

The Regia Aeronautica arrive!
Queue the opera music....

FLAME ON Giovanni...
A devastating weapon.

Good British firepower 'pins' some of the Italians.

The Italian Tanks line up against the Matilda.

A Tankette Platoon gets ready to halt the British Relief force.

One of the British Infantry sections is destroyed.

It's a good round for the Italians.
One of the 3" Mortars is taken out by the Falco's.

Here comes the Matilda!
One of the M13/40's is Bailed Out by the Matilda.

Overview after the British turn.

The Italian Infantry are like a sea of biblical locusts...

Italian firepower bounces off the Mighty Matilda.

The British CO looks out against the Italian onslaught.

AWESOME...

The bulk of the British Tanks arrives....

The 2 Pdr will get some work today...

Fast moving Vickers take on the Tankettes...

With losses building, the British Infantry retreat back to the fort.

A good round of British firepower.
A Kill & a Bail Out.

The Matilda takes out one of the pesky Flame-Throwers.

One by one, the Italian Tanks are being destroyed.

Another Bersagliari Infantry stand is destroyed.

DESTROY the Matilda!

Bombs away, but they fail to damage the British Beast!

FORWARD to the wire, Brave Italians!
The remaining Flame-Throwers peg it away from the vicious Matilda.

Tank Battle in the south.

It's a big Infantry Platoon.
It will soak up the damage on the way to assaulting the fort.

Hopefully the Flame-Throwers will cause damage to the British as the Bersagliari move up.

Another great view of Desert Station Zebra.

Poor attack rolls, no British casualties.

AAArrggh! 
One of the awesome Flame-Throwers is destroyed by the A9's.

This Vickers Platoon was hit hard.
SPAV makes his Remount roll & charges in!

They flank the Italian Tanks.

There is no stopping the Mighty Matilda...

The remaining Vickers Platoon races towards the Fort.

Despite the odds (and the crap armour value), the last Flame-Thrower hangs in there against the British Infantry.  

British small arms fire rings out...

One of the cruiser A9's takes out a M13/40.

End of the British turn.
It's back & forth, a very tight game.

The remaining Tankettes peg it from the Matilda.

COME ON!
All guns against the FORT!

HAVE IT!
A great round for Italian gunnery...

It's round & round in the south.
But SPAV turns the Matilda on the remaining Italian Tanks instead of attacking the Italian Infantry....

The Boys Anti-Tank Rifle fails to take out the Flame-Thrower..

The Brave Italian Tanks take a pasting in the south.

The Bersagliari move up to Assault.....

Both sides exchange small arms fire..

The mighty Bersagliari take the fort....
GAME OVER.

PAVAROTTI is banging out on the CD..
SPAV is not amused.

The  'Great Tank Scrap' in the South.

Who needs Panthers & Tigers for a gripping Tank Battle?   A smashing game, we both enjoyed that one.  Those Flame-Throwers were devastating, the Matilda was a fearsome Beast.  All the Tanks performed well, each had their own roll in the game.   Giving the low combat values of the early war units, it still proved to be a interesting match up.        

Here are some of the Early War Unit cards we have created.  All the values come from the various earlier Edition Flames of War source books.   'Hellfire & Back' & 'Burning Empires' are excellent source books, well worth collecting if you want to play Early War games.  

They are of course 'UNOFFICIAL' & feel free to change the ratings if you do not agree with them.