#410331_02a Mersa el Brega - Enter Rommel Hypothetical (NA41) - North Africa 1941

Mersa el Brega, Western Cyrenaica, Libya: March 31st, 1941. (Scenario Size: Brigade. German Human vs Allied AI) Reports of the German forces landing in Tripoli preceded their appearance on the front lines near Aghéila. Both sides had significant impediments. The German forces were struggling to acclimatize; insufficient filtering impacted the worthiness of vehicle engines while the troops were struggling to cope with the extremes of temperature in the desert. The British had stripped forces in Cyrenaica, with the current demands of the campaign in Greece and the need to pull back the remaining tanks to the Nile valley for refit after Operation Compass. Mersa el Brega was a logical position to defend. The extensive salt flats were impassable to all vehicles and the sands of the Sahara were barely fifteen kilometres to the south, preventing any grandiose flanking manoeuvres. The British 2nd Armoured Division's Support group held the forward positions built around the Tower Hamlets Regiment. Made up of toughs from the East End the Hamlets were to prove a difficult opponent for the advancing Germans. This hypothetical version of the scenario includes the inclusion of both A & C squadron from 5th RTR which were present just off map to the east but played no part in the original battle.