North Africa Operation Compass Wargame

Рет қаралды 61,638

Жыл бұрын

Today on Little Wars TV, we rewind the clock to January 1941 at the height of a major British offensive across Libya. This is the climax of Operation Compass, a wildly successful operation on the verge of wrecking Italian dreams in North Africa. We set up two tabletops to refight the twin battles at Derna airfield and Fort Mechili between the Italian army and the Commonwealth's Western Desert Force. Will the British momentum continue, or can the Italians finally stem the bleeding and hold firm?
We're wargaming these battles in 6mm scale with GHQ miniatures on custom hex terrain.

Пікірлер: 391

@lovelustig8142 Жыл бұрын

Yes! The African campaign is not represented enough in wargaming.

@militarywargaming7840 Жыл бұрын

We are doing east Africa as a tester before moving onto the big one North Africa kzfaq.info/get/bejne/n7SjntFe3Kfdoac.html

@deeznoots6241 Жыл бұрын

Tbf it does have one of the longest wargames to play ever made dedicated: The Campaign for North Africa. An estimated completion time of 1500 hours and recommended 10 players with a 3m map board. It goes into ridiculously complex detail like Italian troops using more water because they cook pasta and every unit losing 3% of their fuel a turn due to evaporation(except the British who lose 7% a turn to represent the poorer storage method of oil drums in comparison to the Jerry can used by the Italians and Germans)

@lovelustig8142 Жыл бұрын

Haha yes, I know of that one. But thats not a game, it's a life style.

@tommagennis Жыл бұрын

@@deeznoots6241 Which is, if anything, perhaps a bit too much representation.

@bleachorange Жыл бұрын

Desert warfare is almost always dramatic in both the tactical and operational level. I'm definitely interested to see more.

@WargamesTonight Жыл бұрын

Ed put on a fine wargame and the video was fun to watch. I DEFINITELY would like to see more!

@stuartbaxter-potter8363 Жыл бұрын

Yes! Give us the rest of the campaign! Like Greg said, it was really cool to see the Italians take center stage for once.

@stevovondivo2326 Жыл бұрын

"Fosters" - drunk by literally no Australian - warm or cold - free or paid...EVER 😂 Another great show - thank you Ed and gang ❤

@elliotlane3225 Жыл бұрын

Yes, it will be great to see this theatre played out on your channel. A lot of British What-if histories start with the possibility of the fall of Egypt and the capture of the Suez Canal. Shows just how important the North African campaign was to the pre-Pearl Harbour war.

@generalsmite7167 Жыл бұрын

It also was really important in the post Pearl Harbor war as it saw the first deployment of Americans in the European theater

@MrEjstrud Жыл бұрын

Please make this a series 👍 this was awesome

@Eruidraith Жыл бұрын

“Il Duce!” Shouted with the energy I might invoke the Emperors favor playing imperial guard in 40K! Made me cackle, the hat really adds to it

@LittleWarsTV Жыл бұрын

Well we do love funny hats around here. That’s for sure…

@axcelis6188 Жыл бұрын

Honestly I absolutely love to see a Pyrrhic style campaign in North Africa. As I love desert warfare (in ww2) and I would love to see the interesting dynamics yall always include (Weather in a campaign for example)

@talesfromshedhq5208 Жыл бұрын

Where's Dieter and his wonderful Austrian accent when you need him! 😂😂

@steveholmes11 Жыл бұрын

Nice to see you adopting Commomwealth military terminology "bolloxed". 🙂

@grahamtravers4522 Жыл бұрын

Except it was the British Empire, not the Commonwealth.

@Vaultboy-ke2jj Жыл бұрын

@@grahamtravers4522 The Commonwealth has been called the Commonwealth since 1926 so he’s correct

@andypickard7314 Жыл бұрын

Well done, Ed! Yes, more North Africa games, please.

@davidbarsdell6629 Жыл бұрын

Seeing the Aussies in a Wargame gives me hope of a NZ themed Wargame. Either way great episode and lovely to see Italy and its beautiful hats!!!!!!! Great work and keep it up.

@MRFlackAttack1 Жыл бұрын

You’ll probably get so see them in the 3rd El Alamein episode.

