Bir el Gubi, 19th November 1941 - 'O' Group

The Background

Our engagement took place at Bir el Gubi, Libya, on 19th November 1941. The action was fought as part of Operation Crusader, a major British offensive in North Africa which aimed to recapture Cyrenaica, and to relieve the besieged port of Tobruk.

The British Eighth Army advanced westwards out of Egypt on 18th November 1941, with the XIII Corps operating in the north. The XXX Corps, centred around the 7th Armoured Division, moved south through the Libyan desert in an attempt to outflank and engage the Axis armoured forces, before advancing towards Tobruk.

The inexperienced British 22nd Armoured Brigade, equipped with new Crusader tanks, was initially part of the force advancing on the airfield at Sidi Rezegh. Having identified the presence of the Italian 132nd Armored Division "Ariete", but perhaps underestimating its capabilities, Major-General William Gott, the commander of the 7th Armoured Division, redirected the 22nd towards Bir el Gubi. Contact was made with the Italians on the morning of 19th November, with British forces preparing to advance against well-prepared defensive positions.

The Rules

The engagement was fought using the ‘O’ Group ruleset, published by Reisswitz Press . The rules are designed for battalion level actions and above, and feature some clever resource management mechanisms, with a variable number of “orders” allocated to both sides at the beginning of each game round. 

Invariably, the commanders found themselves with a shortage of orders, when compared to the number of actions they wanted to take. In addition to this, the commanders needed to decide whether they wished to keep a cache of orders “unspent” during their turn - these orders could then be used to interrupt and react to enemy actions. We found that this helped to maintain a level of uncertainty and excitement throughout our game.

Of the four players, three of us were relative ‘O’ Group novices and were reliant on the game organiser, Steve, to guide us through the intricacies of the rules. Thankfully, I found ‘O’ Group to be relatively easy to pick up - we quickly nailed down the basics, and the gameplay flowed nicely throughout.

The Forces

The battle was represented using Steve’s beautiful 15mm collection. The British forces consisted of three companies, two of Crusader tanks* (3 pairs in each company), and the third consisting of infantry with two armoured cars.

*The commander of each company was represented using a Stuart tank, both because Steve didn’t quite have enough Crusader miniatures, and to make them easier to spot on the tabletop.

The Italian forces also comprised three companies. Two of the companies each contained two platoons of infantry, with one adding a pair of 47mm anti-tank guns, and a 20mm anti-tank rifle, while the second had a pair of heavier 75mm guns. The third company was made up of two platoons of M13/40, and a single platoon of M11/39 tanks.

The Battle

Ken and I volunteered to lead the brave Italian defence of Bir el Gubi, while Dave and Owen took control of the perfidious British.

As the defenders, the Italians were first asked to mark their dispositions on a map in secret, with both infantry companies beginning on the table, and the armoured company to arrive later as reinforcements. The Italian artillery, and one platoon of infantry from each company, was able to begin the battle “dug in”.

Not knowing how the British would decide to direct their attack, we opted to place our heavy 75mm guns, along with two platoons of infantry, on a hill overlooking our right flank. Our 47mm guns, and one platoon of infantry (with the 20mm anti-tank rifle) were deployed on our left flank, with the final platoon of infantry deployed in the village itself.

With the Italian dispositions secretly noted, Dave and Owen were able to deploy their forces, and decided to roll the dice - focussing solely on their own left flank (the Italian right).

The British won the initiative roll, and decided to take the first turn for themselves. Desperately needing intelligence on the location of the Italian forces, they rushed forward with their armoured car, while their tanks followed behind more cautiously.

The armoured car quickly discovered the Italian 75mm guns, which opted to open fire - destroying the car on the second attempt.

Having located their quarry, but lacking High Explosive ammunition, the British Crusader tanks rumbled onward, hoping to close on the Italians before the guns took their toll. An infantry platoon deployed from a “jumping off” point, just in front of their tanks, and opened fire on the Italian forces on the hill.

Off-table artillery fire proved effective for both sides - some excellent rolling allowed the British heavy artillery to maul the Italian units on the hill. This, combined with fire from the infantry and the tanks’ machine guns, managed to knock out both Italian 75’s in short order. 

Noticing that the British infantry and tanks had bunched together, the Italians replied with their own artillery, slowly chipping away at the British forces. 

With their guns disabled, the Italian infantry deployed on the hilltop, hoping to slow the British advance long enough for their reinforcements to arrive on the battlefield.

Effective Italian mortar fire checked the inexorable British advance, giving the Italian company on their left flank precious time to attempt to re-deploy into the town, where they could be of more use. 

This respite was short-lived, however, with some poor Italian rolling causing their lefthand company commander to become “hesitant”, and to refuse to move into a position where his guns could be brought to bear. The British, meanwhile, finally managed to overrun the Italian infantry on the hill, leaving the second Italian infantry platoon hiding in rough ground on the extreme flank.

With a British victory looking certain, the Italian defenders morale was boosted by the rumble of approaching reinforcements. The Italian tanks were split, with their less capable M11/39’s deployed into the settlement, and the M13/40’s rolling directly toward the British and immediately scoring a kill.

The battle for the Italian right flank was on a knife edge, with heavy damage being taken on both sides as the British continued to commit more tanks to the engagement.

It was at this moment that the M11/39 tanks moved out of the village, to the Italian centre. Some very lucky rolling, and thinner side armour, helped them to knock out a pair of Crusader tanks.

With the tide of the battle turning, and with a burning desire to test Steve’s knowledge of the rules, Ken decided that the platoon of Italian infantry, stranded in rough terrain on their extreme right flank, would attempt to assault the closest British tank unit. 

The assault was (against expectations) a success, and proved to be the last straw for the British. With their forward momentum arrested, and with several tanks disabled, the British commanders decided that the time was right to withdraw, leaving the bloodied Italian forces with possession of the battlefield. 

Aftermath

With three new players, I want to give special thanks to Steve M, who did a fantastic job of umpiring what turned out to be a very close game, and to my co-commanders David, Owen and Ken for playing in the right spirit and making it a thoroughly enjoyable experience.

The impression of the rules amongst us newbies was overwhelmingly positive - we found them quick to pick up, but with enough flavour and uncertainty to give an interesting game.

I look forward to playing some more ‘O’ Group in the near future!