AARs

[Jay Townsend]

Desert Heat, scenario 1: Mechili, Libya (I)



Even with 12 turns this was a pretty fast playing scenario. The dust counter can be a pain for both sides. Sometimes I wonder if the dust counter might be too powerful in the game but this is the desert after all. The Valentine tanks are very slow moving and kind of remind me of the Matilda tanks in that regards but not as strong.

The Italian stack most of their units in the town hexes as that is all that matter for victory in the end for this scenario and the defensive bonus is nice as well. The British took a long time to get into position to attack and the Italians kept taking their pot-shot and getting a few scores, while the British could not expel the Italians at all in 12 turns. The Italians win this one. But it was a fun first scenario for me in Desert Heat. All the components are very pleasing. Now on to the next one!

 

[Jay Townsend]

Maybe I can go back and find a few more from when I was playing WSR a lot!?

Next up for me will be #13 from DH however.

 

[Jay Townsend]

Desert Heat, scenario 13: Sidi Bou Zib, Tunisia



When you look at this one on paper you think the Americans don’t have a chance but not In the end, or at least not in my one game play of this scenario, they held. With only one American HQ unit but two German exits the CCB HQ must position its self somewhat in the middle of the two exits to be effective and is key to the game play in this one. For the Germans with two HQ unit formations they need to split the American forces, so they have to cover both sides of the map. Also key for the Germans is use of their air-support (Stuka) in relationship to the American M13 AA halftrack as if you lose your air-cover early it gets rough going. So for the Americans keep the M13 AA unit by your CCB HQ unit at all times.



I lost my German Air-cover in the middle of the game which I feel effect the outcome. The Germans took out 6 American AFV units and exited only four units, two units short of a victory. The Americans win by a small margin! Very close game to my surprise. But really a mistake here or there, a few game turns ending early and that dang dust counters and the results could swing either way. Maybe I should have attack with both German formations in one area to open a door and then head for the other exit. There is more than meets the eye in this scenario and I will have to try it again one day. Also, look out for that Tiger Tank unit, it has a nice punch but is slow moving.

 

[Jay Townsend]

Desert Heat, scenario #2: Beda Fomm, Libya



I have played this scenario or battle situation in a number of games or games series over the years so I was excited to try out this in Desert Heat.



Basically the Italians must exit units off the map and try not to get tangled up in combat the British must stop them. However it’s a large area to defend or block as the British player the Italian have some nice fate points to use. The major mistake I made as the British side was setting up the 7th Royal Tank Regiment with its slow moving Valentine tanks to one flank instead of the center where they would have a chance and time to reposition and plug holes. The Italian moved in close before showing their hand of hitting the other flanks to exit. The Italians win this one and next time I play this scenario I will have a different British setup.

 

[Jay Townsend]

Desert Heat, Scenario #14: Kasbah, Morocco

I had to play this scenario if nothing else but for the novelty, as how offend do you get to play the US against the Vichy French in WWII games!

It is a smaller scenario with the basic object of the US player trying to take Kasbah with the VC French defending. The US had air-cover and the bigger M3 Lee tanks & M5s then the VC with their R-35 tanks and both sides had a mix of Infantry and heavy weapons.

The French defended pretty well in the town hexes and two Improved Positions just outside of town and I started to sweat it as the US player about having enough time to dislodge the VC from the town hexes. The U.S. player only took a few casualties before they secured all the town hexes by the end of the game and the VC suffered huge losses. I think my defensive setup for the VC wasn’t perfect, as they could of held out longer with a better setup and better dice rolls. A US victory!

 

[Jay Townsend]

Desert Heat, scenario #11: El Guettar, Tunisia

I played this next, because it looked like a quick playing 8 turn scenario and it pitted Italians & Germans against Americans. Not too many games where you can run Italian M13/40s at American units. Pretty cool!

The Axis have one major goal, to exit six units off the east edge of the map, anything else is an American victory. It looks simple enough, but the three Axis Battle Groups setup in three different locations, this also makes the American spread out their defenses.

In the north the American were coving the German Armored Infantry with M10 tank destroyers so they dismounted but they were hit with 2 x ¾ HE artillery strikes and the northern attack stalled. In the south an Italian and German formation converged to try and brake through the American lines and things got interesting and the Americans shifted their northern formation to help their southern formation. The German Stuka/air-cover was pesky for a while but only two Italian M13/40 units slipped through the Americans steel curtain. The Italian Infantry got too tangle up into combat with American Infantry. The Germans PzIVGs got too close to American Lees and Stuart tanks with AT guns flanking them.

