OCS TUNISIA: Solo Test (August 2005)
by John W. Kisner
This game of solo Tunisia will test various new rules.
This record may be of interest to novice players, but it’s
not really intended as an example of strategy and tactics. The goal is to play fast and keep notes pertinent to
the effects of the new rules on this old game.
OCS 3.2 changes worth noting:
1) New Flak and PZ (including PZ/Interdiction).
2) Artillery no longer needs to be in Reserve to
barrage in Reaction & Exploit phases.
3) Air units on barrage mission burn supply tokens
on takeoff equal to their barrage value ÷ 10
(round normally).
Scenario changes worth noting:
1) The Kasserine Pass scenario has some German
planes at Tunis, which is outside the play area,
but there is no provision for refit supply. I decided this supply could flow abstractly from
DAK HQ, so that overall scenario supply use
would conform to newest rules. (Note that
errata should instruct players to either make
refit “free” at those bases or pay like I’m doing
from the scenario stocks.)
The last Stuka hip shoots (using an artillery unit as a
spotter) and once more a DG result is achieved. Just
one mech regiment is needed to overrun the airfield,
killing two Allied steps (including a Ranger battalion).
The division’s remaining pair of combat units roll forward, ending the phase adjacent to Kasserine. Remaining German movement merely covers various
flanks. Four Allied steps were destroyed at a cost of two
Axis steps.
Allied Reaction. US 1st Armor XX gets moving, Combat
Command (CC) East toward Sidi Bou Zid and CC West
to a reserve position 15 miles south of Tebessa. A tank
battalion also moves to reinforce Kasserine. A fairly
large air barrage is attempted near Sidi Bou Zid, with a
B-25 talking a loss from Flak. The 12-Column barrage
misses. Two waves of Allied fighters are sent on Fighter
Sweeps over the German air base at Faid, eventually
knocking down a pair of Fw-190’s. Both dierolls resulted in each side taking a fighter loss. The two P-38s
set up for Interdiction (they should be visible in the
photo). Alas, we could not take advantage of the eased
restrictions on artillery barrage during Reaction/Exploit,
because there is no supply at encircled Sidi Bou Zid.
No ground losses, but 3 Allied and 2 German planes
took hits.
2) I added one supply load for the Stukas to the
starting SPs (6T). Allied bombers are either too
small to have a cost, or will fly from Algiers.
3) Allied units will be able to draw supply from the
RR off-map to the north (Le Sers, etc.).
4) It should be clear whether the Allies can bomb
Tunis. I felt there would be more fighters
guarding those bases, so didn’t allow it.
TURN 1 (15 February) -- Flight Turn.
Axis Movement. We begin with a Stuka hip shoot north
of Sidi Bou Zid. Flak misses, and defenders are DG.
10th Pz XX sends all but its infantry regt to overrun the
rough hex. Surprise helps achieve an Ao1/DL1o1 result. We lose the recon battalion to take the hex, driving the remnants into a clear hex to the SW already
containing US troops. The AT battalion “stops” to spot
for another Stuka hip shoot, again inflicting DG on the
target stack. The still-moving pair of units performs another overrun, taking the hex by trading losses. 21st Pz
XX now moves forward in Reserve Mode to complete
the encirclement of Sidi Bou Zid.
Meanwhile, 15th Pz XX is driving almost due north
from Gafsa to overrun the enemy airfield at Feriana.
MIddle of Turn 1.
Axis Combat. Artillery does a DG at Sidi Bou Zid, but
misses at Kasserine. Both locations are attacked, and
both are very successful — the troops at Kasserine even
winning Exploit marking. Four Allied steps were lost in
the two attacks.
Axis Exploit. Tanks from 21st Pz XX overrun the remnants from the Sidi Bou Zid battle. The rest of the division stays in Reserve. The Exploit-marked portion of
15th Pz XX swings east toward Sbeitla, hoping to force
US 1st Armor XX to withdraw to the NE (away from
Tebessa) instead of NW. One Allied step was destroyed.
Allied Movement. The FR HQ is fueled to supply all
those independent units in the eastern half of the Allied
position. A reinforced US 34th XX is attempting to concentrate behind Sidi Bou Zid, but I opted to keep the
division in Combat Mode so it will take a double-turn
for that to happen prior to the next phase of the Axis
assault. Meanwhile, CC East of US 1st Armor XX moves
to counterattack elements of 15th Panzer near Tbelepte.
