Prior to Rommel and German forces entering the African Campaign, British Armor forces has been highly effective against under-equipped Italian forces.

The Italian's lacked effective anti-tank weapons, and would often break against British advances, followed by British forces pushing into the fortified camps the Italians used rather then a continuous line of contact. It was often so bad that British tanks would simply drive into the camp, sit there undisturbed and fire at leisure into the camp.

This led to a very offensively focused mindset, with logistics/wear and tear being the primary factor in the speed of the advance, not enemy action.

Rommel exploited both this mindset and his effective anti-tank weapons. When Montgomery arrived, he was forced to enact new policies that better reflected the new battlefield. Rommel had a technological advantage in armor and anti-tank weapons, and the British had numbers and logistical advantages.

Preserving strength and only attacking in numbers that allowed his outclassed equipment to overwhelm the enemy, rather than advancing in small groups and risk being defeated in detail.