Forgotten Legions Play Booklet

© 2018 Compass Games, LLC.

DRIVE ON DAMASCUS

BLOODY KEREN

17.0 HISTORICAL SETTING............................22

24.0 HISTORICAL SETTING........................... 29

18.0 SPECIAL MOVEMENT RESTRICTIONS. . ... 22

25.0 SPECIAL TERRAIN MOVEMENT. . ............ 29

19.0 COMBAT EFFECTS OF TERRAIN............. 23

26.0 SPECIAL GROUPS.................................. 29

20.0 SPECIAL GROUPS.................................. 23

27.0 IRREGULARS.. ....................................... 30

21.0 GERMAN INTERVENTION OPTION. . ........ 24

28.0 OPTIONAL RULES.................................. 30

22.0 SCENARIOS........................................... 24

29.0 SCENARIOS........................................... 31

23.0 DESIGNER’S SECTION. . .......................... 25

30.0 DESIGNER’S SECTION. . .......................... 31

DRIVE ON DAMASCUS [17.2] NATIONALITY BACKGROUND COLORS Nationality

Color

“Les Anglais sont foux.” (“The English are mad.”)

Allied

Khaki

Vichy French

Light Blue

– (Free French) Foreign Legionnaires remarking about a British-led attack, 15 June at Kissoue.

German

Gray

When Free French leader Gen. de Gaulle visited the Middle East in April, he forced a political crisis by demanding the occupation of Syria.

As a result, London ordered an offensive to place all of Syria and Lebanon under Free French control. Sadly, such posturing caused Allied command staffs to hold unrealistic views of what the ensuing occupation would look like.

Certain authorities believed the Vichy French in Syria would offer only token resistance and their defense would collapse quickly.

Instead, the Vichy-led troops fought ferociously from the start.

From 8 June 1941, Allied forces attacked Vichy French-held Syria and Lebanon on a broad front.

While a coastal group pushed towards Beirut (in Lebanon), larger inland columns converged on Damascus (in Syria). It is from the start of the campaign that game-play begins.

[17.1] GAME SCALE

Each hex on the Syria maps represents 3.0 miles (about 4.8 km) of terrain from flat side to side.

Each turn represents 1 to 2 days of real time.

[17.3] PLAYING THE GAME

[17.3.1] In addition to Standard Rules section, use this rules section, rules 17.0 through 23.0.

Note: Naval Transport is available to Allies at-start and to Axis starting GT13.

Air Transport is available to Axis only starting GT13.

[17.3.2] Set Up Codes • Axis French units. All are marked on the front of the counter with their At Start hex number or GT arrival turn.

• German units. These are all marked on the back of the counter with their GT arrival turn.

• Allied units. All are marked on the back of the counter with their At Start hex number or GT arrival turn.

• Optional Rule. While many Allied units can set up in any hex desired in the Palestine area, their historical placement hex is also provided as a matter of interest. Generally, this option speeds At Start placement.

Note: Please watch that for the Allies you generally use the code on the front of the counter for the Bloody Keren game, and the back of the counter for the Drive on Damascus game. A set up code is not marked on those units that use icons (picture representations) due to space limitations.

[18.1] SPECIAL TERRAIN

[18.1.1] Lava-flow hexsides cannot be crossed, but some are crossed by trails. Only a non-motorized unit can cross these hexsides.

It spends 1 MP for the hex on the opposite side (disregard the trail effect on MP cost).

Strategic movement (9.1) is allowed (because it is still trail).

Design Note: The term “Lejat” (or “Leja”) is a regional word that refers to the large areas of dried basaltic lava you see on the map.

This resulted from lava flows in the area that started about 12,800 years ago. The Lejat is considered as part of the Es Safa lava region of separate lava flows from now-extinct volcanoes in and around the Jabel ad Druze area. The lava flow areas nearer to Damascus came from older extinct volcanoes in the Mt. Hermon (also called “Jebel esh Sheikh”) area. The resultant sharp rocks and boulders caused whole regions to become truly impassible to vehicular traffic and often even foot traffic.

[18.1.2] Steep Roads. One road hex (2906) is flagged with a box showing “+1MP.” Units moving along the road into this hex spend the indicated MP cost (1 MP) in addition to the TEC indicated cost. Units not moving on the road do not pay this additional MP cost.

Design Note: This road winds up an extremely steep mountain side by using many switchbacks with few places to pull off the road.

© 2018 Compass Games, LLC.

[18.1.3] Palestine. An Axis unit cannot enter this map area; however, Axis ZOCs do extend across the border. Allied units are free to use these hexes. Units of both sides can enter Transjordan hexes.

Design Note: The Palestine border area was originally covered by the Tegart Line (also called “Tegart’s Wall”). This was ordered built by Sir Charles Tegart, an advisor to the Palestine Government. Quickly erected during May and June of 1938, it consisted of a barbed-wire fence backed by the occasional pillbox. It was regularly patrolled. Built along the (approximate) northern border of Palestine, authorities intended it to keep Arab militants from infiltrating from Syria and Lebanon to join the Arab Revolt, then in progress. Although modeled on a similar project in India, it achieved only limited success in Palestine, being cheaply built and easily evaded. Accordingly, the British dismantled the fence portion by mid-1939.

The pillboxes and check-points, however, remained. Regardless of the Tegart Line, Vichy French ground forces would never receive authorization to cross the Palestine border.

[18.1.4] Holding Boxes • The Palestine, Transjordan, and Palmyra holding boxes are always friendly to Allied units.

• The Athens and Homs holding boxes are always friendly to Axis units.

[18.1.5] Damascus (hex 3517). The river that runs through this hex (not on its hexsides) has no effect on game play. Ignore it.

[18.2] AIR TRANSPORT

[18.2.1] A maximum of one eligible Axis French unit can conduct air transport each turn.

[18.2.2] A maximum of one eligible German unit can conduct air transport each turn. This is in addition to the Axis French capacity.

German capacity is available only if German Intervention (21.0) is in effect.

[18.2.3] French capacity cannot carry German units, and German capacity cannot carry French units.

[20.1.1] Entry

[19.1] THE “GHOUTA” “Be very careful: never go into the gardens of Damascus. In 1925 lots of men had their balls cut off there.”

– Free French Foreign Legion commander Captain deBollardiere, quoted in deWailly, page 235 [19.1.1] Combat Effects. When the defender’s hex includes Ghouta: •

Apply a +1 DRM to the combat die roll result, cumulative with other effects, when the defending units include Axis French combat units.

•

Do not apply the Armor Bonus DRM (11.4)

[19.1.2] Units of either side or any nationality retreating through a hex containing Ghouta can ignore enemy ZOC in that hex (but cannot retreat across an enemy-occupied hex).

Design Note: The Ghouta (also: “al-Ghuta” or “Gardens of Damascus”) consists of an agricultural belt around Damascus.

Starting in ancient times, the inhabitants of the area dug an intricate irrigation system to take advantage of a continuous natural water flow from the Barada River. It has supported a large and concentrated population for thousands of years. Under trees and between walls the area was also well suited to ambushes. In the 1920s it often provided refuge for rebels against French colonial rule.

[19.2] LAVA FLOW AREAS

[19.2.1] Units can attack across a lava flow hexside only where crossed by trail. Halve the attack strength of all units that attack across a lava flow hexside.

[19.2.2] Artillery support strength is not halved when supporting units attacking across a lava flow hexside.

[18.2.4] Air Transport is only available to the Axis player (7.1) starting Game Turn 13.

[20.1] ALLIED HABFORCE GROUP

© 2018 Compass Games, LLC.

[20.1.1.1] Entry Turn Choice. During his Reinforcement Phase of GT12, the Allied player announces to the Axis player where Habforce units will enter play, either: • Transjordan Holding Box, or • Palmyra Holding Box

[20.1.1.2] The Allied player cannot change the arrival area. The units cannot be split between the choices.

