7th Armoured

7th Armoured is an Allied Armored division in Back in Hell. The 7th Armoured Division, the « Desert rats » of North Africa fame, was General Montgomery's XIII Legion. One of the most experienced division in the British order of battle, it was singled-out among armored divisions to be almost entirely equipped with fast Cromwell tanks in order to perform lightning strikes like in the glorious desert days. But the cramped Normandy bocage wasn't the open fields the desert veterans were used to…

A veteran from the last year of WW1, Erskine served in India & Middle East in the Interwar. From 1941, he fought as an infantry bataillon commander in North Africa, distinguishing himself and rising through the ranks. Appointed as commander of the 7th Armoured Division by general Montgomery in January 1943, he led it through the Tunisia & early Italy campaigns before the division was recalled to England. General Montgomery, now at the head of the planned invasion forces for Normandy, had especially requested his Old Guard & Erskine to join him in this new endeavour. But for many of Desert rats, the return home after sometimes five years overseas brought war weariness, and the 7th lost some of its edge. Unfamiliar with the cramped Normandy bocage, the desert veterans received a beating at Villiers-Bocage, and later didn't demonstrate the drive Montgomery was expecting from them. About one month after Villiers-Bocage, Erskine and about a hundred of the 7th Armoured Division's officers were removed from the division and reassigned. Later that year, he held a territorial command in Belgium, then ended up the war at the head of a division again, the 43rd (Wessex) Infantry.

Tactics

 * The Quick

What 7th Armoured's Cromwells lack in resilience over other divisions' Shermans, they're making up with mobility : the Desert Rats are made to strike fast and always keep moving. More than anybody, they better deal the blow than receive it. If they are not entirely familiarized with the Cromwell, the same isn't true for older equipment used in the desert, with which they truly shine. Their lack of long range weapons in the early game will force you into pushes with, but this is not a problem as even their scouts and commanders come in turret less Stuart Tanks and they get a lot of cheap armor with Staghounds and Stuarts.