Update 1.0.3.0 Battle of Gazala
Greetings! We have a major announcement about a new update, focused on the Battle of Gazala, releasing July 10!
While we continue to work on the OP Husky stage 2, we’re going to experiment with smaller, highly focused content releases that we can bring to you guys in between major releases. Just because OP Husky is taking longer than we’d hoped, doesn’t mean you should have to wait for more CAOS! These smaller content releases will focus on modelling either specific battles, or order of battle pairs. In addition to bringing you more CAOS, more often, these smaller updates will also allow us to bring you forces from other theaters of the war, outside of the current major design project. We’re going to start out with the Battle of Gazala and its historical orders of battle, alongside the orders of battle for Operation Crusader. Let’s dive in!
[h2]Historical Background:[/h2]
The Battle of Gazala was one of Rommel’s greatest victories during the North African campaign. On May 27, 1942, Panzerarmee Afrika launched a bold flanking maneuver around 8th Army’s southern shoulder and within a day British 7th Armored Division’s forward HQ was overrun and large swathes of the Allied frontline faced encirclement. Despite the initial success of the Axis advance, fierce resistance from Allied units along the Gazala Line jeopardized the operation by disrupting supply flows to the flanking maneuver. However, poorly supported counterattacks by 1st Armoured Division failed to blunt the German advance, and Axis forces overran the center of the Gazala Line near Sidi Mufta on May 30, thereby securing stable supply lines to press forward and further compromise the Allied frontline. After just over two weeks of heavy fighting British numerical superiority in armor collapsed, and continued attrition lent the Axis armored forces a free hand to shape the battle. By June 14 the Allied position grew untenable as retreating infantry lacked proper supplies and support to halt the Axis advance. General retreat towards Egypt was finally authorized on June 17 and the once impenetrable fortress at Tobruk surrendered to Axis forces four days later, with more than 30,000 troops still inside. During Gazala Panzerarmee Afrika inflicted heavy casualties on British 8th Army, reclaimed Tobruk, captured thousands of tons of supplies, and regained operational initiative until their decisive defeat at the Second Battle of El-Alamein in October 1942. Make no mistake, Gazala was one of the most critical battles of the entire North African campaign, and we are thrilled to bring it to life in CAOS.
[h2]Re-Creating Gazala in CAOS:[/h2]
Despite the battle’s decisive historical outcome, Axis victory was far from assured as both sides possessed strong advantages. The Allied defenders possessed hundreds of kilometers of minefields stretching from Bir Hakeim to the Mediterranean coast, numerical superiority in men and armor, and a centrally located supply hub in Tobruk itself. Conversely, Axis forces possessed better combined arms integration, better tanks (for the Germans), and exceptional leadership. Both sides commanded strong air cover, with a slight advantage to the British Desert Air Force owing to its excellent air support capabilities, and shorter logistical tail. Gazala represents a perfect scenario for CAOS because the battle can reasonably go either way, especially with a more coherent response by the Allied defenders. Now, let’s preview the new orders of battle coming with Gazala!
The Tobruk update not only brings the historical OBs for the Battle of Gazala in May/June 1942, it also brings the OBs for Operation Crusader, in November/December, 1941. We plan to build a historical scenario for Crusader in the future as well, but since we already have the OBs ready, you’ll get them alongside Gazala!
Panzerarmee Afrika - Gazala: The Italo-German Panzerarmee Afrika during Rommel’s greatest victory at the Battle of Gazala in May/June 1942. Take command of the vaunted Afrikakorps, and three corps of Italian troops, including battle-hardened veterans and fresh recruits alike. Panzerarmee Afrika excels at rapid maneuver warfare and commands strong air cover, but it lacks deep armored reserves and relies on fragile Italian infantry divisions to hold captured ground. Panzerarmee Afrika has little trouble taking territory, but it faces a much tougher task holding it.
British 8th Army - Gazala: British 8th Army during the Battle of Gazala in May/June 1942. 8th Army favors defensive warfare, combining plentiful anti-tank guns with robust infantry divisions, strong air cover, and slow but heavily armored infantry tanks. Despite strong defensive capabilities, 8th Army’s offensive punch suffers from severe deficiencies in armor and artillery. 8th Army’s Crusader IIs, Matildas, and Valentines all lack high explosive shells, and American M3 Lees are available in insufficient numbers to bridge the gap. 8th Army also lacks strong heavy artillery support.