[20.1.1.3] If the Allied player chooses to have Habforce enter at the Transjordan Holding Box, place these units there automatically on GT13.

[20.1.1.4] If the Allied player chooses the Palmyra Holding Box, the Allied player uses the Habforce Delay Table (printed on the Drive on Damascus game map) individually for each unit on GT13 to determine how many turns ahead each is allowed to be placed in the Palmyra Holding Box. Roll the die once for each unit and apply any DRMs for a final result.

[20.1.1.5] The Habforce Group does not arrive at all if the Axis player chooses German Intervention (21.0).

[20.1.2] On GT13 the Axis player can place his air unit (plus the German air unit, if it is in play) to affect the Habforce Delay Table. It is subject to the Air/Naval Arrival Table. If it arrives, apply its +1 DRM to each Allied unit using the Habforce Delay Table.

[20.1.3] The easiest method of keeping track of the arrival turn is to place the Habforce units on the Turn Record Track on the turn determined by the Habforce Delay Table. Remove them from the TRT and place them in their indicated holding box during the Reinforcement Phase of that turn. They can move from there, as desired, during the subsequent friendly Movement Phase.

Example: In Scenario 2 on GT13 the die roll for the first unit is a “4.” The Habforce Delay Table result indicates a three-turn delay for the unit, therefore it cannot enter play until starting GT16.

Design Note: The “Habforce” Group (primarily the British 4th Cavalry Brigade) was originally based in Palestine, but as part of a larger group it was sent to Iraq in May 1941 to rescue British forces at Habbaniya airfield and the embassy in Baghdad.

Upon completion of that mission it was ordered in mid-June to conduct operations in Syria. On 21 June Habforce crossed the north Iraq border into the Syrian Desert and headed for Palmyra. There, it met a reinforced company of the Vichy French Foreign Legion that held out for nearly two weeks in an epic defense. The defense was heavily supported

by Vichy aircraft which mainly concentrated on destroying British trucks (which is why each Allied unit resolves entry separately).

[20.2] AXIS IRREGULARS [20.2.1] Axis Placement At Start. The Axis player will draw his nine irregular units at random using the opaque cup (5.4.3). He places them into play Untried without either side knowing which unit it is. Place them one each on the indicated spaces on the Axis Set Up Card.

Design Note: Allied senior commanders preferred formal battles as the best way to destroy large enemy formations and saw the commandos as an expensive weapon having only limited surprise value.

[20.2.2] Axis Druze Irregulars

Drive on Damascus has two scenarios. In both scenarios the Axis player sets up his units first, followed by the Allied player. (for DoD Scenario 2 only)

[20.2.2.1] The six Axis irregular units marked as “Druze” are drawn separately from the other Axis irregular units. Place them only on those hexes listed on the Axis Set Up Card.

[20.2.2.2] All are garrison units. Release them according to rule 22.1.3 (include them as part of the overall group of garrison units).

[20.3] ALLIED DRUZE GROUP

[20.3.1] The first unit of the Druze Group can enter beginning the turn after the Allied player makes Soueida (hex 1927) friendly for the first time and holds it at the end of the turn.

However, it can enter no earlier than GT13.

The second unit can enter play no earlier than two turns after the first unit becomes eligible to enter play. Conceivably, the Allied player could choose to delay the first unit to be able to place both on the same turn. Place them at Soueida (if still friendly) or in the Transjordan Holding Box. [20.3.2] If Soueida is never made friendly, both units of the Group arrive together on GT20 in the Transjordan Holding Box.

[20.4] COMMANDO RAID “There’s Jock. He’s out of it.”

- Overheard in the aftermath of the landing, 10 June 1941.

[20.4.1] Allied Commando Raids are limited to GTs 1 through 5. After this, the Commando unit can still participate in play (moving and participating in combat) but cannot make a Commando Raid.

[21.1.7] An airfield friendly to the Axis can be a Supply Source to Axis German units that are either stacked on it or adjacent to it. An airfield cannot be destroyed (at least not in terms of this game).

“Our view is that if the Germans can pick up Syria and Iraq with petty air forces, tourists, and local revolts, we must not shrink from running small-scale military risks…”

– Churchill to A.P. Wavell, 21 May [21.1.1] During GTs 8 through 10 the Axis player has the option to accept German Intervention. It can be chosen only during those three turns and only if both Beirut and Damascus are friendly to the Axis.

[22.1] SCENARIO 1: DRIVE ON DAMASCUS “All we’ve got to do tomorrow is walk in, wave our hats to the Frogs, and walk on.”

– by “one soldier,” quoted in Long, p.345.

[22.1.1] Use the following: • Syria map (two map sheets) • Allied Set Up Card 1 • Axis Set Up Card 1

[21.1.2] If the German Intervention Option is chosen, extend the play period of the game by five turns to the end of GT26.

[22.1.2] There are eleven turns: GTs 1 through 11. Naval transport is available to Allies at start.

No Axis Naval or Air Transport is available during this scenario.

[21.1.3] The players receive the designated units shown on their set up cards. They are available starting the turns shown there. The Allied Habforce Group (20.1), however, is not received.

Design Note: Historically, Damascus was captured by the Allies on 21 June, or GT10.

Note: Two German Intervention units are actually French units. They are received only when choosing this option and only at their designated locations.

[22.1.3] Special Restrictions

[21.1.4] German units

[22.1.3.2] Axis Regular Garrison Release

[21.1.4.1] German combat units cannot attack with any Axis French units but can receive Support Fire from Axis French artillery (exception: the two “zbV” units).

Design Note: Historically, the “zbV” units would later come under an umbrella organization of a specialist group formed in May under Gen. Felmy to support operations in Iraq. Felmy was later criticized for remaining in Syria while the Iraq situation fell apart.

[21.1.4.2] The Axis player applies a +1 DRM to the Air/Naval Arrival Table for the arrival of the German air unit for any air mission, cumulative with other effects.

[21.1.5] Remove Axis “Druze” units (six Untried units) from play (they become unreliable).

[21.1.6] Effects on Allied Units. Remove the Allied “DzL,” “TJFF,” and “AL” units (five units) from play during the Reinforcements Phase of the turn after the Axis player decides to accept German Intervention. (These native units too would become unreliable.)

[22.1.3.1] On GT1 neither side can conduct Strategic movement.

• Beginning GT1 the Axis player can release any one garrison (5.3) unit per turn during his Movement Phase.

• Release an additional one garrison unit if during the previous turn the Allied player has first-time control of a new Victory Location at the end of that turn (even if the Axis player regains control on a future turn). Release two garrisons if the Allied player takes two Victory Locations in that turn. There is only one such release per location during the game.

[22.1.3.3] Axis Untried Units. Please note that one of these enters as a reinforcement unit (GT15).

[22.1.3.4] The eleven Axis units designated as “French Reserve” comprise a combined single garrison. Release them together as a group on GT4. These are in addition to the regular (22.1.3.2) one-unit release for GT4.

Individual units in this group can be released prior to GT4 if an Allied unit ends a phase adjacent to it. Place French “Reserve” markers on these until released. © 2018 Compass Games, LLC.

Design Note: Vichy command in the coastal sector reacted slowly to Allied moves. In front of Damascus, local command had planned from before the war to dig in along the Awaj River. These were good defensive positions where they had previously trained. They did not want to risk an open fight to the south.

In both areas, the shock of the invasion wore off quickly.

[22.1.3.5] On GTs 1 and 2 the Axis player cannot choose the retreat option on a “D1 or DR” combat result.

“Resister sur place sans esprit de recul.” (“Resist in position without thought of withdrawal”) – Orders to all Vichy French immediately prior to the British invasion. Found in archival records and quoted by deWailly [22.1.3.6] The Allied player cannot conduct Naval Ground Interdiction mission (13.2.3) or Naval Fire Support mission (13.2.5) on or within two hexes of the following locations if not friendly: • Beirut (hex 3700)

• Tripoli (hex 5201) Design Note: Beirut and Tripoli in particular and much of the coast in between were well covered by batteries of coast artillery.

