Today is the 70th anniversary of the battle of Beda Fomm, where the pursuing British blocked the fleeing Itanian Army in North Africa and bagged 150,000 prisoners.
Game Store Tony, as is his custom, took the historical losers and commanded the Italians while I took the Briitsh. The night before, after setting everything up to make sure I had all the pieces I had played through the scenario solitaire. It was a crushing British win and I felt pretty good about my prospects.
But I sure didn't draw the same cards and as a matter of fact I was nearly crippled -- four of my six cards to start were probes and recons on the Right Flank (where the Brit infantry was). In retrospect I probably should have spent a couple of turns to clear out some of that baggage, but I never really felt like I had the time. Tony's Italians seemed to be drawing the cards THEY needed and he made a very determined and aggressive push against the roadblock. I never felt like I could let him have a couple of unopposed turns over there so I used every card that let me do something on that side. He jumped out to a 3-1 lead, but the real killer was when he played a Counterattack in response to my Armored Assault. My attack did some damage, killing one unit. In contrast one of his armor units fired and wiped out a 2-tank Brit unit in the center, while a second Italian armor exited off the map for medal No. 5.
His final two armor units concentrated on an elite British tank on an adjacent hill. First shot was a hit and a flag. British retreat and Italians armor assault onto the hill and attack again for two more hits a and another retreat. The final shot from range picked off the last tank and Medal No. 6 -- and game. Final score was 6 - 2.
I'd like to blame the cards -- and certainly they could have been better -- but I think I probably should have taken the time to improve my hand rather than rushing forward into battle range.
No comments:
Post a Comment