Panzergruppe Afrika – Operation Crusader: The Italo-German Panzergruppe Afrika during the British counteroffensive to relieve Tobruk during November/December 1941. Panzergruppe Afrika relies on its three battle-hardened armored divisions, and high levels of morale, to compensate for material shortages and shallow reserves. Panzergruppe Afrika requires skillful maneuver and proper use of combined arms to divide, isolate, and crush numerically superior enemy forces. Every unit is valuable and even the most basic infantry regiments should be used with care because reserves are so thin. For experienced commanders looking for a challenge, Panzergruppe Afrika is the perfect opportunity to wage blitzkrieg on a shoestring.
British 8th Army – Operation Crusader: British 8th Army during its November 1941 offensive to relieve the siege of Tobruk. 8th Army enjoys high mobility, as the 1st South African, 4th Indian, and New Zealand infantry divisions are fully motorized, alongside the 7th Armoured Division. However, 8th Army’s armoured brigades field many obsolete and mechanically unreliable vehicles, in addition to the usual anti-infantry deficiencies of British cruiser/infantry tanks of the time. 8th Army has mobility, but it lacks a strong armored fist. 8th Army also lacks modern medium or heavy guns needed to silence enemy artillery or pound strongpoints into submission. 8th Army shines best when it can outmaneuver opponents and force them into unfavorable counter attacks where its high mobility, strong infantry divisions, and the Desert Air Force can grind them into the dust.
This update tackles excessive lethality of air missions and reduces the number of bombing missions available across the board. Aircraft remain vital to any combined arms strategy, but excessive lethality of air missions has been resolved and bombing missions are less prevalent. Additionally, the weaker nature of air missions in general makes them far more vulnerable to concentrated anti-aircraft. Air denial through extreme concentrations of anti-aircraft, as the Axis historically achieved at Messina during the evacuation from Sicily, is now achievable in CAOS.
[h2]Air Bombing and Strike Rebalancing:[/h2]
Bombing Mission Lethality:
Bombing mission lethality remains largely unchanged, and has in fact increased in some years.
Strike mission lethality has fallen across the board, especially during the early war years where strike missions have lost 40-50% of their strength. Air strikes still enjoy the benefits of targeting one specific target type, so they are still more likely to damage your preferred target than bombing, but they are no longer practically assured to produce results and they’re even more vulnerable to concentrated AA.
The raw fire support effect of Air Support missions has fallen dramatically across the entire war. The old air support model overemphasized heavy twin-engine support aircraft at the expense of lighter single-engine fighter-bombers, thus inflating the raw power of air support. Air Support is a useful tool alone, but its greatest strength rests in its ability to make all friendly units in a combat stronger by unlocking the highest level of combined arms combat modifiers. Air support alone remains useful, but it’s not going to light the world on fire.
[h2]Bombing mission reduction:[/h2]
In general the number of bombing missions provided per squadron has dropped by 1, although, this varies per aircraft. Here are a few examples per squadron from across the war:
Allies:
[h2]Other Air Changes:[/h2]
A range of additional refinements and corrections to the air mission formula yield a series of small, but important, balance changes among fighter-bombers and strike aircraft. Notably, the Hurricane series were erroneously set at 2 support missions per squadron, this has been corrected and they are no longer disproportionately effective compared to their Tomhawk colleagues. On the US side, The A-20/A-26 series have taken a slight hit in total mission numbers, but they remain some of the most effective strike aircraft in CAOS.
Additionally, a series of aircraft that have gained air support capability. Soviet players rejoice, lend-lease P-39s can now execute support missions. Italy can press obsolete MC.200s in 1942/1943 into service as cheap fighter-bombers. Meanwhile, German FW-190 A-8s have gained their SC-500 bomb racks, thereby expanding Germany’s late war air support options, while driving up the A-8’s price in the process.
Allies:
Counter-battery is chronically underused in the current live build because it takes too much firepower (typically 60+ barrage points), to gain a reasonable chance of inflicting damage on enemy artillery. Update 1.0.3.0 lowers the minimum bar for effective counter-battery, lowers barrage required to reach the lethality cap, and increases lethality of counter-battery generally; see the bullet points below for details.
[h2]Effect on gameplay:[/h2]
The counter-battery overhaul promises obvious improvements in artillery gameplay, but also for combined arms maneuver. Long-ranged heavy artillery such as the US 155mm M1A1, Soviet 122mm A-19, German 17cm K18, and British BL 5.5” guns can inflict serious damage on shorter-ranged guns. Through careful use of counter-battery you can pin and silence, or even destroy, enemy artillery supporting frontline strongpoints. If the enemy’s defense relies on a handful of powerful howitzer battalions, pound them with counter-battery the impulse before you attack to keep them silent while your ground forces move in. The same strategy works in reverse if the attacker relies on a small number of artillery units to ensure combined arms. Skillful employment of counter-battery makes the rest of the army’s job much easier.