@LukeBunyip 8 ай бұрын

Did you spot the Kiwi Bren Carriers in some of the intro video? G'day from across the Tasman

@garyarmitage9359 Жыл бұрын

My sons and I are planning to refight the 1st gun-armed tank battle in North Africa which occurred at Gabr al Ahmar. A very competent Italian Tank Officer, Col. Aresca led the 4th Tank Regiment with a combined arms force including M11/39's, Bersaglieri and Royal Artillery against elements of the 7th Armored Brigade with A9 Cruisers. The Italians won the 1st gun armed tank battle in North Africa on 5 August 1940. Aresca was trying out combine arms and it was working. (Before the appearance of the Matilda) I totally agree with your assessment of the Italian Army. Folgore, the Bersaglieri, Royal Artillery and Ariete fought well and competently.

@nepete7 Жыл бұрын

TBF, the British did not know that the Italian 11/39s were coming at Gabr al Ahmar. These early battles are fascinating, some great scenarios in both the Too Fat Lardy books and Chadwick's "Benghazi Handicap", possibly the source for the two presented here.

@andrewtodd5919 Жыл бұрын

The common Italian soldier gets a bad reputation. Rommel said when properly led they were as good as his German soldiers. Italian officers acted as an elite and had luxuries on campaign, never sharing the hardships of their men. Always root for Miles , today was not his day. Tony for El Duce lol. Great video guys

@EricAlainDufresne Жыл бұрын

Please do continue with the North Africa series! All the best.

@mrgunn2726 Жыл бұрын

I say, General Miles Louch got quite the promotion to field marshal. Sadly, he is now known as 'Bloody Slouch'. A tip of the pith to Generalissmo Grigori for his stout defense of the airfield. Fantastic games all in all Little Wars team. Looking forward to the rest of the series.

@bace9381 Жыл бұрын

Yes continue the battles

@michaelmanning5379 Жыл бұрын

It's always fun to see the Italians and Brits struggle with inter-war tank designs.

@Anvilarm07 Жыл бұрын

LOL Love the intro comments about the British being scattered. The western desert is my favourite campaign in WWII and the British have a long, proud tradition of scattering their forces. OMG that terrain is gorgeous. I love Gregg's helmet. Yes please for the follow up battles. Also this is not a criticism, but I really like games with a bit more fog of war aspect. Confuse and bewilder those players, Mr. Referee!

@burgdush1 Жыл бұрын

Whole Campaign, go for it!

@hoi4_history_nerdgaming126 Жыл бұрын

The Empire strikes back!

@metalalby920 Жыл бұрын

Great map, would love to see more modern battles

@LittleWarsTV Жыл бұрын

More modern you say? You’ll very much enjoy our NEXT wargame then!

@russby3554 Жыл бұрын

@@LittleWarsTV oh you teases!

@rileyosteen6470 Жыл бұрын

Love early north africa! Thank you!

@bigsarge2085 Жыл бұрын

Awesome, yes, North Africa campaign!

@gonatas1 Жыл бұрын

Something you guys might try is using Sam Mustafa s Rommel for large operational desert battles. We did a large Crusader game a year back that worked really well, inspired by your Normandy game. And this summer we are doing the Gazala battles.

@gavinpearson74 Жыл бұрын

Interested to know more…as very tempted by Sam’s rules set Rommel…but only tried a small game so far.

@gonatas1 Жыл бұрын

@@gavinpearson74 Similiar to what LWTV did with the Normandy game, we played with microarmor (1:285) with units mounted on 2” by 1.5@ bases. Our grid squares are 100mm. We expanded the desert scale closer to 2km per square to allow for representing a large area from just west of Bardia to the eastern defenses of Tobruk. Artillery ranges were adjusted to the new scale but we preserved the stacking and each unit was representing a reinforced company on the table. We figured the unique desert environment made thinner formations and more extended frontages supportable at the increased ground scale. This also allowed us to represent almost the entire Africa Korps and the 8th army involved in Crusader on a 10’ x 6’ table. Turn scale was also condensed to 12 turns per day with a night turn following. The Rommel rules were ideal for simply representing the free for all that ensued-very much in line with WWII western desert warfare. With formations fighting to pin and encircle each other we very much had a naval battle on land as you might expect.

@NotMCKarl Жыл бұрын

Great game from a CRIMINALLY underrepresented theatre of war. Bravery and daring were off the charts in the African theatre.

@jjsheets330 Жыл бұрын

The ED fan club approves this episode and this series 👍🏻 Our moar ED 2023 campaign has paid off. YES!!!!!!!!

