Lead by Donkeys

Lead by Donkeys is a blog about wargames scenarios and research across a diverse range of eras and scales. Although the first post is a 6mm WW2 scenario, I also game 15mm ancients, medieval, renaissance, pike and shot and 20mm WW2. I love researching the history behind each scenario and hope to publish a fairly full description of each one, with maps, ORBATS and reference works. My personal preference is to allow a bit of "what if" in scenario design rather than slavishly following historic dispositions. Please feel free to leave comments and questions. The first scenario concerns the Second Battle of Mechili in April 1941, one of Rommel's first triumphs in Libya.

Rommel surveys Mechili from the shade of some palm treesKampfgruppe Schwerin outside Mechili

Here are links to the Mechili Posts:

Part 1: Background

Part 2: ORBATs and Scenario Rules

Part 3: The British Breakout

Part 4: Fix Bayonets!

Part 5: Last Stand of the 18th Cavalry















Location: London, UK

Comments

  1. N. E. Pete28 October 2021 at 21:33

    Just found this - fantastic work! From the table and fort to the research and the AAR (more story than game description). Very much enjoyed it!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Desert Rat29 October 2021 at 23:26

    Many thanks and glad you enjoyed it!

    ReplyDelete

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The Second Battle of Mechili (Part 3: The British Breakout)

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The British Plan The British escape plan was similar to the one agreed by Gambier-Parry and his officers around midnight on 7th April, 1941. An Advance Guard of 2 Squadrons, led by Captain Barlow's A Squadron of the 18th Cavalry (King Edwards Own), the available armour (a Cruiser and a Dingo Armoured Car) and a couple of Portees, would sally forth at dawn and secure the ridge to the East of Mechili overlooking their intended escape route. The Main Body, comprising 4 further Squadrons, Portees and command elements, would follow immediately behind, with the Portees screening the column from a small ridge to the North of the track. A Rear Guard, commanded by Major Rajendrasinhji and comprising the remaining 2 Squadrons, dismounted anti-tank guns and the few available support weapons, would secure the main routes through the Wadi and take their chances once the Brigade was largely away. These dispositions are shown in the Orders Map below. The secret LRDG location was in the Wadi Al Ra...
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The Second Battle of Mechili (Part 1: Background)

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Background to the Battle  Rommel Leads from the Front The Second Battle of Mechili fits into the more "amateurish" stage of the Desert War in 1940-41, when relatively small armies charged across Cyrenaica, often with obsolete equipment, without inflicting serious casualties on the other side, if you exclude prisoners. This began to change with the arrival of the Afrika Korps and, I would argue, definitively changed with Operation Crusader, in which some serious and bloody fighting took place.  Mechili is an interesting and unusual battle for a number of reasons. First, it involved a concentric attack by four different battle groups on a fort in the middle of nowhere; second, it was effectively a race against time for the British garrison as they sought to escape a tightening noose of Axis forces; third, there were few armoured vehicles involved in the actual fighting; fourth, although Rommel was present, he curiously decided to fly off in his Fieseler Storch the morning of th...
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The Second Battle of Mechili (Part 2: ORBATS and Scenario Rules)

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Axis ORBATs Axis forces are divided into 4 battlegroups, with a certain amount of potential cross attachment (see below). The ORBATs are largely based on those published in Frank Chadwick's excellent Bengahzi Handicap. Stand numbers are shown as a total and then as platoons excluding towing vehicles and transport, divided by a /. German armour was cross attached in the actual battle orders, indicated with an asterisk. KG Schwerin Elements of KG Schwerin Outside Mechili UNITS 1 X IT BERSAGLIERI MG PLATOON 1 X IT 75MM FIELD GUN 1 X L3/33 TANKETTE 1 X GERMAN AT COMPANY • 2 X PAK 36 • 1 X PAK 38 1 X GERMAN COMMAND STAND  1 X SP BREDA 20MM AA  STANDS (14/9) 1 X BERSAGLIERI INF TRUCK 3 X PAK TOW TRUCKS 1 X SP BREDA 20MM AA 1 X GERMAN HQ CAR 1 X BERSAGLIERI MG PLATOON 2 X PAK 36 1 X PAK 38 1 X 75MM FIELD GUN 1 X 75MM FIELD GUN TOW TRUCK  1 X GERMAN COMMAND STAND 1 X L3/33 TANKETTE Colonna Fabris Colonna Fabris Approaches Mechili from the East UNITS 1 X ITALIAN AT COMPANY • ...
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