As previously mentioned, Update 1.0.3.0 Gazala is planned for release on Sunday, July 10. After Gazala, the Operation Crusader scenario will follow in its own intermediate update, combined with user interface improvements, notably an improved turn Situation Report that breaks losses down by type, per side. Once Gazala is released, we should be able to set our final release date for OP Husky Stage 2. For now, we’ll get back to work on testing Gazala, and we’ll be back with a developer let’s play next week!
While we continue to work on the OP Husky stage 2, we’re going to experiment with smaller, highly focused content releases that we can bring to you guys in between major releases. Just because OP Husky is taking longer than we’d hoped, doesn’t mean you should have to wait for more CAOS! These smaller content releases will focus on modelling either specific battles, or order of battle pairs. In addition to bringing you more CAOS, more often, these smaller updates will also allow us to bring you forces from other theaters of the war, outside of the current major design project. We’re going to start out with the Battle of Gazala and its historical orders of battle, alongside the orders of battle for Operation Crusader. Let’s dive in!
New Scenario – Battle of Gazala (May 26 – June 21, 1942):
[h2]Historical Background:[/h2]
The Battle of Gazala was one of Rommel’s greatest victories during the North African campaign. On May 27, 1942, Panzerarmee Afrika launched a bold flanking maneuver around 8th Army’s southern shoulder and within a day British 7th Armored Division’s forward HQ was overrun and large swathes of the Allied frontline faced encirclement. Despite the initial success of the Axis advance, fierce resistance from Allied units along the Gazala Line jeopardized the operation by disrupting supply flows to the flanking maneuver. However, poorly supported counterattacks by 1st Armoured Division failed to blunt the German advance, and Axis forces overran the center of the Gazala Line near Sidi Mufta on May 30, thereby securing stable supply lines to press forward and further compromise the Allied frontline. After just over two weeks of heavy fighting British numerical superiority in armor collapsed, and continued attrition lent the Axis armored forces a free hand to shape the battle. By June 14 the Allied position grew untenable as retreating infantry lacked proper supplies and support to halt the Axis advance. General retreat towards Egypt was finally authorized on June 17 and the once impenetrable fortress at Tobruk surrendered to Axis forces four days later, with more than 30,000 troops still inside. During Gazala Panzerarmee Afrika inflicted heavy casualties on British 8th Army, reclaimed Tobruk, captured thousands of tons of supplies, and regained operational initiative until their decisive defeat at the Second Battle of El-Alamein in October 1942. Make no mistake, Gazala was one of the most critical battles of the entire North African campaign, and we are thrilled to bring it to life in CAOS.
[h2]Re-Creating Gazala in CAOS:[/h2]
Despite the battle’s decisive historical outcome, Axis victory was far from assured as both sides possessed strong advantages. The Allied defenders possessed hundreds of kilometers of minefields stretching from Bir Hakeim to the Mediterranean coast, numerical superiority in men and armor, and a centrally located supply hub in Tobruk itself. Conversely, Axis forces possessed better combined arms integration, better tanks (for the Germans), and exceptional leadership. Both sides commanded strong air cover, with a slight advantage to the British Desert Air Force owing to its excellent air support capabilities, and shorter logistical tail. Gazala represents a perfect scenario for CAOS because the battle can reasonably go either way, especially with a more coherent response by the Allied defenders. Now, let’s preview the new orders of battle coming with Gazala!
New Orders of Battle:
The Tobruk update not only brings the historical OBs for the Battle of Gazala in May/June 1942, it also brings the OBs for Operation Crusader, in November/December, 1941. We plan to build a historical scenario for Crusader in the future as well, but since we already have the OBs ready, you’ll get them alongside Gazala!
Panzerarmee Afrika - Gazala: The Italo-German Panzerarmee Afrika during Rommel’s greatest victory at the Battle of Gazala in May/June 1942. Take command of the vaunted Afrikakorps, and three corps of Italian troops, including battle-hardened veterans and fresh recruits alike. Panzerarmee Afrika excels at rapid maneuver warfare and commands strong air cover, but it lacks deep armored reserves and relies on fragile Italian infantry divisions to hold captured ground. Panzerarmee Afrika has little trouble taking territory, but it faces a much tougher task holding it.