The British would not allow their major ships anywhere within range of these guns.

Commandos, however, could approach the coast underneath the arc of fire of many of these guns.

[22.1.4] Victory Conditions [22.1.4.1] The Allied player wins immediately by holding either Beirut (3700) or Damascus (3517) at the end of any turn.

[22.2] SCENARIO 2: SYRIAN CAMPAIGN “France is proud of her children who are heroically carrying out their duty as soldiers in that far off land (Syria).”

– Marshall Petain, 17 June [22.2.1] Use the following: • Syria map (two map sheets) • Allied Set Up Card 1 • Axis Set Up Card 1

[22.2.2] There are 21 turns: GTs 1 through 21.

Naval transport is available to Allies at start.

The Axis player may conduct Naval and Air Transport beginning GT13. The game could end instead on GT26 if the Axis player chooses the German Intervention Option (21.0). © 2018 Compass Games, LLC.

Design Note: Although Damascus fell in two weeks, Vichy command fought on and for about as long as they were capable, as they were ordered. A cease-fire was obtained at the end of the day on 11 July. Food and fuel would not have lasted more than a few more days. Had the Germans intervened, they would have brought more supplies with them, but it could not have been enough to sustain the overall Axis position for much longer.

A supply crisis would have ensued quickly.

[22.2.3] Special Restrictions

[22.2.4.2] If the Axis player chooses the German Intervention Option (21.0), the Allied player wins instead by holding Beirut (3700) and at least 4 other victory locations simultaneously at the end of any turn.

Design Note: Over the years of the Mandate, the French had located the bulk of their command and logistics structure at Beirut.

This had not changed by 1941, so when British forces approached, what little control still remained broke down as those personnel evacuated north along the coast.

[22.2.3.1] Apply all of rule 22.1.3.

[22.2.3.2] Units in the Greece Holding Box can enter the map only by using air transport (7.1) or naval transport (7.2).

[23.1] UNIT ABBREVIATIONS

[22.2.3.3] Allied Garrison Requirement The Allied player must place a combat unit (of any strength) on each of the following locations as they are captured: Beirut, Damascus, and Soueida.

• The location cannot be counted towards victory conditions unless a garrison is placed there.

• If a garrison is not placed there and the location is not in an Allied ZOC, the Axis player has the option to draw an Untried unit (as Untried) from the eliminated pile (if available) and place it there (representing civil unrest) during the next Reinforcements Phase. That Axis unit then becomes a “garrison” and can be released starting the next turn (per 22.1.3.2).

[22.2.4] Victory Conditions

ALLIED BRITISH A

Australian

AL

Arab Legion

A,B,C,D

BH Bor

BW Cam Cav

“Mademoiselle from Armentieres” – Played at the Vichy French surrender ceremony, 14 July 1941 [22.2.4.1] The Allied player wins at the end of any turn by either: • Holding simultaneously Damascus, or

Note: Found on some units is a (-) sign which means the unit has sent detachments elsewhere and is not full strength.

Beirut

and

• Holding simultaneously Beirut and at least 3 other Victory Locations.

Victory Locations: Beirut (hex 3700) Damascus (hex 3517) Madjaloun (hex 5011) Rayak (hex 4216) Sidon (hex 2801) Soueida (hex 1927) Tripoli (hex 5201)

Each Victory Location hex is outlined in red on its sides for ease of reference.

Cdo

ChY CIH Cz

DzL DLI Fd

Greys H

HCR KO Lei

Mah Md

MG

NSY Pun

Designations for company-sized units The Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment The Border Regiment

The Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) The Queens Own Cameron Highlanders Regiment Cavalry; now equipped as motorized recon

11th “Scottish” Commando Cheshire Yeomanry

Central India Horse (21st King George V’s Own Horse) Czech

Druze Legion

Durham Light Infantry Field artillery

Royal Scots Greys

Habforce; composite group built on 4th Cavalry Brigade Household Cavalry Regiment King’s Own Royal Regiment Leicestershire Regiment Mahratta Light Infantry Medium artillery Machine-gun

North Somerset Yeomanry Punjab Regiment

Q

Queens Royal Regiment

Raj

Rajputana Rifles

RAF RF

Roy RS

RTR

RWY Sikh SSY

TJFF War

Y+L

YorkD

Royal Air Force armored car unit Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment)

The Royals (Royal Dragoons) Royal Sussex Regiment

The Royal Tank Regiment

Transjordan Frontier Force (an Imperial Service force)

RSA

York and Lancaster

RST

Warwickshire Yeomanry

RSM

Queen’s Own Yorkshire Dragoons (Yeomanry)

RTA

Bataillon Legion Etranger (Foreign Legion)

FF

SM

Bataillon d’Infanterie de Marine

FJR zbV

Free French

Spahis Marocains Brandenburg unit of Regiment zbV800 Fallschirmjaeger Regiment (paratroops)

zur besonderen Verbendung (for special purposes); personnel were later organized under Sonderkommando Felmy

Col

Coloniale

CL

ELL

GALL

Regiment Artillerie Coloniale du Liban

Pal, Dharm. Indian Armed Forces in World War II, “Campaign in Western Asia”, Combined Inter-Services Historical Section (India & Pakistan), Calcutta: B. Prasad, 1957.

Regiment Chausseurs d’Afrique

Playfair, I.S.O. The Mediterranean and Middle East, Vol. II, London: HMSO, 1956 (on internet).

Regiment Etranger d’Infanterie (Foreign Legion) Regiment Mixte d’Infanterie Coloniale

Arab Brigade; a portion of this organization Bataillon de Marche d’Infanterie Coloniale du Levant Bataillon de Pionniers Malgaches

Chasseurs Libanais (a cheval)

Escadrons de Ligne du Levant Groupe d’artillerie Legion du Levant

Shores, Christopher. Dust Clouds in the Middle East, London: Grubb Street, 1996.

Regiment Mixte Spahis, a composite unit

Spears, Maj.Gen. Sir Edward. Fulfillment of a Mission: Syria and Lebanon 1941-44, London/ Hamden, CT, 1977.

Regiment Spahis Marocains

Stevens, Lt. Col. G.R. Fourth Indian Division, Toronto: McLaren and Son Ltd, 1948.

Regiment Tirailleurs Algeriens

[23.3] DESIGNER’S NOTES

Regiment Spahis Algeriens

Regiment Spahis Tunisiens

Regiment Tirailleurs Senegalais Regiment Tirailleurs Tunisiens

Note: Certain Vichy French units are named for their commanders:

[23.2] SYRIAN CAMPAIGN SUGGESTED READING

Aleppo, a composite unit

BPM

Phalange Francaise, the French fascist organization

Circassian cavalry unit named for commander

Coloniale

Alep

BMICL

RTT

Mockler, Anthony. Our Enemies the French, Syria 1941, London: Leo Cooper Ltd., 1976.

Bataillon de Marche

AXIS VICHY FRENCH Arab

RTS

Groupe d’artillerie Speciale du Liban

Bellegarde, Bouvet, Certeaux, Chauvelais, Gastines, Grandpierre, Guerivere, Lehr, LeMarois, Martin, Maslatres, Montembault, Ricaud

AXIS GERMANS Bbrg

REI

RMS

BLE

Collet

RCA

South Staffordshire Yeomanry

Sikh Regiment

Bataillon Fusiliers Marins

Col

RACL

RMIC

BFM

BM

Phalange

Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry

ALLIED FREE FRENCH BIM

GASL

While there is a vast body of literature on the subject of the North African campaign, detailed information concerning the Syrian campaign is scattered and best found in unit histories or in primary records in the archives. And yet a great many sources are available. The books listed here either cover the campaign or cover aspects of the campaign topic. Most only include sections that provide an overview. Much more is available in the French language. Internet searches proved productive. Considerable additional material can be found there.

