Saturday 7 September 2013

Sidi Rezegh - Set for an upcoming game.

Following two games, each with a slightly different layout and scenario plan, I have decided to play it for a third time. The main difference between this scenario and the other two is that I have done away with the arrival of reinforcements from off table (see previous posts on this scenario). I am lucky in that I have a table that is twice the length of the one the used in Benghazi Handicap by Frank Chadwick and I can use the extra space for reinforcements to be deployed on table and far enough away to still seem distant. In the previous games the battle has been fought as two separate actions at different ends of the table, one between the infantry and one between the armour, this has made complex arrival times, and so forth, redundant anyway. 

Hopefully, this scenario should now work much more cleanly (I hope), and if it does we will take it to Fiasco as a demo-game later this year. With that in prospect I have taken some steps to improve the terrain. I have made 16 feet of wadi sections (some of which is being used here); three new 'hills' for the escarpment; and a few more feet of road; I have also made the singular feature of the battlefield that is readily identifiable to those who know about this action, the feature that gives the battle its name, I have made a representation of the Sidi Rezegh Mosque (BTW, apparently, Sidi Rezegh was an Islamic holy man; something like a Christian saint). I may, at some point, try and make some more appropriate aerodrome buildings (a tin hangar and a control tower?) for the landing ground so that it looks a bit 'Hollywood'.

If this scenario does work, I will post full scenario notes and briefings. Until then.....

The Battlefield:


Deployments:

 German infantry of Group Knabe, 8th MG Battalion and regimental troops.
More of Group Knabe, 2nd Battalion, 104th Rifle Regiment.
 Group Stephan - 5th Panzer Regiment and its attached elements. It is deployed in a typical formation with artillery and infantry sandwiched between its two Panzer battalions.
Panzer II, III, and IV in roughly the right proportions with towed artillery and infantry .
The British. They are deployed in three concentric arcs. North to south: Infantry, then guns, then armour.
British infantry of 1st Btn, Kings Royal rifle Corps overlooking trig Capuzzo from their sangars. 
 Two regiments of 25pdrs (three of the 4 batteries) await orders.
Guns of Support Group and some of what remains of 7th Armoured Brigade.
22nd Armoured Brigade, fanning out over 4 km of desert. 
The tiny Mosque of Sidi Rezegh.

One last thing, have I shown you this? Is that unit behind the flank?
 I picked up this 'builders spirit level laser' from Woolworth's when it was open. It casts a straight line onto a surface rather than a one point beam. It is actually MUCH brighter than it appears here. It's great for LOS - £5 well spent! The photo is from one of the previous re-fights of this action. I was commanding the valiant 22nd. BTW, umpires call - Not Out.

8 comments:

Sean said...

Great looking table as usual. I like the use of the laser level, no arguments there.

fireymonkeyboy said...


So, I have to ask, but is there a period for which you DON'T have an outstandingly good looking collection of figures and terrain?

FMB

Broeders said...

Played the in 6mm using Spearhead. A great battle - hope yours is as much fun as ours was.

Jonathan Freitag said...

Your game set ups are absolutely stunning.

Sgt Steiner said...

Nice use of the Laser and great looking set up as ever

John said...

Awesome terrain! Something to aspire to!

Benno said...

Inspirational stuff!

Doug said...

Lovely setup James, yours was one of the blogs I used as inspiration for the BKCII Battleaxe battle. THough mine was more of another run through in preparation for a decent sized scenario. Nice to see your FAO also found the mosque a good spot for spotting.