British 8th Army - Gazala: British 8th Army during the Battle of Gazala in May/June 1942. 8th Army favors defensive warfare, combining plentiful anti-tank guns with robust infantry divisions, strong air cover, and slow but heavily armored infantry tanks. Despite strong defensive capabilities, 8th Army’s offensive punch suffers from severe deficiencies in armor and artillery. 8th Army’s Crusader IIs, Matildas, and Valentines all lack high explosive shells, and American M3 Lees are available in insufficient numbers to bridge the gap. 8th Army also lacks strong heavy artillery support.
Panzergruppe Afrika – Operation Crusader: The Italo-German Panzergruppe Afrika during the British counteroffensive to relieve Tobruk during November/December 1941. Panzergruppe Afrika relies on its three battle-hardened armored divisions, and high levels of morale, to compensate for material shortages and shallow reserves. Panzergruppe Afrika requires skillful maneuver and proper use of combined arms to divide, isolate, and crush numerically superior enemy forces. Every unit is valuable and even the most basic infantry regiments should be used with care because reserves are so thin. For experienced commanders looking for a challenge, Panzergruppe Afrika is the perfect opportunity to wage blitzkrieg on a shoestring.
British 8th Army – Operation Crusader: British 8th Army during its November 1941 offensive to relieve the siege of Tobruk. 8th Army enjoys high mobility, as the 1st South African, 4th Indian, and New Zealand infantry divisions are fully motorized, alongside the 7th Armoured Division. However, 8th Army’s armoured brigades field many obsolete and mechanically unreliable vehicles, in addition to the usual anti-infantry deficiencies of British cruiser/infantry tanks of the time. 8th Army has mobility, but it lacks a strong armored fist. 8th Army also lacks modern medium or heavy guns needed to silence enemy artillery or pound strongpoints into submission. 8th Army shines best when it can outmaneuver opponents and force them into unfavorable counter attacks where its high mobility, strong infantry divisions, and the Desert Air Force can grind them into the dust.
Air Overhaul:
This update tackles excessive lethality of air missions and reduces the number of bombing missions available across the board. Aircraft remain vital to any combined arms strategy, but excessive lethality of air missions has been resolved and bombing missions are less prevalent. Additionally, the weaker nature of air missions in general makes them far more vulnerable to concentrated anti-aircraft. Air denial through extreme concentrations of anti-aircraft, as the Axis historically achieved at Messina during the evacuation from Sicily, is now achievable in CAOS.
[h2]Air Bombing and Strike Rebalancing:[/h2]
Bombing Mission Lethality:
Bombing mission lethality remains largely unchanged, and has in fact increased in some years.
- 1945: Average bombing bombardment strength reduced from 90 to 85.
- 1944: Average bombing bombardment strength reduced from 90 to 85.
- 1943: Average bombing bombardment strength increased from 70 to 85.
- 1942 Average bombing bombardment strength remains the same at 70.
- 1941: Average bombing bombardment strength increased from 50 to 70.
- 1940: Average bombing bombardment strength remains the same at 50.
- 1939: Average bombing bombardment strength remains the same at 50.
Strike mission lethality has fallen across the board, especially during the early war years where strike missions have lost 40-50% of their strength. Air strikes still enjoy the benefits of targeting one specific target type, so they are still more likely to damage your preferred target than bombing, but they are no longer practically assured to produce results and they’re even more vulnerable to concentrated AA.
- 1945: Average strike bombardment strength reduced from 120 to 90.
- 1944: Average strike bombardment strength reduced from 100 to 90.
- 1943: Average strike bombardment strength reduced from 80 to 70.
- 1942: Average strike bombardment strength reduced from 80 to 50.
- 1941: Average strike bombardment strength reduced from 80 to 50.
- 1940: Average strike bombardment strength reduced from 70 to 35.
- 1939: Average strike bombardment strength reduced from 70 to 35.
The raw fire support effect of Air Support missions has fallen dramatically across the entire war. The old air support model overemphasized heavy twin-engine support aircraft at the expense of lighter single-engine fighter-bombers, thus inflating the raw power of air support. Air Support is a useful tool alone, but its greatest strength rests in its ability to make all friendly units in a combat stronger by unlocking the highest level of combined arms combat modifiers. Air support alone remains useful, but it’s not going to light the world on fire.
- 1945: Average support mission strength reduced from 185 to 80.
- 1944: Average support mission strength reduced from 165 to 80.
- 1943: Average support mission strength reduced from 145 to 60.
- 1942: Average support mission strength reduced from 125 to 45.
- 1941: Average support mission strength reduced from 105 to 45.
- 1940: Average support mission strength reduced from 85 to 20.
