Near Bulo Erillo, Italian Somalia
1941-02-13 (0 others)
Designer: Philippe Naud and Jean Devaux
Starter kit scenario?: Deluxe scenario?:
Balance:
BritishItalian
Overview:
The Royal West African Frontier Force had two brigades, making up the core of two meager divisions. On February 12th, they invaded Italian-held Somalia. The first obstacle was Bulo Erillo, an outpost on the Juba River. In addition to its garrison, it was defended by some armored cars and irregular troops. The 2nd Gold Coast Regiment was to cut the road between Buro Erillo and the harbor at Kismayo, while also screening to the east.
Attacker: British (Elements of the 1st Gold Coast Regiment)
Defender: Italian (Elements of VIII Gruppo Dubat and Vehicles of the Sezione Autoblinda Fiat)
4.5 turns
Players: 2 OBA: None Night: No
Unit Counts:
Squads: A:12.0 D:6.0
AFVs: A:0
AFVs: D:2
Fiat 611A Fiat 611B
Guns: A:0
Boys ATR
D:0
Misc Rules:
Steppe Terrain. Overlays represent Brush and are alternately placed by players
Close, but the second half of British breakthrough squads came two hexes short - possibly due to an analysable play error, though hard to say after the fact. The proximate cause was the need to take out the second Fiat (the first having gone down to ATR fire), and 3 squads in CC and the ATR took multiple half-turns to get there. Nearly every other attempt to run for it led to pretty crazy Italian dice (natural 2s and 3s). It's a 4.5 turn, 18 total squad scenario - it's going to be very dicey. It's a nice puzzle, and some fun twists in the "bold Italians, unconvinced Ghanaians" dynamic, but it's limited.
2022-04-02
(D) Tom Rodwell
vs
Lee Hyde-Sellars
Italian win
A very close scenario. Lee's Ghanians created a strong schwerepunkt in the south east corner of the map and easily brushed aside the first line of Italian colonial forces. This included breaking the Italian unit with the vital LMG, which was never to rally. Judicious skulking and a realignment of the defence did however just keep the Italian defence viable. The armoured cars made little impact beyond breaking one squad only for one to malf its CMG and the other to be knocked out by a Bren (happily the ATR kept missing its to hits). The Italians, while causing the British little or nothing in the way of serious casualties did just enough to ensure that by the end of the British turn 4 it was apparent that the Ghanians could only exit a maximum of 11 EVP irrespective of what the Italians might achieve. A fun little scenario which played quickly.
2022-01-27
(D) O Ramaille
vs
Alban Bureau
Italian win
The first wave of British Ghanaians advanced quickly in the brushes but suffered deadly accurate shots from seasoned irregular Italian troops that killed their leader. The second wave pushed the Italians back without breaking their defense. The Fiat 611 armored cars came in reinforcement of the Italian troops, but did not have great effect as both jammed their MA. Nevertheless, the Ghanaians rushed to the exit and despite average defensive fire, they did not have enough EVP to win. A very quick game, a bit dicey with a British player that cannot waste time at all.
2021-06-27
(A) Andy Bagley
vs
Derek Cox
British win
People will have mixed views on this, and being a small scenario can make it quite dicey. But I thought it was a really fun little scenario, and every game will be different due toe the unusual player-led overlay placement SSR. Here, the Italians set up most of their forces around the woods on the east side, with just a couple of squads guarding the open area to the west. I concentrated my attack almost entirely on that side, and a couple of lucky breaks (literally!) removed that opposition, allowing my men to charge forward.The Italian armoured cars did their best to stem the tide, but it wasn't enough and I managed to reach the required EVP target by the end of my 4th turn.
2020-10-17
(D) Kermit Mullins
vs
Dan Best
Italian win
Tight little game. Came down to the last movement phase. British got off 11 and the Italians came away with an unlikely victory.