Take care though. You will need some proficiency in the French language since the Google translator has the potential to greatly mislead.

De Wailly, Henri, (William Land translator).

Invasion Syria, Churchill and De Gaulle’s Forgotten War, London: I.B. Taurus, 2016.

Gaujac, Paul. L’Armee de la Victoire, Le Rearmement 1942-43, Paris: Lavauzelle, 1984.

Gaunson, A.B. The Anglo-French Clash in Lebanon and Syria, 1940-45, London: The MacMillan Press Ltd, 1987.

Greene, Jack and Massignani, Alessandro.

The Naval War in the Mediterranean, 19401943, New York: Sarpedon, 1999.

Long, Gavin. Greece, Crete and Syria, Australia in the War of 1939-45, Vol.2, Canberra: Australian War Memorial, 1953 (on internet).

By Vance von Borries

The original game map was built from what you will find in the official histories. It was then modified by present day road maps and as much as possible from published sketch maps of the battles. Unfortunately, that map could not get beyond a rough state because of its scale.

As luck would have it, I found on the internet a first-rate map dated for 1942 for Syria.

This enabled considerable modifications to the original map to render roads in three classes, to distinguish better between hills and general rough going, and to make map corrections.

TPC maps were not available where I usually buy them. Map place names, however, still present a challenge. The English transliteration of Arabic on all these varies considerably from source to source, year to year.

I decided to spell each by either the familiar English version or the French version for Syria, usually as seen in official and popular histories.

Please accept my apologies for the mish-mash.

With what you see you should still be able to follow the action as you read about it.

VICHY FORTS

A few of these made their way into the original game. A review for this game determined that they were minor, not operationally significant.

The Vichy French did have a grouping of forts in the Damascus area for strategic defense, but these proved tactically indefensible.

All were abandoned (save one), and so these do not appear in this game.

SUPPLY

The Syrian campaign would seem to favor the use of supply units (or points). Both sides suffered at least some supply difficulties, obviously so for the Axis because of their isolation. Providing game details here would run the risk of a whole sub-game on ferrying supplies. That is not the point of this game.

Since neither side completely curtailed operations because of supply shortages we rely on other aspects of the game system. © 2018 Compass Games, LLC.

Because of the general flow of the game, we can assume that just enough supply would generally be available. This works when you consider supply status only at the instant of combat. Just figure the regular supply status for all units sits at a low level with no reserve.

This puts a premium on being careful about how you deploy your game units, an aspect which is the point of gaming.

We are not directing removal of unsupplied units (as in the original game) since they are not going to surrender on a set schedule.

The bonus allowed in attacking unsupplied units takes care of this. As an aside, it was interesting to learn that the French refined their own fuel, albeit small amounts, at facilities at Tripoli.

GAME UNITS

For such an unusual topic a surprising amount of information can be found. A lot more has appeared since the original publications, and then Daniel Feldmann collected for us about 1000 pages of information from the French archives (lots of info in that batch!).

All this obligated updating the information in the game. You can see the result in the many OoB changes.

You will have likely noticed the blizzard of unit abbreviations; it was a colorful war. Nearly all Allied abbreviations (in both games) are drawn without modification from Joslen’s Orders of Battle, the standard reference source for WWII British units.

The French renamed many of their units from their September 1939 configuration and this was even after renaming units after the pre-war Mandate period. Vichy authorities had reorganized their battalions as a result of 1940 to get more mobility and independence with an emphasis on streamlining. I could track the French and North Africans fairly well, but the indigenous Levant forces seemed to be absent from all proper historical discussion.

Fortunately, the archives tracked them better.

One interesting difficulty concerned Vichy French units prepared as reinforcements to Syria. Of these, only one cohesive unit arrived, all the way from North Africa. This single company of Algerians began as part of a full battalion (possibly of the 1RTA) that made it to Salonika, Greece, the last stop before Syria. Once there, authorities renamed it as the “1re Bataillon de Marche d’Infanterie Coloniale du Levant.” The 1st Company went by air to Aleppo, and upon arrival it was combined with two other companies already present, 4/631BCP (an engineer unit with personnel from Madagascar now detailed to serve as infantry) and 9/24RMIC. So its name changed yet again, this time to “Btn. Mixte d’Infanterie Coloniale.”

I hope I have this straight.

© 2018 Compass Games, LLC.

SOME OOB ISSUES

• I posed a question on the CSW website about who was in command of one of the French armor units. The several responses did lead to checking with the French archives, and we even inquired at a French veterans’ association. Since we could not obtain a satisfactory answer, I decided to apply Major Lehr’s name to the unit. He was in command of the battalion and directly commanded the small task force that included the tank unit in question.

• The two Allied Jewish units found in the original game were omitted here because the personnel were instead employed as individual guides or in small squads, not the whole companies as formerly shown.

• Please note that support units such as anti-tank or anti-aircraft assets were too split up to show as individual units and these certainly were not going to lead an assault up some mountain.

• The Free French Collet group was not entirely motorized, consisting of two squadrons on trucks and one mounted, but the 1/1SM cavalry was also motorized.

Rather than create yet another little unit, I decided to show the 1/1SM as horse (and it actually was on horse for Eritrea).

That allows the full Collet unit to be shown as motorized because it maintains the proper horse/truck ratio for the two-unit group. Interestingly, when Collet defected to the Free French, many of the men he brought with him quickly returned to Vichy.

• The Free French tanks had an interesting ride through the war. They were originally shipped as the 342nd Company of Tanks (numbering 15 H-39s) from France to Norway in April 1940. By 19 June 1940 they found themselves back in France at Brest. With France falling they finagled evacuation to the UK, where they declared for the Free French and were re-designated as the 1st Company of Tanks of the FFL, now numbering 12 (or maybe 13) tanks.

In mid-September they were part of the Free French contingent that was to capture Dakar on the West African coast.

When that operation was cancelled they sailed on to Gabon. From there one section of these tanks needed six months to motor across central Africa to Sudan. The rest later were shipped around the Cape of Good Hope to Port Sudan, arriving late in March.

They were too late for action in Eritrea, so they moved to Khartoum and from there by railroad and barge to Palestine, where the main Free French force was organizing as a division. Retaining their title as the 1st Company, they followed the main body of Allied troops across the Syrian border later on 8 June.

Action soon became heavy and their armor proved inadequate against the weapons of fellow countrymen.

After such a long journey, most H-39s were lost in their first major action, that of crossing the Awaj River, and then in action outside of Damascus. Yet the company quickly rearmed itself with captured Vichy R-35s and would see action again at Nebek. After the Syrian campaign, the unit remained in Syria and Lebanon, later entirely rearming with the much newer, and superior, British Crusader tank.

• The Allied “B+C/6Cav-A” unit combines two recon squadrons, both equipped with the ubiquitous British “Bren” carrier and with British Mark VI B light tanks.

This concentration of tanks allows use of the armor symbol. In my opinion these tanks, the only British tanks actually used, were junk, hardly better than the lightly armored Bren carrier, although with a turret for its machine-gun.

But, you gotta love the icon.

• There was some confusion in the past about the commitment of the 2/3 and 2/5 Australian battalions. Here is where a close reading revealed the full story.

I re-examined the Australian Official History, and Curtis Baer provided information from the history of the 2/5 Australian Battalion. It all boils down to there being only one company, specifically of the 2/5th Battalion, which participated from (almost) the start, and I present one small game unit to do this. The rest of the 2/5th covered portions of the Palestinian border in the Safad area until re-equipping was complete by (about) 18 June. The 2/3 Battalion was farther back in Palestine, also re-equipping, and was also released on the 18th. It took a train from Haifa early that day and de-trained near Deraa that evening. It marched into Syria that night, and then on the 19th it took trucks and busses to the front line in the Damascus area. Both the 2/3 and 2/5 Battalions later transferred to fight at Damour.

