Race for Tunis redux

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Another play of Race for Tunis with CC. We switched side from the last game: I played Allied forces here and CC the Axis.

We decided to play the standard scenario with all the optional rules.

Here is the game recapped turn by turn.

Nov. 25, 1942

Weather: clear.

  • Axis: destroys bridge south of Bizerta, moves forces out of Bizerta and Tunis, aggressively establishing an offensive line push south and west.
  • Allies: Shoring up line as best as possible to prevent large Axis push to the west.

Nov. 26, 1942

Weather: clear.

  • Axis: Pushing hard to the southwest; eliminated French unit.
  • Allies: Holding.

Nov. 27, 1942

Weather: clear.

  • Axis: big reinforcement arrival, destroy bridge east of Mateur. Continuing to put pressure southeast.
  • Allies: Still holding, looks like will need to start yeilding ground soon.

Nov. 28, 1942

Weather: clear.

  • Axis: Still moving south, targeting French for elimination.
  • Allies: Working hard to hold the line, French are getting sacrificed, which is bad, as they cannot come in as replacements.

Nov. 29, 1942

Weather: Rain.

  • Axis: Pushing hard to the west, targeting weak French units.
  • Allies: Paras drop east of Tunis to attempt to capture Tunis, but unable to move into city. Holding elsewhere. Air on dirt strips grounded.

Nov. 30, 1942

Weather: Clear.

  • Axis: Some inclusive jockeying about; retreated the Allied paras.
  • Allies: Falling back slowly to the west, trying to bait the Axis into

Dec. 1, 1942

Weather: Rain.

  • Axis: Chasing the para and commando units, holding elsewhere. Really bad luck see 2 Para destroying an attacking force.
  • Allies: Reinforcements coming in north and south, driving east at high speed. overextending in an attempt to cut supply.

Dec. 2, 1942

Weather: clear

  • Axis: Feeling some pressure, what with Allied special forces units running around in the hinterland. They may be out of supply, but they're still dangerous.
  • Allies: Paras drop onto Djebaba, lost commando unit at El Anuiona. No big deal, will bring this back in as a replacement.

Dec. 3, 1942

Weather: Rain.

  • Axis: Crappy reinforcement. Destroyed more bridges, attempted to recapture airfield at Djebaba.
  • Allies: Chewing away at Axis engineer units.

Dec. 4, 1942

Weather: clear.

  • Axis: Stalling for time now, trying to hold a line almost a little west of due south from Bizerta. Eliminated a powerfull allied mech unit with application of a lot of air power.
  • Allied: Yeilding the line, buying time for reinforcements to come in and shore it up.

Dec. 5, 1942

Weather: Clear.

  • Axis: Holding, no combat.
  • Allies: Took Bizerta and Tunis with daring commando and para raid, also took airfield at Bizerta in combat. Had positioned supporting artillery in earlier turns. Waited for clear weather to apply all air assets to combat for airfield.

Dec. 6, 1942

Weather: Rain.

  • Axis: Retook Tunis, could not retake Bizerta.
  • Allied: consolidate at Bizerta, attack south of Robaa successfully driving Germans out of supply in that area.

Dec. 7, 1942

Weather: Clear.

  • Axis: Attempt to take Bizerta at low odds with huge stack of armor fails.
  • Allies: Counterattacking at Bizerta employing all available air power with clear weather, eliminate huge stack of Axis armor, bad blow for Axis.

Dec. 8, 1942

Weather: Rain.

  • Axis: Eliminated some para and commando units, but left Tunis open again, whence…
  • Allies: Replacement commandos land at Tunis, again, taking the city, which is promptly reinforces with units from Bizerta, with a combined defensive value of 8-10 (iirc), which is doubled for city defense.

Dec. 9, 1942

Axis concedes, having lost too many units to slow down a certain mauling from Allied forces during the next two days. Plus, 10 pm.

AAR

Excellent game overall. CC played the Germans brilliantly through the first half of the game, forcing the Allies back even as they were reinforced, and holding a very string defensive line stretching due south and a little west of Bizerta. However, this line was established at the expense of leaving Bizerta and Tunis open, and leaving other airfields undefended. When the Allies started exercising commando and para drops, it changed the nature of the game considerably.

However, even with the Allied forces operating behind the lines, had the Axis provided even nominal garrison forces at Bizerta and Tunis, it is highly unlikely the Allies would have been able to take them.

Overall, an excellent game, very tense with a lot grappling over terrain and a major seesaw in the action.

We're playing Bloody Kasserine next.

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What to play next?

Deciding what to play next is always a tough call when faced with a closet full of games, all of which were purchased with intent to play. Here's one I'm dealing with the decision.

  • Something New: this means both something new to me and a game which has been published recently, within the last two or three years.
  • Something Classic: I've acquired a number of games properly considered "classic" which haven't yet been played. The current example would be PanzerGruppe Guderian.
  • Something Again: mastery requires constant practice, which means playing games many, many times to allow nuance to appear.
  • Something Vietnam: as I'm on a Vietnam binge. I don't have all the Vietnam games ever published, but I can say that I have a lot of them, and probably more than most people.
  • Something Obscure: as it's fun to poke around in the dustier corners of game design.
  • Something Different: break away from the same old publishers and try a game from one of the new kids on the block. Or, conversely, dip into legacy with a classic tried and true.
  • Something Light: once in a while it's nice to actually finish a game all the way through in one sitting, in an hour or two.
  • Something Heavy: if possible, it's nice to set up something big and complicated which can be left out for days or weeks or even months, for a leisurely stroll through a very large or long game.

There are surely many more ways to choose, but the above method keeps me busy enough, helps me get both breadth and depth into my play, and provides me with a sense of progress.

The odd man out

When there is an odd man out:

  • Have a solo game ready to play.
  • Keep score or advise on a game in progress.
  • Referee a game in progress.