- 1939: Average support mission strength reduced from 65 to 20.
[h2]Bombing mission reduction:[/h2]
In general the number of bombing missions provided per squadron has dropped by 1, although, this varies per aircraft. Here are a few examples per squadron from across the war:
Allies:
- B-25 (all types): Bombing missions reduced from 5 to 4.
- B-18 Bolo: Bombing missions reduced from 3 to 2.
- Boston IIIa: Bombing missions reduced from 3 to 2.
- Blenheim IV: Bombing missions reduced from 3 to 2.
- MB.210: Bombing missions reduce from 3 to 2.
- SB-2M: Bombing missions reduced from 3 to 2.
- Arado 234 B: Bombing missions reduced from 4 to 3.
- JU-188 A-2: Bombing missions reduced from 5 to 4.
- HE-111 P-4: Bombing missions reduced from 4 to 3.
- SM.79: Bombing missions reduced from 4 to 3.
- Ca. 314: Bombing missions reduced from 3 to 2.
[h2]Other Air Changes:[/h2]
A range of additional refinements and corrections to the air mission formula yield a series of small, but important, balance changes among fighter-bombers and strike aircraft. Notably, the Hurricane series were erroneously set at 2 support missions per squadron, this has been corrected and they are no longer disproportionately effective compared to their Tomhawk colleagues. On the US side, The A-20/A-26 series have taken a slight hit in total mission numbers, but they remain some of the most effective strike aircraft in CAOS.
Additionally, a series of aircraft that have gained air support capability. Soviet players rejoice, lend-lease P-39s can now execute support missions. Italy can press obsolete MC.200s in 1942/1943 into service as cheap fighter-bombers. Meanwhile, German FW-190 A-8s have gained their SC-500 bomb racks, thereby expanding Germany’s late war air support options, while driving up the A-8’s price in the process.
Allies:
- A-26B Invader: Strike missions reduced from 5 to 4.
- A-20G/J Havoc: Strike missions reduced from 5 to 4.
- P-38F Lightning: Strike missions reduced from 3 to 2.
- P-39 (all variants D and greater): Support missions increased from 0 to 1.
- Hurricane II: Support missions reduced from 2 to 1.
- FW-190 F-8: Support missions increased from 2 to 3.
- FW-190 A-8: Interdiction missions increased from 0 to 2.
- FW-190 A-8: Support/Strike missions increased from 0 to 1.
- RE.2005 Sagittario: Interdiction missions increased from 2 to 3.
- RE.2005 Sagittario: Strike missions increased from 1 to 2.
- MC.200 (in 1942/1943): Support/Interdiction/Strike missions increased from 0 to 1.
Counter-Battery Overhaul:
Counter-battery is chronically underused in the current live build because it takes too much firepower (typically 60+ barrage points), to gain a reasonable chance of inflicting damage on enemy artillery. Update 1.0.3.0 lowers the minimum bar for effective counter-battery, lowers barrage required to reach the lethality cap, and increases lethality of counter-battery generally; see the bullet points below for details.
- Minimum effective counter-battery lowered to 20 barrage points (for reference a single 12-gun US 155mm M1A1 Field Gun battalion comes in at 28 barrage.)
- Counter-battery reliably pins target artillery around 40 barrage points.
- Counter-battery reaches lethality cap at 80 (used to cap at 120).
[h2]Effect on gameplay:[/h2]
The counter-battery overhaul promises obvious improvements in artillery gameplay, but also for combined arms maneuver. Long-ranged heavy artillery such as the US 155mm M1A1, Soviet 122mm A-19, German 17cm K18, and British BL 5.5” guns can inflict serious damage on shorter-ranged guns. Through careful use of counter-battery you can pin and silence, or even destroy, enemy artillery supporting frontline strongpoints. If the enemy’s defense relies on a handful of powerful howitzer battalions, pound them with counter-battery the impulse before you attack to keep them silent while your ground forces move in. The same strategy works in reverse if the attacker relies on a small number of artillery units to ensure combined arms. Skillful employment of counter-battery makes the rest of the army’s job much easier.
Beyond Gazala:
As previously mentioned, Update 1.0.3.0 Gazala is planned for release on Sunday, July 10. After Gazala, the Operation Crusader scenario will follow in its own intermediate update, combined with user interface improvements, notably an improved turn Situation Report that breaks losses down by type, per side. Once Gazala is released, we should be able to set our final release date for OP Husky Stage 2. For now, we’ll get back to work on testing Gazala, and we’ll be back with a developer let’s play next week!