• While the original game included truck units, they were dropped because of the improved basic movement rates over all units (necessary because of the need to be consistent from game to game) and because of the addition of strategic movement.

THE DRUZE

The situation with the Vichy Druze units posed a special design problem. The memory of French authorities of the 1925-6 Arab general rebellion forced posting a sizable garrison in the Druze tribal area around the Jabel ad Druze.

French authorities worried that British meddling in the area might lead to a renewed general rebellion among the many diverse national groups in Syria. Another view had the British taking post-war control of the whole of Syria.

I considered many solutions, but in the end opted for the simplest approach. This game concerns military matters, not diplomatic.

I nearly cut the Druze area from the game but as you see above, the area is important.

To keep the importance, I retained Soueida, the Druze capital, as a game objective. To make both sides wonder about Druze strength, I increased the force to six squadrons, up from the single original battalion, and all are Untried units. To be sure neither side could count on Druze effectiveness (since I doubt they would fight an offensive war for the French), the six squadrons include two (at zero strength) that were disbanded in 1937. Then to make sure both sides wonder about Druze commitment and limit coordination, I locked down all Druze as garrisons. I hope you will agree with these design choices.

ARMOR

Armor is present in both scenarios for both sides. The most numerous tanks were the old R-35s of the Vichy French. With good frontal armor they were specially designed for infantry support, but fortunately for the British, the Army of the Levant lacked that training.

The Allies failed to commit real numbers of their own tanks, ones decidedly superior, and which might have tipped the scale if they did not break down. Mechanically, they were unreliable. The Vichy French had only a tiny handful of anti-tank weapons that could deal with the better British tanks and nothing to deal with the heavy “Matilda” tanks, had any of these been present. Both sides had poor doctrine of how to coordinate tanks with infantry, leaving neither side as able to exploit a hole in enemy lines. All this made limitations on the use of armor an easy design choice.

AIRPOWER

For both sides (for all scenarios) this required a re-examination. The bulk of it was engaged in achieving or resisting air superiority, and the British also had to cover their fleet.

Vichy attacked several times and once scored a hit on a destroyer. The British did not achieve air superiority until late in the Syrian campaign, so only a small amount of air power from either side ended up being applied as help to the ground troops. While there was practically no doctrine for direct air support, they instead would raid each other’s supply columns on roads, a target much easier to identify. Their general effect can still be validly shown as a DRM.

NAVAL POWER

The whole subject of naval action is much simplified here. This is not a game of naval battles, though one did take place, with the Vichy French coming out the victor.

We can assume any ship-to-ship action works itself out in the arrival and combat die rolls.

Vichy commanders did complain, however, that British naval gunfire greatly impeded ground movement in coastal areas.

In the spirit of quicker game play I have simplified a number of other game procedures from the original game, likely more so than where they should be for simulation play.

I’ll leave that to the next designer. Simplification included air and naval transport and really the whole interaction of the Air/Naval Arrival Table.

It turned out not as simple as I desired, because some differences still had to be observed.

GERMAN INTERVENTION

Contemplation of the effects of German intervention to assist the Vichy French raises all sorts of conjecture. Overall, the Germans had the most realistic assessment during the campaign, that only quick and overwhelming application of force would bring positive results.

Yet for them this was practically impossible.

Intervention remained plausible, however, if only because the British thought it could happen.

What German forces would be available?

Prior games of mine on this subject have included considerable German forces, but upon further reflection, the bulk of regular forces arriving (if they could get there) would have deployed in north Syria to counter Allied forces advancing from Iraq. Vichy had few units to defend that area and besides, all of the northern area is outside of the scope of this game.

This leaves only minor German forces to bolster the Vichy defense of south Syria. In effect the Germans would fight their own war in the north while the Vichy fought in the south. This would fit the political situation much better.

German forces in south Syria would likely have been various small detachments. First up would be a battalion of paratroops, “volunteers” from the Crete battle only just ended. Then there would be elements of the 6th Mountain Division.

It saw little action on Crete and so would now be fresh for action in Syria. The remainder of this division would likely be engaged in north Syria. The units in this game would have landed in the north and then be sent south.

The 288th Special Purposes Battalion included specialist personnel for operations in Iraq.

Its first company was Abwehr (Brandenburg), the rest was raised from the army. Even though this unit was still forming in Athens during June, perhaps active portions could be sent.

An interesting (and very speculative) group would be the Abwehr-controlled “zbV” units. They would later be organized under “Sonderkommando Felmy.” This unit would have included regional specialists, many to be drawn from the 300 or so (one source claims a ridiculous 1,300) merchants and “tourists” already in the area, mainly at Beirut.

They would be charged with establishing native formations, ideally ones officered by Germans.

Historically, the group succeeded in creating an “Arab Brigade” of several thousand Moslems from all over the Middle East, lured by Jihad,

but they found employment only in the Syrian Desert, well to the east of the game area. Formed during May, they were originally intended for operations in Iraq but soon dispersed. In the end a pesky remnant (about 500 men led by Fawzi el Qawuqji, a very colorful figure) had only a limited effect on either campaign. In an active intervention situation, some elements might have remained active and employed closer to the main action.

The oddest unit would be the French “Phalange” unit. This would be based on the (then) paramilitary Maronite Party (Arabic: “Kataeb”) founded in 1936 by Pierre Gemayel.

They believed in an independent and sovereign Lebanon, free of all foreign influence. It is likely they would be joined in this by the Lebanese Najjadah Party. German propaganda could have manipulated these groups to create a fighting unit. In fact, a similar “volunteer” unit was actually raised and employed in Tunisia in 1943. Given French fascist activities in Syria, such a unit is reasonable for this game.

TURKISH TRANSIT

The original game included an elaborate set of rules for Axis movement from Greece through Turkey to Syria. Such historical conditions that would allow transit would rely on accepting the highly speculative German intervention.

The original rules included perhaps too great a rules load for its effect on the game.

Had such transit been granted historically, it would have benefited much more those Axis forces in northern Syria, not so much those forces on the game battlefield in south Syria.

[23.4] GAME CREDITS DRIVE ON DAMASCUS Design Artwork Package Design Project Director Contributors Rules Editor Playtesting Producers

Vance von Borries Todd Davis

Bruce Yearian Brien Miller John Kranz

Curtis Baer Pascal Toupy Daniel Feldmann, Jack Beckman

Clair Conzelman Richard Diem Mike Updike

Ken Dingley and Bill Thomas for Compass Games, LLC.

© 2018 Compass Games, LLC.

BLOODY KEREN Although the war in Africa had begun earlier, this game covers the main part of the Allied invasion of Italian-held Eritrea and Ethiopia in 1941. The Allied offensive began and did not conclude until the last Italian forces in the region (outside of this game) surrendered in November. This portion of the campaign centers on the battle for Keren, an important mountain pass that could not be by-passed. Here, the Italians made their stand.

“Keren was as hard a soldier’s battle as was ever fought, and the Italians fought as stubbornly as did the Germans at any time of the war.”

– from Davis, p.229 Had the Italian forces held longer, they might have succeeded in holding more British forces here and thereby kept them from reinforcing the main Allied defenses in front of the GermanItalian army in Libya, thereby lengthening the war in Africa.

[24.1] GAME SCALE

Each hex on the Eritrea maps represents 7.75 miles (about 12.4 km) of terrain from flat side to side. Each turn represents 3 to 4 days of real time.

[24.2] Nationality background colors: Nationality

Color

Allied

Khaki

Allied Irregulars

Brown

German

Gray

Italians

Green

and one unit becomes available when Adowa (hex 3923) becomes friendly to the Allied player. Availability can occur any turn. They enter play this way only once.

[25.1] STEEP ROADS

[25.1.1] Three road hexes (3909, 4211, 4314) are flagged with a box showing “+1MP”.