@babylonsburning1 Жыл бұрын

The Desert War was pivotal to WW2, before El Alamein we never won a battle after, we never lost one. More please.

@randeetereshko6116 Жыл бұрын

When I played FOW we always did it in micro armor, it was so much more fun!

@robertjackson9050 Жыл бұрын

Can't wait to see more of the North African campaign on your channel

@105Gunner Жыл бұрын

Another vote yes for more of the North African campaign and glad to finally see the great GHQ MicroArmour on LWTV!

@benjaminwaterhouse4879 Жыл бұрын

My late father in law served in the 4th Indian Division in the desert. He always gave the Italians their due as hard fighters; he said their problem was poor generalship and lack of transport.

@Uncle_T Жыл бұрын

I would very much like to see more North African battles, absofrikkinlutely!

@cjhuntsinger2277 Жыл бұрын

Yes! Make this a continuous narrative campaign!

@davidsumpter7117 Жыл бұрын

I have always been interested in the North African campaigns, I’d love to see more.

@xcandiottix Жыл бұрын

I think a whole desert campaign would be an amazing series to watch!

@byronzeigler4427 Жыл бұрын

I would love to see the rest of the North African campaign. Thank you

@peteenglish8773 Жыл бұрын

Greg likes playing the Italians because he gets to wear the fantastic pith helmet!

@jardinestirling1916 Жыл бұрын

Yes, definitely it will be great to see this theatre played out on your channel.

@klausfritsch4350 Жыл бұрын

Thanks for going to North Africa, the most interesting theater in my opinion.

@LittleWarsTV Жыл бұрын

Something about it always captures the imagination. There’s a kind of odd romanticism of the desert war that lingers

@DrewShotsFan Жыл бұрын

Yes, please keep this theatre going. You can't start a story and not finish it

@sterlingnorthum3911 Жыл бұрын

Absolutely please I would love to see the rest of the campaign finished. My wife's grandfather fought and was injured during this campaign and it's always held an interest to me after finding that out.

@adampriestley7732 Жыл бұрын

More of the North Africa campaign and Ed please. Such a great episode.

@lawrence142002 Жыл бұрын

One thing I've learned watching these videos is that Miles, for better or worse, is almost always hyper-aggressive in his early moves no matter what.

@billmasters385 Жыл бұрын

This balanced engagement alone shows the potential for future fun and mayhem. Yes please.

@user-lq3fz7px8w Жыл бұрын

Yes, please continue the North Africa Campaign. Ed please do more . I really enjoyed this video of WWII battle.

@reglavcor Жыл бұрын

Always love the sound effects during the battle.

@jeremybain3830 Жыл бұрын

Never clicked off another video so fast, to watch tiny soldiers do battle. Love these battles!

@alexanderhammond7205 Жыл бұрын

I could watch this as a whole season, more please!

@teaandmedals7677 Жыл бұрын

Excellent video as ever. The WW2 war games are a joyful mix of history/entertainment I hope the Vietnam games may make a return one day ?

@andyedwards9222 Жыл бұрын

That was a most enjoyable pair of games. Lovely tables, definitely want to see more North African action.

@Gunter-ug6bl Жыл бұрын

Absolutely , I have a reasonably large force of old GHQ and CnC AFV , Guns , transport and infantry. Maybe this will inspire me to pull it out after many , Manu years.

@indianajon7980 Жыл бұрын

Yes definitely want to see more! Also a review/game of "Bomber Command" which I saw in the background and have struggled to find much about.

@sullivannix4509 Жыл бұрын

This is one of those channels where I automatically hit the like button, even before I’ve watched the video

@joeldawson4301 Жыл бұрын

I liked the rhetorical question at the end…… of course we want more war games from this theatre

@mabinogion7023 Жыл бұрын

Lovely work. An underrated campaign

@zombiehampster1397 Жыл бұрын

Yes to more North African campaigns.

@lyinarbaeldeth2456 Жыл бұрын

Let's see the full campaign!

@markhenderson6389 Жыл бұрын

Fantastic game! The Western Desert Campaign is my favorite theater and period of WWII. Looking forward to the next battle!

@SwordlordRoy Жыл бұрын

It's always refreshing to see a theater of the Second World War that ISN'T D-Day to the Battle of the Bulge or the Eastern Front. I would love to see more of how the Matilda II became the Queen of the Desert! wouldn't mind seeing Fall of France, Greco-Italian War, Talvisota, or Continuation War games either.

