Grande armee

Thursday night game 

1807 French vs Russian

Battle of Keren 1941

Not sure if that's a heliograph or a theodolite but it is in the mountains at Keren.

Italian East Africa – Operational Game Rules

Logistics

Both CinCs are allocated a set number of logistics at the beginning of the game.  These travel across the table as soft vehicles but are instantly destroyed if close assaulted or fired upon.  They are spotted as vehicles.  They are a prime target for aircraft but a level three priority for any other unit attacking or firing.  They enable units to be in supply when otherwise they would not, they enable +1 firing for pre-planned bombardment and they enable engineering tasks.

Once used or destroyed they are returned to the CinC and put back in reserve.

Pre-planned Bombardment

Every half hour CinCs may submit artillery bombardment plans for the upcoming hour – bombardments may be planned for any specific time after the next upcoming hour.

Extra supplies may be consumed by a regiment to gain a +1 on AI or AT for sustained bombardment – but only for pre-planned bombardment.

Engineers

Engineers are all lorried and have a DEF of 2.  They can only go where vehicles can travel.  Engineering tasks are as normal but require one supply for each engineering task.

Mortars and mountain guns.

Any mortar or designated mountain infantry gun can fire in the direct phase as moving infantry if they have only moved half their distance and they are spotting the target for themselves.

Mountain movement

1.             Supporting units cannot fire through friends on mountains.

2.             Units on mountains are always in -1 cover.

3.             All units firing from one mountain at a target on another mountain suffer a -1 penalty (apparently it was notoriously difficult to judge the range)

4.             Mountain trained troops get a +1 in close combat.

5.             Only support units of 76mm and below in calibre can be manhandled up mountains and move at 1/3 normal movement.

6.             Infantry units move at a max 1/2 normal movement when on a mountain (see later for ascending/descending) and cannot fire when moving.

7.             Mountain trained infantry move at a max 1/2 normal movement when on a mountain but can fire in the moving infantry phase.

8.             Only howitzers and mortars can fire onto or over mountains.  Calibers of 105mm or less can fire up to two levels.  106mm to 149mm can fire up to 3 levels.  150mm and above up to 4 levels. This is in addition to and not instead of their usual range from other tables.

9.             Units firing from a higher level get a +1 for direct fire.

Aircraft rules

·               Aircraft attacks commence as usual every hour, or half hour by the player holding the airfield table.

·               The CinC will write a flight plan indicating the route to and from the target.

·               All ground attacks will be from the direction of the table edge the aircraft enters from and parallel with the left and right side of the table edges.

·               Any table crossed that has AA of 37mm or greater calibre can attack the passing aircraft.

·               Any calibre of AA on the table that is within range of the final air attack can fire.

·               Bombers attack up to six consecutive units of any type in a 12" x 2" beaten zone and fighter bombers/light attack aircraft attack up to 3 units (but only the first can be armoured) in a 6" x 1" beaten zone.

·               The CinC must also give a mission to each aircraft; Bomb, Escort, CAP or Recon.

·               Aircraft that encounter enemy CAP or Escort fighters will conduct arial combat - fighters cancel out other fighters or fighter bombers, 2x fighters will shoot down one fighter or fighter bomber, one fighter will shoot down bombers and spotter aircraft.

Instead of players automatically selecting the best targets aircraft should have a priority list of targets based on what they can see;

1.             Vehicles moving in the open *

2.             Infantry moving in the open *

3.             Artillery firing in the open

4.             Vehicles stationary in the open
(*Units attacked by aircraft whilst moving in the open revert to hold orders)

Target priority is in the order above and then nearest unit. If there are no other targets then the aircraft return to base without attacking anything - unless there is a Forward Aircraft Controller and then it can guide the attack onto any enemy it can spot, just like an Artillery FOO.  Again, the attack will still be in the direction of entry from the table edge and parallel with the other table edges.

In addition;

·               Each side can attack the other sides off table airfields.  As this is simultaneous it doesn't matter if the defending aircraft is present or on a mission as this represents its base facilities and logistics.  Off table attacks can be against single or multiple targets but each target gets a 40mm AA defence.