Units moving along the road into one of these hexes spend the indicated MP cost (1 MP) in addition to the TEC indicated cost. Units not moving on the road do not pay this additional MP cost.

[25.2] SPECIAL TERRAIN

[25.2.1] Any hex with coast entirely covered by coastal reef is not eligible for Commando Raid (13.3).

[25.2.2] Sand terrain has no effect on combat.

[25.3] FRIENDLY HOLDING BOXES

[25.3.1] The Khartoum, Derudeb, and Port Sudan holding boxes are always friendly to Allied units.

[25.3.2] The Wolkait, Semien, Tembien, and Makale holding boxes are always friendly to Axis units.

[25.4] SUPPLY LINE

[25.4.1] Reduce the Supply Line (6.2.2) length to 4 hexes from the regular 6-hex length.

[25.4.2] There is no further length reduction for purposes of Case 6.2.4.

[26.1] Allied Conditional Reinforcements

[24.3.2] Set Up Codes • Axis units. All are marked on the front of the counter with their At Start hex number or GT arrival turn.

• Allied units. All are marked on the front of the counter with their At Start hex number or GT arrival turn.

Note: No Naval or Air Transport exists for either side.

© 2018 Compass Games, LLC.

[26.2] OPTIONAL: ALLIED ADEN GROUP

Design Note: These roads wind up an extremely steep mountain side by using many switchbacks with few places to pull off the road.

[24.3] PLAYING THE GAME [24.3.1] In addition to the Standard Rules section, use this rules section, rules 24.0 through 29.0.

[26.1.2] Once these units are in play, they remain in play for the rest of the game, even if the location is subsequently recaptured by the Axis player.

[26.1.1] These three units are shown on the Allied Set Up Card. Two become available when Agordat (hex 2210) is friendly to the Allied player during the Strategic Segment

(for Keren Scenario 2 only) [26.2.1] This group is available automatically, any turn starting GT15.

[26.2.2] Store this group on the Allied Set Up Card; it does not go into a holding box.

The combat unit enters play only by the Commando Raid (13.3) procedure direct from the Card. If it does not arrive, it can try again two turns later. The naval unit is available according to the Air/Naval Arrival Table.

[26.2.3] The combat unit can conduct a Commando Raid only once during the game.

Both it and the regular commando unit can conduct a Commando Raid during the same turn. They cannot combine to arrive with a single result from the Air/Naval Arrival Table (they come from widely different bases).

[26.2.4] The combat unit is not eligible for Commando Evacuation (13.3.9).

Design Note: Use of this unit noticeably affects play balance. Historically, this group sailed from Aden and invaded instead at Berbera in the former British Somaliland. It met practically no opposition there. Later it attacked Assab, another Red Sea port.

[27.1] General Restrictions: Axis and Allied [27.1.1] Irregulars can conduct Strategic movement over any hexes and are not restricted to roads. These hexes are not subject to supply restrictions (9.1.1) .

[27.1.2] Irregulars move like mountain units (14.4.1).

[27.1.3] Irregulars cannot enter or attack into Eritrea. Their ZOC do not extend into Eritrea.

[27.1.4] Command and Control. In any one turn neither player can move more than two of his Tried or Untried irregulars.

[27.1.5] Irregulars in Combat [27.1.5.1] Irregulars do not require a Supply Source when in combat.

[27.1.5.2] Irregulars that are not activated (27.1.4) for movement this turn can still attack adjacent enemy units.

[27.2] ALLIED IRREGULARS

The “Patriot” irregulars in this region of Ethiopia were often poorly armed but were loyal to their local warlord.

[27.2.1] Allied At Start Placement

• The Allied player will draw the allowed number of irregular units at random using an opaque cup (4.1.5) and placing them into play without either side knowing which unit it is.

• Place all irregular units as Untried.

Place them one each, as desired, on any Recruitment hex (marked on the map) that is not occupied by an Axis unit; they can be placed in an Axis ZOC (only during At Start placement).

[27.2.2] Recruitment Even though eliminated in combat, an irregular can return to play by Recruitment.

Conduct Recruitment during the Reinforcements Phase.

ALLIED PROCEDURE 1.

As each irregular unit is eliminated, the Allied player rolls one die. He places that unit a number of turns ahead on the Turn Record Track equal to the die roll result plus 1. A die roll of “5” or “6” means that irregular unit can never return to play.

Example: On GT5 a die roll of 3 means place the unit on the GT8 box of the Turn Record Track.

2.

3.

On the turn the irregular unit is available for play, the Allied player places it in an opaque cup. He will randomly draw one irregular unit.

Use the Irregulars Recruitment Table (printed on the map) to determine the actual placement hex for each unit that was drawn.

The Allied player rolls one die.

The result shows two possible hexes for placement. The Allied player places it on the eligible hex he desires. If neither of the two hexes is eligible for placement (27.2.3), the Allied player uses the Irregulars Recruitment Table again to determine a different placement hex. Only one irregular can be placed per Recruitment hex per turn. Once placed, it can move that same turn.

[27.2.3] Both sides [27.2.3.1] A Recruitment hex is not eligible if it is occupied by an enemy unit, in an enemy ZOC (unless occupied by a friendly unit), or the hex has no stacking room available. If the indicated Recruitment hex is not eligible, use the Table again to determine another hex.

[27.2.3.2] If no recruitment hex is available, Recruitment procedure is not allowed that turn for that side. Unit recruitment cannot be accumulated.

Both of the rules below appeared as optional in the original Bloody Keren game. They remain as optional here because they can help balance play between unequal players.

All optional rules are for Keren Scenario 2 only.

[28.1] REPLACEMENTS

Replacements are a form of reinforcement that restores units reduced in combat to a higher combat strength level. Both players have replacements available to them.

[28.1.1] The Allied player has a total of 4 points for the game. The Axis player has 1.

Each replacement point equals one combat step.

[28.1.2] Record replacements still available by placing the Replacements marker on the Turn Record Track on the turn number equal to the number of available replacements points.

As they are used up, move the marker back to a lower number. Remove the marker when all are used. The reverse side of the marker is just a reminder of how replacements are used.

[28.1.3] Only a unit still in play can absorb a replacement.

PROCEDURE 1.

Any unit to absorb a replacements step must be on a city or town that is part of a Supply Road (6.2.3), or on a friendly designated Supply Source, or while in a holding box.

2.

The unit to absorb the replacement cannot be adjacent to an enemy unit and cannot move during the friendly player Operations Segment.

3.

At the end of the friendly player Operations Segment turn the combat unit over to its fullstrength side.

[27.3] AXIS IRREGULARS

[27.3.1] Axis irregular units are the same as Allied irregulars, but all are Tried; they do not have an Untried status (historically, they have already seen years of combat). Place them At Start on the hexes designated by the set up card.

[27.3.2] Axis Irregulars Recruitment Axis irregular units return to play by the same procedure as Allied Recruitment but with some differences: [27.3.2.1] Place the unit on the Turn Record Track as in 27.2.2, but it remains Tried. It never goes to the opaque cup.

[27.3.2.2] Placement. Axis Recruitment hexes are Adowa (hex 3923) or Adigrat (hex 4623).

Place as desired.

Design Note: Historically, Allied command temporarily suspended operations to conduct infantry retraining for mountain warfare.

The time delay with replacements procedure reflects some of that retraining. The Italians were able to reorganize some shattered units for renewed fighting. Players might consider adjusting the available points up or down as a bidding mechanism to determine who plays which side.

[28.2] ITALIAN MORALE The utter collapse of Italian arms in the rest of Italian East Africa also affected the morale of Italian-led forces in the game area.

Combined with Allied air superiority, the effect had become significant. © 2018 Compass Games, LLC.

[28.2.1] Axis Morale Loss permanently when either:

takes

effect

• The Allied player has made Asmara (hex 4012) friendly (even if just briefly during a turn), or • Beginning GT18 if Keren (hex 3408) is friendly to the Allied player.

