Battle of Djedeida After Action Report

Our situation takes place in Tunisia, November 1942. The Germans are reinforcing Tunisia
through the ports of Tunis and Bizerte. The Allies seek to shut down this effort and throw the
Germans out of North Africa.

Allied Briefing:
We have pushed toward Tunis where the Germans are currently receiving reinforcements.
Blade force, supported by the British 11th Infantry, will conduct a raid to disrupt and destroy the
enemy airfield near Djedeida. You will enter the battle area from the west. The enemy forces in
the area are expected to be light. Avoid decisively engaging the enemy. Your mission is to
aggressively push to the airfield and damage it as much as possible, determine enemy
resistance in the area and potentially open the way to Tunis in the east.

German Briefing:
The enemy is advancing on Tunis. We are receiving reinforcements to include airborne infantry
and armor. We must hold Tunis and Bizerte.Kampfgruppe Hudel and Kampfgruppe Becker will
defend and hold the line you see here in blue along the north-south axis centered on Tebourba.
Planning

The Allies under the command of Buss (Cookiehunter) assisted by Spaulding (Desertfox)
created two balanced armor/infantry brigade groups and planned a two pronged attack to raid
the airfield. Element 2 was attacking in the north, Element 1 in the south. Their mission was to
disrupt the airfield and explore the ability to push on to Tunis.

The Germans under the command of von Boich (GloriousRuse) planned a mobile defense with
infantry to screen and armor to counter attack. As part of this they created a consolidated radio
network to shorten communication cycles. Their mission was to hold the Tebourba road.
Setup - pre 0700

1. Russell’s (Ed) British Armor, part of element 2 commanded by Cass (eeeeeee-)

2. Stanley’s (McPanzer) British Infantry, part of element 2
3. German armored recon unit under direction of Hudel (Anakazan)
4. Regular infantry, commanded by Fuchs (Hendrik) as part of battle group Becker
(Chrono)
5. Panzer III’s commanded by Schmitz (Meddy) in Hudel’s group
6. Williams (apostata) British Infantry, part of element 1 commanded by Hull (GPuzzle)
7. Waters (Amelia), US Armor, part of element 1 commanded by Hudel
8. Falschirmjager commanded by Wolff (bigdaddybarclay) part of Becker’s group.
9. Panzer IV’s and heavy armor commanded by Braun (themuffin) part of Hudel’s group.

HULL reflects on his lessons learned: Keeping the frontage down helps immensely because it
gives us a much higher depth of reserves, especially on the offense. This one was also a try out
for a method of constantly looking at what I knew my opponent knew and trying to figure out
their intentions from that point on and trying to come up with a response based on that.
0700

1. Cass’ 2nd element with Stanley and Russell’s command proceeds and is hit by German
artillery in the northern valley.
2. German recon unit comes into contact with Stanley’s forward lorries.
3. Hull’s 1st element with Williams and Waters proceed along their assigned route.

Observations of the German command group on communications:

Von Broich: Above all else I should have established reporting standards early. We could have
exploited our C2 capability to greater advantage had every BN commander known exactly what
was expected in each report.

Fuchs: Communication is key. I believe the CiC / Superiors should come up with some kind of
system for giving proper reports that are short and precise.

Wolff: I think having clear radio communication helped us a lot.

Becker: Lay out a very strict expectation of report formatting; not all of the other players are
going to understand (or respond with) the information you want. Make it clear from the
beginning

Braun: I think the main takeaway for me is the power of communications and coordination...I
think this game shows how effective it can be having a well coordinated force (as all of our
players were in permanent communication with all other players)
0730

1. Russell and Stanely surrounds the enemy recon group who had been ordered to stay
and call artillery. It is destroyed.
2. Fuchs moves units north and engineers begin digging in to hold the center.
3. Schmitz moves forward under Hudel’s direct to support the center.
4. Waters moves north.
5. Williams moves into the treeline and sees the German paratroops on the hillside.
0800