An American Victory! The Axis could not exit 6 units, which I thought for sure they would. The key to this for the Axis is try to avoid combat and exit units but I could not in my first try at this scenario, as in 8 turns, things have to happen pretty fast. Next time I will not dismount the German Infantry and see if that help or if their halftracks just get shot up too much. The two American formations are stretched out against the three Axis formations but the terrain assisted them. There are more strategies here than meets the eye. I’ll have to try this out again, as it was tense for both sides, making it a very good scenario.

 

[Jay Townsend]

LOF #14 – Desert Heat scenario: Barce, Libya



This recent additional scenario for Desert Heat via LOF issue #14 is a really fast playing 4 turn scenario that adds the British LRDG units to the game. They must destroy the Italian airfield/aircraft at night against an assortment of Italian units but the British have a morale of 8 and get a leader counter as well. But the victory level also depends on how many units exit the east edge of the map after they destroy or if they destroy the Italian aircraft. Italians must defend but not in the airfield hex and they must reposition to defend in better positions as the turns progress to have a chance to defeat the British. So a lot going on for both sides in this little scenario!



The British really get two chances to active twice in the first two turns, which they need. In my game the British got this opportunity on both turns. The British were able to brush by the Italian L3 stationed up front but the other Italian units pulled closer the airfield on their first turn. The British LRDG Jeep unit with one leader was able to reach the airfield first with it faster movement than the LRDG Truck units and assaulted the airfield first using two fate points to reroll trying to get a quick kill on the Italian aircraft parked there but only managed to disrupt it and had to move back taking opportunity fire, as you need three hits to kill the Italian air units.



The British finally got some more units into the mix and had to use all their fate points on rerolls to finally kill the Italian aircraft. Now British units were taking a beating as well and need to get out of a hot situation, trying to exit as many units as possible before the end of turn 4. The British lost their Leader counter, to a bad 1 dice roll after losing a step of LRDG Jeeps and two steps of LRDG Trucks.



The British won this with a Bloody Hell Victory only exiting 3 steps of a possible 7 after destroying the Italian air-unit. One of my first British Victories in Desert Heat so far but it didn’t feel too good after losing so many steps. With that said, this is one fun scenario to play. You could actually play it in one sitting 3-4 times with what I believe would be different results. Time is not on the British side but Morale is and maybe activations. The Italians can’t just sit around either and must move units. There are a lot of subtle strategies and the replay value is high. I feel either side has a good chance to win this one.



I only played this scenario once, because it’s so good, I want to try it again on another day and look forward to playing it at least a few more times. It was nice to add this scenario and counters to Desert Heat, great tense action. Great Addition!

 

[Keith T]

LOF #14 – Desert Heat scenario: Barce, Libya



This recent additional scenario for Desert Heat via LOF issue #14 is a really fast playing 4 turn scenario that adds the British LRDG units to the game. They must destroy the Italian airfield/aircraft at night against an assortment of Italian units but the British have a morale of 8 and get a leader counter as well. But the victory level also depends on how many units exit the east edge of the map after they destroy or if they destroy the Italian aircraft. Italians must defend but not in the airfield hex and they must reposition to defend in better positions as the turns progress to have a chance to defeat the British. So a lot going on for both sides in this little scenario!



The British really get two chances to active twice in the first two turns, which they need. In my game the British got this opportunity on both turns. The British were able to bush by the Italian L3 stationed up front but the other Italian units pulled closer the airfield on their first turn. The British LRDG Jeep unit with one lead was able to reach the airfield first with it faster movement than the LRDG Truck units and assaulted the airfield first using two fate points to reroll trying to get a quick kill on the Italian aircraft park there but only managed to disrupt it and had to move back taking opportunity fire, as you need three hits to kill the Italian air units.



The British finally got some more units into the mix and had to use all their fate points on rerolls to finally kill the Italian aircraft. Now British units were taking a beating as well and need to get out of a hot situation, trying to exit as many units as possible before the end of turn 4. The British lost their Leader counter, to a bad one roll after losing a step of LRDG Jeeps and two steps of LRDG Trucks.



The British won this with a Bloody Hell Victory only exiting 3 steps of a possible 7 after destroying the Italian air-unit. One of my first British Victories in Desert Heat so far but it didn’t feel too good after losing so many steps. With that said, this is one fun scenario to play. You could actually play it in one sitting 3-4 times with what I believe would be different results. Time is not on the British side but Morale is and maybe activations. The Italians can’t just sit around either and must move units. There are a lot of subtle strategies and the replay value is high. I feel either side has a good chance to win this one.



I only played this scenario once, because it’s so good, I want to try it again on another day and look forward to playing it at least a few more times. It was nice to add this scenario and counters to Desert Heat, great tense action. Great Addition!

I'm either going to play this one today or the band of heroes one...so many choices.