[28.2.2] Axis Morale Loss Effect. The Allied player applies a -1 DRM when attacking Axis units, cumulative with all other effects.

[28.2.3] The Axis Morale Loss effect does not apply in a combat where an Allied Irregular is attacking (even if with other unit types).

Note: The “Low Italian Morale” marker is provided as a convenience to serve as a reminder if this rule is in effect during play.

Place this marker on the Game Turn Track as a helpful play reminder.

Design Note: The original game asked players to track Italian losses. This was the wrong approach since units fighting in one area would not be intimately aware of events a few miles away let alone across the entire game map. There should be a die roll to add uncertainty as to just what turn morale breaks, but that is just one more burden for gamers and so is rejected here.

[29.1.3.3] Italian Garrison Releases • Beginning GT1 the Axis player can release any one garrison (5.3) unit per turn during his Movement Phase.

• Release any one additional garrison immediately when either Agordat (2810) or Keren (3408) becomes Allied.

[29.1.4] Victory Conditions [29.1.4.1] The Allied player wins immediately by holding at least 2 Victory Locations at the end of any turn.

Victory Locations:

Adigrat (hex 4623) Adi Ugri (hex 3817) Adowa (hex 3923) Agordat (hex 2810) Asmara (hex 4012) Keren (hex 3408) Massawa (hex 4610) Each victory location hex is outlined in red on its sides for ease of reference.

[29.2] SCENARIO 2: BLOODY KEREN [29.2.1] Use the following:

• Eritrea map (two map sheets) • Allied Set Up Card 2 Bloody Keren has two scenarios. In both scenarios the Axis player sets up his units first, followed by the Allied player.

[29.1] SCENARIO 1: THE ROAD TO KEREN [29.1.1] Use the following:

• Eritrea map (two map sheets) • Allied Set Up Card 2 • Axis Set Up Card 2

[29.1.2] There are 10 turns: GTs 1 through 10.

[29.1.3] Special Restrictions [29.1.3.1] The Allied player cannot conduct a Naval Ground Interdiction mission (13.2.3) on or within two hexes of Massawa (hex 4610), unless Massawa is friendly.

[29.1.3.2] When it is available as a reinforcement, the Allied air unit cannot be received until the Reinforcement Phase that Agordat (hex 2810) is friendly and part of a Supply Route (Agordat soon became the main Allied air base). The air unit remains available even if an Axis unit subsequently recaptures Agordat.

• Axis Set Up Card 2

[29.2.2] There are 22 turns: GTs 1 through 22.

[29.2.3] Special Restrictions. Apply all of rule 29.1.3.

[29.2.4] Victory Conditions. The Allied player wins immediately by holding Asmara (4012) and at least 3 other Victory Locations (29.1.4) simultaneously at the end of any turn.

Design Note: The Italians took much pride in Asmara, the capital city of Eritrea.

Its 20,000 or so European inhabitants (of a 70,000 total population) made it dramatically European with early modernist (or art-deco) architecture, so much so that UNESCO recognizes it today as a World Heritage Site. In 1941 it functioned primarily as an administrative center, leaving military logistics spread out elsewhere on the high plateau. If your taste is Italian wine, go to Decamere and Saganeti.

[30.1] UNIT ABBREVIATIONS

Note: Found on some units is a (-) sign which means the unit has sent detachments elsewhere and is not full strength.

ALLIED BRITISH A,B,C,D Bal

Cam Cdo

CIH Fd

FFR FFR HLI

J+K

Mah Md

Meadow Pun Raj RF RS

RTR SDF Sikh Skin Wor

WYk

Baluch Regiment

The Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders Regiment

51st “Middle East” Commando Central India Horse (21st King George V’s Own Horse) Field artillery

3rd Royal Battalion (Sikh)/12th Frontier Force Regiment 6th Royal Battalion (Scinde)/ 13th Frontier Force Rifles Highland Light Infantry Jammu and Kashmir

Mahratta Light Infantry Medium artillery Meadowforce

Punjab Regiment Rajputana Rifles

Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment) Royal Sussex Regiment

The Royal Tank Regiment Sudan Defense Force Sikh Regiment

Skinner’s Horse (1st Duke of York’s Own Cavalry) Worcester Rifles West Yorkshire

ALLIED FREE FRENCH BFM

Bataillon Fusiliers Marines

BLE

Bataillon Legion Etranger (Foreign Legion)

BIM

BM Col

Collet FF

SM

© 2018 Compass Games, LLC.

Designations for company-sized units

Bataillon d’Infanterie de Marine

Bataillon de Marche Coloniale

Circassian cavalry unit named for commander Free French

Spahis Marocains

AXIS GERMANS CVT

Compagnia Voluntari Tedeschi (German Volunteer Company).

A scratch unit formed primarily from stranded ship crews. They used only this Italian designation.

AXIS ITALIANS Amhara

Amhara

Bis

bis; second formation with the same number

Ber

CCNN Col

Eritrea GdS

Massawa Tipo WA

Bersaglieri

Camicie Nere (Blackshirts) Coloniale Eritrea

65th Division, “Granatieri di Savoia”

Massawa; composite garrison unit Tipo (model), a good quality Eritrean unit

Worq Amba (also: Uork Amba) (Golden Mountain); excellent unit

[30.2] ERITREAN CAMPAIGN SUGGESTED READING

Much English language information is available but often of only superficial or incidental quality. Nevertheless, the books below will provide a good overview. The Italian language sources below were critical for this game design.

Some additional information and much flavor can be found on the internet.

Barker, A.J. Eritrea, 1941, London: Farber and Farber Ltd. 1966.

Brett-James, Anthony. Ball of Fire, The Fifth Indian Division in the Second World War, Aldershot: Gale and Polden, 1951 (on internet).

Cargnelutti, Federico. Scacchiere Africa Orientale, Udine, 1962.

Nord,

Davis, Lt.Col. T.B.. The Surrey and Sussex Yeomanry in the Second World War, Ditchling Press Ltd., 1980.

Glover, Michael. An Improvised War, The Abyssinian Campaign of 1940-41, New York, Hippocrene, 1987.

Mockler, Anthony. Haile Selassie’s War, New York: Random House, 1984.

Ministero della Difesa, La Guerra in Africa Orientale, Giugno 1940 – Novembre 1941, Stato Maggiore Esercito, Ufficio Storico, Roma, 1952.

Playfair, I.S.O. The Mediterranean and Middle East, Vol. I, 1954, Vol. II, 1956, London: HMSO (on internet).

Prasad, Bisheshwar. “East African Campaign 1940-41”, Official History of the Indian Armed Forces in the Second World War 1939-45.

Combined Inter-Services Historical Section (India & Pakistan), 1963 (on internet).

Rovighi, Alberto. Le Operazione in Africa Orientale (Giugno 1940 – Novembre 1941), (two volumes), Stato Maggiore dell’Esercito, Officio Storico, Roma, 1995.

Stevens, Lt. Col. G.R. Fourth Indian Division, Toronto: McLaren and Son Ltd, 1948.

[30.3] DESIGNER’S NOTES

Game Maps. Like with DoD the original game map was built from what you will find in the official histories. It was then modified by present day road maps and as much as possible from published sketch maps of the battles found in some of the suggested readings. This worked out well enough at the time.

The current edition of the Eritrea map has seen many corrections. I could not find a good on-line 1940s map of Eritrea and TPC maps were not available where I usually buy them, but I spotted a commercially available present day topographic map. It proved most helpful.

The map scale may seem like a lot of ground in each hex, but with any less, there would be great numbers of hexes that would only rarely come into play. Even at the current scale some terrain distortions were blended in to simplify the game. Long approach marches would not help game enjoyment.

Map place names however, still present a challenge. The English transliteration of Arabic (or Amharic for Eritrea and Ethiopia) on all these varies considerably from source to source, year to year. I decided to spell each by either the familiar English version or Italian for some locations, usually as seen in official and popular histories. Please accept my apologies about the mish-mash. With what you see you should still be able to follow the action as you read about it.

