Rommel's Dash Across Cyrenaica

In April 1941 Rommel made his presence felt in a tempestuous charge across the Cyrenaica bulge. This charge made Rommel's name and succeeded for a number of reasons:

1. The British forces had been reduced to a weak rump, essentially consisting of the under-strength 2nd Armoured Division and the 3rd Indian Brigade.

2. Allied intelligence of Rommel's intentions was not available - in fact his own commanders didn't know what he was up to until it was too late.

3. Rommel was able to form the Axis and Italian units into effective teams, giving local superiority until they eventually brushed upon the Australians who had successfully retreated into a strong position at Tobruk.

In Assault Gun terms, the 2nd armoured division is as follows:

Unit	Type	Equipment	Ability	Movement	Init	Recce	AT	Arm.	HE	Strength
3 Hussars	Tank	Mk VII		Fast Tank	3	1	0	1	0	3
5 Bn RTR	Tank	Cruiser		Fast Tank	5	0	1	1	0	3
6 Bn RTR	Tank	M13/40		Slow Tank	5	0	1	1	0	3
1st KDG	A/Car	M-Herrington		A/Car	3	2	0	0	0	3
Tower Hamlets	Infantry			Truck	1	0	0	0	0	1
1 RHA	Guns	25 pdr	Range 12km	Truck	0/11	0	2	0	2	2
104 RHA	Guns	25 pdr	Range 12km	Truck	0/11	0	2	0	2	2

Essentially, the tank regiments are weak, with about 45 tanks each - there is a case for this to be even lower. The Tower Hamlets are a battalion, and the artillery is 24 guns in each unit.

The 3rd Indian Mechanised Brigade consists of 3 independent battalions:

Unit	Type	Equipment	Ability	Movement	Init	Recce	AT	Arm.	HE	Strength
2nd Lancers	Infantry			Truck	1	1	0	0	0	2
Albert Victor's Cav.	Infantry			Truck	1	1	0	0	0	2
18 King Ed's Cav.	Infantry			Truck	1	1	0	0	0	2

Not great, and the Corps Troops aren't up to much either:

Unit	Type	Equipment	Ability	Movement	Init	Recce	AT	Arm.	HE	Strength
French	Infantry			Truck	1	0	0	0	0	1
LRDG	Infantry	MG		A/Car	3	3	1	0	2	2
Nthm Fus.	Infantry	MG	Support	Truck	2	0	0	0	0	1
Reg	Guns	18 pdr	Range	Truck	0/11	0	2	0	1	2

Although the 9th Australian Division is quite good:

Unit	Type	Equipment	Ability	Movement	Init	Recce	AT	Arm.	HE	Strength
20th Bde	Infantry			Truck	1	0	1	0	1	4
24th Bde	Infantry			Leg	1	0	1	0	1	4
26th Bde	Infantry			Leg	1	0	1	0	1	3
Field Reg	Guns	25 Pdr	Range 12km	Truck	0/11	0	2	0	2	2
	Sp Gun	2pdr Portee	AT	Truck	0/10	0	1	0	0	2

The Commonwealth receive some reinforcements during the battle:

Unit	Type	Equipment	Ability	Movement	Init	Recce	AT	Arm.	HE	Strength
11 Hussars	A/Car	M-Herrington		A/Car	3	3	0	0	0	5
1bn KRRC	Infantry			Truck	1	0	0	0	0	1

Axis Forces consist of 3 divisions: One German and Two Italian.

Ariete is the first Italian Armoured Division in North Africa, and is still low on equipment:

Unit	Type	Equipment	Ability	Movement	Init	Recce	AT	Arm.	HE	Strength
	Tank	M13/41		Slow Tank	5	1	1	1	0	3
	Tank	L3		Med Tank	3	1	0	0	0	2
8th Reg	Infantry	Bersaglieri		Truck	1	0	1	0	1	3
Bers. Bn	Infantry	Motorbikes		A/Car	2	2	0	0	0	1
	Guns	88/90mm	AT	Truck	0/10	0	3	0	1	2
	Guns	75mm	Range 8km	Truck	0/11	0	2	0	1	2

The 8th Regiment is two Bersaglieri battalions.

The only infantry division is the Italian 27th Brescia, a typical binary division:

Unit	Type	Equipment	Ability	Movement	Init	Recce	AT	Arm.	HE	Strength
19th Reg	Infantry	Italian		Leg	1	0	0	0	0	2
20th Reg	Infantry	Italian		Leg	1	0	0	0	0	2
	Guns	75mm(88)	Range 8km	Leg	0/11	0	2	0	1	3

German presence, at this stage, is limited to the 5th light Division - a powerful, all-round unit:

Unit	Type	Equipment	Ability	Movement	Init	Recce	AT	Arm.	HE	Strength
Bn	Tank	Pz IV F2	Support	Med. Tank	5	2	2	1	1	5
Bn	Tank	Pz III H	Support	Med. Tank	5	2	1	1	0	5
Reg	Infantry	MG		Truck	2	1	1	0	1	5
Bn	A/Car	Sdkfz 222		A/Car	4	3	1	0	0	4
Reg	Guns	105mm	Range 10km	Truck	0/11	0	3	0	2	2
Bn	Guns	88mm	AT	Truck	0/10	0	3	0	1	2
Bn	Guns	50mm	AT	Truck	0/10	0	2	0	0	2

Corps troops are also quite useful:

Unit	Type	Equipment	Ability	Movement	Init	Recce	AT	Arm.	HE	Strength
Italian	A/Car	Autoblinda		A/Car	3	3	0	0	0	3
German	SP Gun	PzJg I	AT	Med Tank	5	1	1	0	2	2
German	Guns	88mm	AT	Truck	0/10	0	3	0	2	2