Action in the 2nd Italo Senussi War

[Westbury]

During lockdown Dave decided to expand his WWII desert war skirmish forces backwards into the Italian 'pacification' of Libya and so this week we had our first game.
A fairly simple set up;
A village in the Jebel Akhdar region is resisting the forward march of Italian colonial forces.
The village is defended by 3 groups of Berber tribesmen - 1 forward of the village walls, 1 at the walls and 1 marching into the village, plus armed villages spread across the rooftops of the village.
The colonial forces comprised, a reinforced squad each from the 6th & 65th Colonial Infantry, a squadron of Eritrean cavalry, a group of Dubati irregulars and a pair of Italian tankettes. The two colonial players could choose 2 units each for the game, so went for all the infantry and the cavalry and deployed 6 inches in from the table edge facing the village.   

[Westbury]

The encounter started with a general advance by the colonialists; the 65th and the cavalry took minor casualties from the Berbers outside the town who in turn took a couple of casualties.
The 6th took advantage of the sand dunes to avoid the shooting and the Dubati lurked behind the gallant cavalry.

[Westbury]

As the colonials advanced they realised that a bit of well placed volley fire was the best way of achieving success and after a couple of turns most of the Berbers in the rocks were dead or wounded.
The cunning 6th infantry got themselves on top of the dunes and deployed their machine gun to keep the Berbers at the walls heads down, their only real worry being the Berber Lewis gun sited on top of one of the buildings.
As the cavalry got closer to the village they proved to be bullet magnets with several troopers being unhorsed.

[Westbury]

About midway through the game the 65th had a bit of a reverse when their sergeant was killed and the squad failed morale and became pinned which eased the pressure on the Berbers for a while - although not too long as the plucky corporal rallied the men and they continued their advance a little later in the game.
The big event for the colonialists was the launch of their cavalry in a charge at the 3rd Berber group who had just reached the walls after marching through the village. The bugler sounded the charge and............ nothing! The only trooper who got to the wall was the bugler 

[Westbury]

After we had all stopped laughing at the lonely bugler we tested for the recipient of the attack and he ran off - obviously deafened by the sound of the bugle 
Enraged at his comrade's cowardice another Berber stepped up to see off the impudent invader and was promptly sabred to death!
It wasn't all roses for the cavalry however because the ones who had failed to charge now made very inviting targets for the rest of the Berbers and the villagers on the roof tops.

[Westbury]

Realising that now was the time for personal example and not wishing to be the scapegoat for an official investigation the cavalry officer shouted "carica!" and galloped down the street into the village scattering 2 of the Berbers to his front - not quite 'lions of the desert' these particular Berbers 

[Westbury]

While the cavalry distracted the defenders at the east side of the village the 6th Colonial advanced steadily forward, stopping to fire at the walls while their machine gun spat death from the dunes. The result was the elimination of the Berbers defending the western walls (including their chief) and the way into the village was open.
The recovered 65th had no opposition now and advanced down the main road into the village hardly bothered by stray shots from the rooftop villagers.
The Dubati had done nothing of any note other than complain they couldn't get through to loot the village because there were dead cavalrymen in the way 

With 2 Berber groups eliminated for very little colonial loss the village was considered taken and the 3rd Berber group slipped away. Both the cavalry officer and bugler were mentioned in dispatches.

Many thanks to Dave, Bob and JC for their participation and good humour.

[has.been]

Nice looking game Ian. You've got to love that Dave,
not only nicely done figures, but of a little war-gamed
period. I didn't know figures were available for this 'war',
or did Dave convert? Hang on I didn't even know about
this 'war'.

[Inkpaduta]

Excellent game. Always like looking at games from periods that are not often wargamed.
I am an off the beaten path man myself.

[scotty]

Superb looking game in a war I admit to knowing nothing about. Very interesting

[Westbury]

The film 'Lion of the Desert' depicts the war. It's all a bit Hollywood but there are a couple of battle scenes which capture the unequal struggle and show the emergence of early armour.
The political and human reality of the 'pacification' is not so nice, like so many colonial conquests.

[flatpack]

Very enjoyable game with Ian and Dave.
Very realistic and played in the right spirit.
Here’s a few pics from our war correspondent.


Initial moves


Our glorious forces advancing.


A horseman throws a shoe.


Liberating forces about to enter the town.


Local forces wait to embrace their liberators. NOT.

Great time had by all.

[Captain Darling]

Great looking game!
What rules did you use?

[BillK]

Wonderful AAR. Great pictures. Thanks for posting.
Is the mat homemade?
What make are those Berbers?

[Driscoles]

A very enjoyable report! Thank you