Artillery is concentrated nearby in case it is needed,
and a P-38 flies interdiction over Tbelepte to surround
the Germans with ZOCs. An air barrage by four planes
results in a “1/2” rounded up. An artillery battalion
serves as shell-catcher. Flak rolls were interesting: an
‘11’ against a A-20 was modified to a “miss” due to the
nice air-to-air rating on the plane.
German Reaction. IT Centauro XX’s lone tank battalion
is released from Reserve, but cannot reach 15th Pz due
to the enemy interdiction (aggressive enemy fighter
sweeps in the German player turn really paid off). We
do take advantage of the new freedom to fire artillery
without committing it to Reserve Mode, paying 3T for a
12-point barrage... we whiff on the roll.
Allied Combat. Since the stack is already DG, no barrage is fired. Attack is 5:1 in the open with no surprise
(-1 net AR modifier), and a lukewarm roll scores an
“AL1/Do1.” We trade losses, a FR police battalion for
an artillery battalion killed in the retreat. A natural ‘7’
or above would have killed 15th Panzer’s lead unit, a
monstrous 10-5-8; we’ll get it next time.
Allied Exploit. A B-25 and P-38 set up more interdiction between Kasserine and Sidi Bou Zid. Nothing else
of much importance.
TURN 2 (19 February) - Flight Turn
Axis Movement. We won initiative and took it, for fear
that US 1st Armor XX would crumple our left pincer.
First order of business was to knock down the pair of P38 interdictors. My reduced fighters are able to handle
the job, destroying one step of P-38 as a bonus. Note
that this was extra important under the new rules given
they also exert PZ Flak. My two full-strength fighters are
now sent to knock down the enemy planes over Tebessa. A Fw-190, with its ‘1’ barrage value, decides to
strafe the airfield (our ‘5’ air-to-air rating makes this a
very safe bet with respect to enemy Flak). Amazing! We
roll a ‘6’ and get to roll to take out the Spit V that moments ago was on CAP -- the reduction roll misses, but
it was still glorious.
Next order of business is hip-shooting that regiment of
the US 34th that’s in the rough west of Sidi Bou Zid.
The second Stuka scores a bulls-eye, killing the regiment. The last Stuka DG’s US 1st Armor CC East. Once
again, the Allied Flak rolls come up empty.
With the rough terrain now free of the enemy, my right
pincer moves forward to establish contact with the
portion of 15th Pz XX that has been cut off. US 776th
AT looks to be in grave danger, but at the very least will
slow what had been planned as a rapid advance on
Tebessa. Meanwhile, an ad hoc collection of ItaloGermans readies for a prepared attack against what I’ve
been calling CC East.
Allied Reaction. The planes are all flown, and Reserves
are minimal, but we can take advantage of the eased
restrictions on artillery to take a shot on the 13-column.
The 3T is wasted.
End of Turn 1.
Axis Combat. We’re going to have to start tapping the
Organic Trucks just for meager attacks and some fuel,
so no barrages. US 776th AT is toasted anyway, and as
hoped the attackers earn an Exploit marker. We also
put a hurt on CC East, but had to lose the Ramcke paras
to obtain an option and force the enemy to retreat
through ZOC (Ao1e4/DL1o2).
Axis Exploit. The last of CC East is destroyed, attacked
from the rear by Reserve elements of 10th Pz XX and
from the front by Italian infantry. There wasn’t enough
fuel to move the other Exploit-marked troops. For the
player turn, 1 German and 7 US units were lost. We’d
feel better were it not for the fact that victory hinges on
Tebessa, about 50 miles from the Axis spearheads.
German Reaction. We have neither Reserves nor artillery ammo, so the phase passes quickly.
Allied Combat. None.
Allied Exploit. A pair of P-39s get a barrage-kill against
an Italian stack near Feriana (no Flak loss). A P-38 takes
up an interdiction position near Sbeitla.
End of Turn 2.
COMMENTARY
Middle of Turn 2.
Allied Movement. CC West of 1st Armor moves south
to plug the open gap on Allied extreme right. The vacated position in the rough terrain in front of Tebessa is
quickly occupied by elements of BR 6th Armour.
French tanks swing west to guard the river crossing
north of Kasserine, while the American 34th concentrates in the rough north of Sbeitla. By pressing on the
Axis right flank, we should tie down the panzers still
trying to move clear of the Sidi Bou Zid fight. To end
the phase, a pair of US bombers does a DG on a German stack near Feriana (Flak rolls both missed). There
will not be enough supply on hand to barrage with
artillery, having constructed a hog at Tebessa instead.
