By Rob Cooper
LONDON - 20 October 2012
"This battle was fought not for the sake of gaining
positions or for so many square miles of desert territory. (It) was fought
with one single idea, to destroy the enemy ... Now this is not the end.
it is not even the beginning of the end. But it is perhaps the end of
the beginning".
Winston Churchill, 10 November 1942
Seventy
years ago, in the summer of 1942, the Commonwealth forces in North Africa
had lost Tobruk and had been pushed back almost to Alexandria. But, in
a series of actions Rommel had finally been halted and both sides began
to dig in and significant reinforcements arrived on both sides. In September
Rommel again tried to break through but was beaten off by a combination
of minefields, firepower and a lack of fuel.
The new British commander, Montgomery, was determined to instil a new
confidence in the Eighth Army, provide more adequate training, and integrate
newly arrived equipment and divisions. Fending off Churchill's demands
for an immediate counter-attack he was determined to wait until he believed
his Army was ready.
But, at the same time Rommel had been bringing in his own reinforcements
and digging them in within and behind a "Devil's Garden" of
half a million mines. This thick defensive belt would need to be breached
and crossed under fire before the Allies could even get to grips with
the entrenched German and Italian defenders.
The ensuing battle would not be one of the manoeuvre battles of the last
two years but one more familiar to commanders of 1918 - of infantry, artillery
and attrition. Despite the Commonwealth materiel superiority they had
been here before at Gazala and
had still been comprehensively defeated by Rommel. This would be no foregone
conclusion, but it would be a "dogfight" and victory would go
to the side most determined to see this through to the bitter end.
Players will be Army and Corps commanders and their staffs.
Units will be Brigades and Battalions.
The Commonwealth players will be trying to limit their casualties, conserving
ammunition and maintaining a balanced force of reserves to exploit any
breakthrough. They will need to wear down the axis defenders while looking
for an opportunity to break out from the El Alamein position.
The Axis players will need to juggle their defences and launch local counter-attacks
as they try to identify the Allied main effort before throwing their limited
panzer reserves (and fuel) at Allied penetrations and breaking the morale
of the attackers before they can exploit their successes with their own
armour.
If you are interested in playing, but have not yet been in touch to make your booking - contact us about role availability.
There is a provisional cast list here
NEWS: Invitation letters are about to go out. When you get your role confirmation you can pay securely on line here using PAYPAL.
Pay before 12 October to get the Early Booking price
Interested in how the game fee is used? Go here
© Megagame Makers 2012