Historical Background: After the battle of Alan El Halfa in September 1942, the front of El Alamein became quiet for a time, all belligerents were reinforcing their units and their positions for the next battle. On the 24th of October, Monty was ready and operation "Lightfoot" was launched, the commonwealth infantry had to breakthrough the enemy lines and open the way for armored units. The attack was made by XXXth British Corps with four infantry divisions : 9th Australian Division, 51st Highland Division, 2nd New Zeeland Division and 1st South African Division. These two divisions had to capture Miteiriya Ridge.On the rear the Xth British Corps was waiting with 1st Armored Division and 10th Armored Division. On the Axis side, German 164.Leichte Division and Italian Division "Trento" were entrenched on several strongpoints with barbed wire and minefields.The battle began in the darkness of the night to hide the advance of infantrymen and the work of engineers in the no man's land. Operation "Lightfoot" was a British setback because the breakthrough was not realized in spite of heavy losses in infantry, but Axis had lost a lot of tanks in the counter-attack which were lacking in the following battle. The stage is set, the battle lines are drawn, and you are in command. The rest is history.
Briefing: Axis player [Germany/Italy] : 08 command cards. Allied player [United Kingdom] : 10 command cards, you move first.
Conditions of Victory: 12 medals. Artillery hex of Kidney Ridge and El Wiska oasis are a temporary medal objective for the Allied player.
Special Rules: - Use "BCF Command" rules (Nations 5). - Use "Royal Italian Army" rules (Nations 6) to Axis units with Italian badge. - Use "North-African Desert" rules (Action 9). - Use "Night Attacks" rules (Action 19). - Special Weapon Asset rules (SWAs 1 - Special Weapon Assets) are in effect for the units equipped with Anti-tank Weapons (SWAs 2). - Use "Specialized Units" rules (Troops 2) to the 115.Pz Gr and 8° Bersaglieri. - Use "Combat Engineers" rules (Troops 4) to the three British engineer units. - The Axis player lays out the minefields.
Scenario Bibliography: - Magazine Historica hors-série n°85 - Victoire dans le désert. - Militaria Magazine hors-série n°16 - opération Supercharge. - "Afrika Korps" - Paul Carell.
Warning: Please note that this scenario was not approved by Richard Borg or Days of Wonder, so you have to check yourself about playability, potential gaming issues, etc.
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