The Axis offensive has essentially stalled at this point,
and it would be crazy to keep attacking with so little
supply and Tebessa so far away. With Eighth Army approaching the Mareth Line, it’s time to tip our caps to
the Americans and call it a day.
This was not an ideal scenario to test some of the new
3.2 rules. But here are my impressions:
Flak. The new Flak rules are a little tedious, but I really
like the subtle difference between the rugged A-20 and
the more combustible B-25. Only regret was not taking
down a Stuka or two, but I can see how you won’t
want to risk them on inconsequential missions (due to
their increased vulnerability relative to the old Flak
Table).
Patrol Zones. The limited CAP from interdiction planes
is another welcome change — they are, of course, easy
to drive off but the enemy must use his fighters to do
so. I didn’t actually fly a mission where the new PZ
rules came into effect, but I think they will be fine. Let
me take this opportunity to say that Flak Points might
accumulate too rapidly, given the nature of a bell curve
and the new lethality of good rolls (see below).
be worthwhile just to give players more chances to use
supply as they see fit (shifting to or away from air).
Steve Poitinger has mentioned a possible choice of
doing everything with planes except barrages to avoid
the new costs; if that were to become the rule rather
than the exception, we’d have a cure that is worse than
the disease.
Air Losses. The Allies lost six air steps and the Axis lost
two during the scenario. Those losses were heavy, but
the idea is to conserve assets for real offensives, so it
should be okay. Essentially, we now set the loss chance
of an aborted plane in Air Combat at 1-in-3 instead of
the old 1-in-6, and have increased Flak losses by some
factor that I cannot begin to compute. The one area
where I think the increase in losses is a mistake is when
a base is bombed; those should also be set back at 1in-3 (rather than the current 1-in-2). I have other reasons — we don’t want a successful fighter sweep to
allow a player to instantly bomb the base into oblivion
— but if nothing else it’s easier to remember if loss
chances are the same regardless of the reason for a loss
check.
FLAK BY THE NUMBERS
Artillery Barrage. I missed the “guessing game” involved in choosing which artillery to place in Reserve.
There is no particular reason why artillery should have
to enter Reserve Mode to “save” their shot, but it sure
seemed more interesting that way. Letting the same arty
fire during both Combat and Exploit just seemed
wrong, and there was no longer the notion that a defender’s caught off-guard when he doesn’t have Reserve
artillery in place. My least favorite change.
Air Barrage. I have mixed feelings about paying for air
barrage. Hip Shoots are still definitely worth the cost,
but in games like this one, where operations are run
with limited supplies, a few extra tokens spent on air
barrages can make a huge difference. The effect would
be less dramatic in a Campaign Game, because a
player could build up appropriate stocks before kicking
off an offensive. But scenarios would definitely need
some restructuring, and that might be hardest to do in
games with a mixture of on- and off-map airfields. This
would take some work, but that alone should not
eliminate this rule from further consideration.
My jury’s still out on the air barrage change from a play
standpoint. It’s slightly more work to pay as you take off
for a mission, so it’s gotta pass the “is it worth it” test.
There will also be some tendency to try and “game” the
costs — flying planes whose cost “rounds down” over
those whose cost “rounds up” and that kind of stuff.
This would be especially true when an army needs to
conserve every possible token for fuel, etc. If the increased loss rate puts a brake on air campaigning all by
itself, the “pay” method will lose one point in its favor,
but “showing” the supplies being consumed might still
The Table below shows the rapidly increasing loss rates
as we decrease the target’s Air-to-Air and increase the
Flak Modifier. Note that during Air Combat, there is a
flat 33% loss chance for an aborted plane — fighter
sweeps will be the source of most air losses under the
current loss chances. It may require a change to keep
our fighters in the air (maybe on the “both abort” results it should still just be a 1-in-6 chance?).
The other slight problem with the current approach is
this: a reduced air unit has a lower value. It will be
difficult to conceptualize why smaller groups would
suffer higher rates of loss in some cases (such as a P-39,
which drops from a ‘3’ to a ‘2’), but not in others (such
as a Stuka, which drops from a ‘1’ to a ‘0’). Just some
late-night food for thought.
FLAK
0-1 AtA
2 AtA
3-4 AtA
5+ AtA
0
17%
8%
3%
0%
1
28%
17%
8%
3%
2
42%
28%
17%
8%
3
58%
42%
28%
17%
4
72%
58%
42%
28%
5
83%
72%
58%
42%