·               Bombing missions can be pre-planned against an identifiable feature. The CinC must submit a flight-plan a half hour before the mission.

Reinforcements and replacements.

The British CinC may call a halt to the game at any time and roll for replacements for units that are not in direct fire and that have suffered casualties but have not routed. Any unit that is within direct fire of the Italians can freely be moved back out of range in order to recover casualties.

A D6 is rolled and on a 1,2 there is one replacement, on a 3,4 there are two and on a 5,6 there are three.

However, if the British CinC calls for a replacement phase the Italians may reorganise units but not HQs and they can get an extra unit from their strategic reserve list. 

If the Italians require more troops they can call for a unit from their strategic reserve list but this loses them an objective point in the overall game as they are forced to pull troops from other fronts.

Table Layout

For Keren it's a half table layout;

Table 1C

Table 1D

Table 1D

Table 1C

Table 3A

Table 3B

Tips

The Italians must ensure their defences are mutually supporting to get the most from the terrain.  The mountain guns give some flexibility to the defence but limited reinforcements means that their deployment must provide a decisive counter stroke to any British attacks.

For the British it's steady as they go.  A bold drive might secure key objectives whilst unbalancing an unsteady Italian defence but it will be risky with the risk of high casualties.  Like a 1918 attack, limited objectives taken in strength with strong well prepared artillery support should minimise casualties and secure the points attacked.  But time may well run out if they are not pushed quickly.

Engineer support will be crucial to both sides and air attacks may just tip the balance on any of the tables.

Orders of battle

For this game the base unit is a regiment/brigade to enable players to have all the supports without being overwhelmed in the mountains with too many individual units.  Ideally there should be a CinC player for each side and two British players and one further Italian player.

British; The Kaid's Expeditionary Force in Sudan and Eritrea.

CinC Assets

1x Med Art Regt; 1x HQ, 2x 60pdrs.
3x Matildas
2x Bofors
7x Engineers
1x Bomber
3x Fighters
1x Air Recon
1x Transport
1x Battalion of commandoes (x3 bases)
1x Infantry Regiment; 1x HQ, 12x Inf, 1x mortar, 1x MG
1x 2pdr Portee
24x Trucks

4th Indian Division; 1x HQ, 1x Engineer, 1x 2pdr Portee

3x Infantry Regiment; 1x HQ, 12x Inf, 1x mortar, 1x MG
2x Field Art Regts; 1x HQ, 3x 25pdrs

5th Indian Division; 1x HQ, 1x Engineer, 1x 2pdr Portee

3x Infantry Regiment; 1x HQ, 12x Inf, 1x mortar, 1x MG
2x Field Art Regts; 1x HQ, 3x 25pdrs

(All units are regular, except the commandoes are veteran)

Italian Garrison of Keren

3x Colonial Infantry Regts; 1x HQ, 9x Inf, 2x MG, 1x Mortar (Green) - entrenched.

The following to be attached or committed from the reserve during the game;
3x 65mm mountain guns (Reg)
1x 75mm mountain gun (Reg)
1x 100mm Howitzer (Reg)
2x 75mm Field Guns (Reg)
3x L3/33 tankettes.
4x Engineers.
12x Trucks

And then a further unit from the following list; any further units that are committed will be due to the British calling a halt or will cause the Italians to lose an objective point (as per rules above).

1x Savoy Grenadiers; 1x HQ, 9x Inf (Vet)

1x Bersaglieri; 1x HQ, 1x SMG M/C (recon), 4x Rifles M/C, 2x MG M/C, 1x 47mm A/T (truck), 1x Mortar (truck) (Reg)

1x Blackshirt Brigade; 1x HQ, 9x Inf, 1x MG, 1x Mortar (Random Morale; 1-4 Gr, 5 Reg, 6 Vet)

1x Colonial Div; 1x Div HQ, 1x Mortar, and then 2x Brigades each of 1x HQ, 6x Inf (Green)