Rommel at El Alamein, July & August 2009

The Dogfight Battles of July and August 1942 Rommel's success was inspiring, even to his sworn enemies. Time after time, his panzers swept across the desert like hot sirocco winds in their unrelenting blitzkrieg fashion. The British were nearing their end, so it seemed. Whatever defenses they created did little to halt Rommel. The Germans were also nearing their end logistically speaking as El Alamein was far, far away from their main supply depots. Rommel's own panzers were wearing out from all of the fast advances that had totally kept the British off balance. The first of the grueling dogfight battles occurred from July 1-4. Hitler was pressing Rommel to go for the kill and reach the Nile. Rommel, himself, felt certain the British were at their end after the unraveling of their defenses in June and their chaotic retreat. But his DAK divisions had suffered and most were really just regimental size. Panzer divisions had a mere 30 tanks. Still, he went forth confident. In this battle, fuel was not an issue, but Rommel attacked without much intelligence as to where the enemy really was. For the British, it was their last stand. They could not afford another Gazala or Tobruk because it would mean Egypt was German. The second dogfight battle in the same area began August 30th. Rommel would once again try his sweep around the end tactic and block all retreat routes. The battle is also known as Alam Halfa. Rommel had replenished his panzer divisions this time but fuel was a keen issue, as his plan called for them to advance deep into the rear of the British and cut them off. The problem was that his panzers would then have little fuel. By now, Rommel was more hesitant in this offensive and secured guarantees from Hitler that more fuel would arrive. Hitler promised. Reluctant, the order was again given in what was his last attempt to reach the Nile. The British were well prepared this time around and more or less knew of the plan. Their minefields were widened, units were instructed to let the German's come to them, their bombers readied. Dogfight 2 ended on Sept. 3, and the British lost a precious chance to encircle the DAK.

There are two games distinct from one another. Each uses different rules, counters and maps. They are at different scales with dogfight 2 being more tactical and dogfight 1, operational. Each day turn in dogfight 1 is 8 hrs, 1 mile hexes. In dogfight 2, it is 4 hrs, and most units are company size. AFVs have armor ratings using a new system. Each game has 11x17" map and has 280 counters.