0619_01s: The Tobruk Stakes and the Race for Alamein - PzC 11 El Alamein '42

Near Tobruk, June 19th 1942: After winning "The Gazala Gallop" Rommel was faced with a situation very much like the one he was in at this time in the previous year. The 8th Army was in retreat to the Egyptian frontier leaving a sizable force garrisoning Tobruk. Rommel knew he could not sustain a deep drive toward Cairo and the Nile without first securing his lines of communication. This meant capturing Tobruk, a prize that eluded him in 1941, and using the port as a basis for supplying a drive to the east. So with 8th Army in retreat and his weary panzers hot on their heels, Rommel disengaged his army, turned and attacked Tobruk in a run one author called the "Tobruk Stakes". The fortress fell in a single day's fight in what was a staggering blow to British prestige. With his rear secured, Rommel was free to concentrate his army on the ultimate objective of the campaign - Alexandria, Cairo, and the Nile. But his army was badly depleted from the previous month's fighting. Many of the panzers were broken down or disabled across the wide expanse of the desert battlefield. His men had already gone about as far as any commander could have expected. Yet Rommel still had another race to run - the Race to Alamein and beyond! [Size, large]. *Designer Note: Explicit Supply is possible and if used the Axis player will get more supplies if he captures Tobruk. Selecting the option to invade Malta will result in an additional bonus supply convoy landed in Tobruk, but the Axis player requires Tobruk captured to receive it. Using VST Supply there is a Supply bonus for the Axis for capturing Tobruk.