1. Cass sends a recon element northeast to the high ground

2. Stanley and Russel move into contact with Fuch’s dug in infantry.
3. Waters move east.
4. Williams pushes his infantry east north of the high ground
5. Braun moves unit of PanzerIII’s north and repositions his HQ to view the battleground.
6. The Germans blow the bridge at the southern approach.
0830

1. Fuchs, under instructions from von Broich and Becker, send an infantry unit to the high
ground to monitor enemy recon.
2. Russell and Stanley attack Fuchs’ positions successfully.
3. Hudel has Schmitz move south to support Fuchs
4. Stanely moves up, supported by Waters.
5. Braun counterattacks with armor versus infantry in the open, severely damaging
William’s infantry.
6. Becker has Wolff pull his southern unit back.
0900

1. Russell’s Valentine tanks break through Fuchs’ position.

2. Schmitz counterattacks, destroying two companies of Russell’s cruiser tanks.
3. Waters attacks southeast and it stopped by Braun’s superior tanks.
4. Braun brings up additional heavy tanks.
5. Williams is attacked by German paratroops, taking losses in the woods to the south

Lessons learned by Russell: “Quickly draft a plan for your force for the upcoming turn that takes
into consideration your commander's intent. Post ASAP so your CO has plenty of time to review.
If it all goes south (your CO doesn't issue orders) implement your plan - at least it won't be a
surprise!”
0930

1. Russell pulls his remaining tanks back into protected positions.

2. Schmitz pushes forward taking advantage of the artillery screen.
3. Allies dig in across the whole front, attempting to blunt German counterattacks.
4. 4. Braun pulls back and the Allied artillery hits empty ground.
5. Williams pushes reinforcements into the woodline, stopping the German paratrooper
attack.

Observations by Williams: I cannot speak for Cass' element, but in my element armor and
infantry never even shared the same spot. There was no combined arms maneuver and no plan
for one; instead the tanks tried to punch their way through to the objective while I did other
things.
1000

1. Waters is ordered north to push on that front.

2. Stanley attacks Schmitz and is reduced.
3. British recon and Fuchs’ unit watch each other.
4. German CiC puts an officer/OP at the airfield, recognizing the threat from the north.

HUDEL observes: A combined armed approach is everything. Infantry needs to hold the line,
tanks are the heavy hitters, and artillery makes everything better, but dumping explosives at a
vague target is pointless unless it's sighted by observers. Whenever there was a well supported
move, good things happened, and unsupported attacks usually goes poorly.

Lessons learned by CASS: Don't ride up too close to the front if you don't want to get smacked
in the face by artillery, and of course communication is important, that comms delay was critical
and at times i jumped in too quickly and it ended up bad, see that attack at the end where
Waters didn't go in at the same time as Stan because i didn't wait enough for Hull to respond
before giving my orders.
1030

1. Waters is moved up for a push.

2. Russell and Stanley push forward along the high ground.
3. Schmitz pulls back to shield the airfield.
4. The call goes out to move north.
5. German paratroops in the south are pulled back.

Lessons learned by Waters: Have a firm grasp of where you're going and the geography of the
battlefield; request movement clarification when needed.
1100

1. Waters is ordered to attack, and falls in behind Russel and Stanley.

2. Russell and Stanley attack east and are stopped by Schmitz
3. Schmitz, reinforced by the CiC, stops the Allied attack.
4. Braun and elements of Fuchs stop the Allied Recon unit’s attempt to reach the airfield.
5. Williams attacks and is stopped by Fuchs dug in positions in the center.

The Allies have failed to breakthrough and the scenario ends, a German successful defense of
the airfield and the town of Djedeida.

German commander Von Broich said: My plan went well…The canalizing terrain helped that of
course - once the southern bridge was down, there were only a handful of real options left for
the allies, and only one you could slam a brigade of armor through.

Allied commander Bruss reflected: My initial plan did not go well beyond the first 3 or so turns.
The command got bogged down by the Germans who managed to stop my advance with well
timed counterattacks.I could have maybe taken it slower, using artillery to wear down the enemy
and prepare for the attack better.