@dennissaring5484 Жыл бұрын

Yes, i would like to see more games of the dessert theatre. By the way - fantastic looking scenery!

@peteenglish8773 Жыл бұрын

Thanks for the disclaimer about Benito, I was worried.

@FigonGoT20 Жыл бұрын

great game, love the 6mm WWII games, and looking forward to the rest of your planned North Africa games!

@chrisking1334 Жыл бұрын

Yes! Please do return to this theatre! Also: great game - thanks, Chaps!

@pearsonbrantley8012 Жыл бұрын

I absolutely want to see the North Africa campaign in wargame! Do it!

@thomassonofhugh2604 Жыл бұрын

Absolutely return, WW2 North Africa is one of the best back and forth, lots of what ifs also...

@schwabrichard9829 Жыл бұрын

A great game! Keep rolling with the desert games!! North Africa needs more air time!!!

@chrislsheppard7626 Жыл бұрын

Yes, more of the Western Desert please!

@Kili121416 Жыл бұрын

Great to see a desert war game. Nice to see some recognition to the Australian actions in the war. More due in future scenarios.

@josephgough30 Жыл бұрын

North Africa has always been one of my favorite theatres! I would love to see more wargames for this period!

@ryanwhy1585 Жыл бұрын

Can't wait to watch the rest of this series!

@Yanasubmits Жыл бұрын

Very timely - A friend and I are about to (tonight) start a campaign - starting at Tummar West Dec 1940 - right at the start of Compass (using Rapid fire reloaded)

@Ben-of-old-Yorkshire Жыл бұрын

Been waiting for this since I glimpsed it in the season trailer! Love your battle reports and your tables, always beautiful. Much underrepresented period, looking forward to seeing more.

@FelixstoweFoamForge Жыл бұрын

Great Game in all ways Guys! Oh, when mentioning the Australian contribution to world culture, you forgot the most important one; The Meat Pie Floater!!

@owenphillips1646 Жыл бұрын

Love when you guys play campaigns - makes each battle matter more.

@douggalbreath736 Жыл бұрын

Always loved the Desert War. Hope to see you keep these going! Thank you for posting these on KZfaq.

@heikoabeyer Жыл бұрын

You always give us great Battle-Reports! Thanks so much!

@Lewismarty1 Жыл бұрын

LOVE this. Glad to see you back to gaming consistently. The battlefield tours and rule reviews are fun, but I love seeing y'all roll dice!

@gregdavidson1293 Жыл бұрын

Love the stuff you guys do. The tables and figures are fantastic. Thanks.

@Shieldwall100 Жыл бұрын

Very nice indeed. Well done finding a gameable scenario from this part of the campaign! If you do continue, good luck recounting the craziness of Operation Crusader.

@wade4978 Жыл бұрын

Can't wait to see more North Africa campaigns

@stephennutt4083 Жыл бұрын

Brilliant game - I for one would like to see more Western Desert games.

@MrArmour Жыл бұрын

I'd love to see more of these. That was splendid!

@pissingeverywhere Жыл бұрын

This is so unbelievably good. The kind, mild-mannered narration, the passion for the game and the theater, it all just fills me with such a good feeling. I look forward to the continuation.

@markgrehan3726 Жыл бұрын

It would be awesome to see more of this setting and the real history behind it.

@bishop2k7 Жыл бұрын

Yes to more North Africa battles, please.

@brianjones3540 Жыл бұрын

My vote is to Keep calm and carry on - with more North African scenarios.

@alans6752 Жыл бұрын

Yes more early desert war!

@oriole21bird Жыл бұрын

This was great! Thank you guys for all the cool content.

@battlescalewargamebuilding4316 Жыл бұрын

Another great video. Fascinating stuff 👍🏻

@jgrasela Жыл бұрын

Really enjoyed the video. Please keep the North Africa stuff coming!

@Stumptonian1 Жыл бұрын

Another excellent video. I really like the hex terrain you used. Looking forward to the next chapter.

@jasonb1776 Жыл бұрын

Excellent video! More of this please! The North African campaigns are so interesting and very often overlooked. It was great to see another of your club games too. It is good to look at other clubs and other features, but it is your club games which keep bringing me back. Thank you for such a great video.