Debacle at Kasserine Pass

[evaught93]

In the early morning of the first day, I decided to quietly prepare the Italians to attack first by combining broken down units and positioning engineers to clear a path through Allied minefields. The idea is to allow them to create a hole in the defense, and to follow up with the more agile PzGr's. 


The first 4 hours were uneventful with limited LoS. Around 10:00 I stumbled upon the forward American defense.  After the initial surprise, the Americans began to stand their ground and fire on the Italians clearing the obstacles. Unfortunately for them overwhelming Axis artillery fire disrupted the defenders, allowing the Italians to achieve fire superiority. With the momentum on their side the Italians were ordered to assault through the minefields, pushing the dazed defenders  out of their trenches.  By 18:00 a small breakthrough in the Pass had been achieved with follow up units preparing to exploit. 



In the West Italian armor begins to probe different routes the tough terrain. At the moment I only have soft ground conditions so my movement isn't too limited yet, but I know that could change quickly. So far I feel confident as I wasn't expecting an early break out in the East. The Americans are putting up resistance, but the weight of firepower against them is making it difficult to hold this far forward. I know with barely 32 turns that I have to take the risk and move my artillery forward at the nearest opportunity.