Tunisia 1943- Rapid Fire

   Spyros has a small force of LRDG who he wanted to use to cause mayhem and chaos.  Visiting his new wargame room a few weeks ago he told me to bring some suitable Fallschirmjager in desert camo.  They hadn't been in a good fight for a long time. 

His friend Chris P wanted an introduction to Rapid Fire, having been a fan of Bolt Action.  All very serendipitous- time for a game.

The scenario was a LRDG raid on a radar/ammo cache/fuel dump using Rapid Fire rules.
The German position was far behind from the front and the Germans weren't expecting trouble. (Seriously???? Well that was the scenario!). 

The first two turns were in darkness with 6" visibility. Turns 3 and 4 were played with 12" visibility. Turns 5 and 6 were 24" visibility and normal observation rules etc applied from turn 7.

The Raiders moved quietly and quickly, with the first Group getting to the Radar station undetected until the very last step, when they were forced to eliminate the German guards. The ensuing gunfire alerted the garrison that something was amiss but the limited visibility meant that they were limited in their response.  A randomised die roll for the various units of the garrison dictated the level of response. This meant that the armoured car unit, for example, didn't just drive over to the attackers and blast them to kingdom come- they couldn't see them for starters, so were hesitant to start committing everything all at once.

First group of raiders approach the radar installation. Visibility is 6" ..the guards couldn't see them.

Eliminating the radar guards, the raiders left charges which detonated as they moved off, causing casualties amongst some arriving defenders. A German armoured car erupted into action,  blasting away at the retreating allied soldiers.

While the German focus was on the radar group, two more groups moved to the edge of the fuel and ammo dumps. Both got there unobserved, but the ammo group stumbled on a German patrol. The Germans were hit hard, but by now the garrison was pouring out of their billets and the LRDG were under pressure.

The allied players ( Chris and Spyros) decided to send their vehicles in ( Rat Patrol style - remember the old TV series?? ...one of my favourites) to dust up the German positions.  This would cost the LRDG half of their vehicles as the Germans MG positions blasted back. But it did give the raiders enough time to lay charges. 

When the ammo dump went up, several raiders , and a lot more Fallschirmjager went with it. Two objectives down- 1 to go!

The boys at the fuel dump were having problems with 2 of their four vehicles wrecked, more Germans piling in , and a couple of armoured cars prowling around....but on the last turn....BOOOOM!

THE TABLE

Raiders at the ammo supply- defenders moving out in the distance

LRDG command group.

LRDG vehicle driving in to support the raiders with MG fire...German MG fire knocked it out.

Fallschirmjager MG crew on the roof- firing at the intruders and their vehicles.

Defenders moving past their vehicles to shoot at the LRDG trucks.

One objective down..two to go. Taking out the radar was easy- the ammo and fuel dumps were much harder.

Boxes of ammo!

More ammo

Raiders at the fuel. Half are laying charges- the other half engaged in a fire fight to cover them. German paratroopers just visible on the roof.

In the end, the LRDG suffered a lot of casualties- but successfully completed their mission! 

For the defenders, the loss of the fuel, the ammo and the radar and the also a large butcher's bill, meant a defeat! 

The key issues of course was the limited visibility and restrictions for the first few turns on observation. The LRDG got in.....got caught...and had to fight their way out.