SOME OOB ISSUES

The original game suffered from fitting into a tight magazine format, and this meant some details became overlooked or just plain dropped.

• The Free French deployed almost entirely out of Port Sudan. They came down the Red Sea by naval transport, not up the Nile to Khartoum. This was the only way they could be deployed in a timely manner, because they had been held in strategic reserve in anticipation of landing at Djibouti (Operation Marie) to turn the Vichy-led French garrison there.

With that cancelled, these units provided an ultimately necessary reinforcement against Keren. The last two Free French units historically arrived too late for any real action, but I include them anyway for completeness.

• The Italian “colonial” (askari) units can be seen as a little too weak. Man-for-man they compare well against the Indian troops arrayed against them. But they had been in combat for some time already, they were not equipped as well, heavy equipment support was lacking, they had practically no air support, and their Italian commanders did not provide them with the best tactics. These units wore down steadily and suffered from desertions.

What you see is an average value that can be counted upon through a full game.

• The Allied units arriving in the Port Sudan holding box were organized as “Briggsforce,” named for its commander. It was ordered to protect Port Sudan, historically an important Allied base (for the area) on the Red Sea coast. Later it was ordered south along the coast to put pressure on Massawa and the Italian rear. Their first moves in late January were weak and were defeated by Italian border units.

In early February, the Italians thinned out their defenses, so what remained was overcome by a renewed push. By late February, Briggsforce had established themselves over a broad front in the rear of the main Italian group at Keren.

Game-wise, these units are available for entry only when they made the major push; otherwise, players, being good gamers, would pull them out and send them around to engage the Italians from the west, thereby ignoring their primary order to protect Port Sudan. To include the terrain all the way north to the port on the game map would not be practical and would stand against the principal of not depicting long and boring approach marches.

Also, a game-wise player might figure it was Allied effort that was spreading out.

To restore the basic decision to the Allied player we allow a re-deployment to the west by linked holding boxes.

• The two Indian divisions both had a much larger engineer component than what you see. However, they would be committed as infantry only rarely, hence only one unit per division is given, a stylistic choice. Their other engineer detachments are thereby factored into the game system.

ETHIOPIAN IRREGULARS

Information about Ethiopian “patriot” units turned out to be elusive. We could not properly assess their individual unit combat effectiveness as some units were not up to the job and no one at the time could give a sound estimate about these troops. Indeed, little is reported.

Rather than show guesswork, the Untriedunits game mechanic is used to provide historical feel.

On the Eritrea map we see a guerilla war now transitioning to conventional scale.

Even though this all happens on the margins, it could affect the arrival of Italian reinforcements.

The Italians must keep their main roads open, © 2018 Compass Games, LLC.

in particular the one from Makale.

Clearly, Italian resources committed to the area do not directly help the defense at Keren, yet the action in the area is important to game play.

The original game mechanic on irregulars just plain missed the historical point. A fresh analysis of the situation and a study of newly published material revealed that there were not any defections of units “en masse.”

This would happen only after the time of this game, when it was clear the Italians were finished in East Africa. With the new mechanics, the game benefits from uncertainty about the strength of the Ethiopian “patriot” units and the uncertainty about where recruits may appear.

ARMOR

While the Italians in Eritrea faced only a few Matilda tanks, their defenses fell apart as their weapons proved useless against them.

The Matildas, however, could operate only in favorable terrain conditions due to their mechanical unreliability. The two problems would seem to offset, but circumstances would rarely work both ways at the same time. In the end the British got their tanks working and a good road cleared into Keren. The Italians also fielded tanks, but many of these were of little value against the British. Additionally, both sides had poor doctrine of how to coordinate tanks with infantry, leaving neither side as able to exploit a hole in enemy lines. Here too, this made limitations on the use of armor an easy design choice.

NAVAL POWER

This game too is not a game of naval battles.

In the Red Sea the British committed almost nothing, thereby conceding superiority, but the Italians did nothing with it. During the entire war the Italian surface ships at Massawa (the base of pretty much all their naval power in Italian East Africa) raided Allied Red Sea convoys only once. It was not an issue of lack of fuel.

Furthermore, Italian naval forces had no real doctrine of coastal bombardment. Italian naval command regarded it as too great a risk for loss of ships. Indeed, the game presents few target opportunities. Yet we want to provide a complete picture of the campaign and this includes at least some naval influence. The compromise was to keep the rules (and capabilities) simple.

ITALY’S NATIVE ERITREAN FORCES

From its earliest days the Italian army in Italian East Africa recruited Eritreans (and later recruited Somalis) to serve with Italian officers and some NCOs. They were called “askari” (or ascari), originally an Arabic word meaning “soldier.” The word usually is taken in the context of native soldiers serving in the East African colonial armies of various European powers. Today, it is still used, but in reference to East African police. These forces in World War II comprised infantry, cavalry, and some light artillery units. The Italian askaris had a long and trusted distinction, having fought in the First Italo–Ethiopian War, the Italian-Turkish War (mostly in Libya), the Second Italo-Abyssinian War, and finally in World War II (in the East African Campaign).

The first Eritrean battalions were raised in 1888 from Muslim and Christian volunteers, replacing an earlier corps of irregulars. The four indigenous battalions in existence by 1891 were incorporated into the Royal Corps of African Troops that year. Expanded to eight battalions, the early Eritrean askaris fought with distinction at Agordat, Kassala, Coatit, and Adowa.

Initially the Eritrean askaris comprised only infantry battalions, although Eritrean cavalry squadrons, known as “Penne di Falco” (“Falcon’s Feathers”) and mountain artillery batteries were subsequently raised. By 1922, units of camel cavalry (called "meharisti") had been added. Those Eritrean camel units were also employed in Libya after 1932. During the 1930s, Mussolini directed armored cars to be added to some units.

Out of a total of 290,476 Italian troops serving in Italian East Africa on 1 June 1940, some 199,273 (growing to 258,322 at full mobilization) were recruited from Eritrea, Somalia and the recently occupied (1935–36) Ethiopia. Many of the new troops had been previously demobilized, but personnel who were new received only a basic level of training. Despite inconsistencies, many excellent askaris were also recruited from Tigre province and the Galla tribe. In all, over 150 battalions were in the field in 1941.

Starting in January 1941, when British forces invaded Ethiopia, most of the recently recruited askaris deserted; yet, the majority of the Eritrean askaris remained loyal until three months later, when the British captured Keren and Asmara. Overall, the Eritreans were loyal, intelligent, and brave.

They were good soldiers although they lacked fire discipline. Some earned the Italian Gold Medal for Military Honor.

They performed best under strong, close leadership, and this was in great evidence at Keren.

The Eritreans remained loyal because they had experienced recurring invasions and looting by Ethiopians. They regarded Italy as a protector, even if a poor one, as shown by the Italian 1890s defeat at Adowa. Inevitably, the Ethiopians decided Eritrea should belong to them.

The Italians enforced conscription on the Eritreans in the early 1930s and made it clear that upon failure to join the askari army, they and their families would be punished.

As a result, some 40% of eligible Eritreans were mobilized, a very high figure. This experience, coupled with continuous animosity and betrayal by Ethiopia, made the askaris skeptical until the end. Skeptical because they did not know how the Ethiopians would treat them or use them if they deserted. If Italy somehow won, they knew their families would be punished for their sons’ desertion.

The choice became very difficult.

[30.4] GAME CREDITS BLOODY KEREN Design Artwork Package Design Project Director Contributors Rules Editor Playtesting

Producers

© 2018 Compass Games, LLC.

Vance von Borries Todd Davis

Bruce Yearian Brien Miller John Kranz

Jack Greene Alessandro Massignani Jack Beckman

Clair Conzelman Richard Diem Jack Greene Mike Updike

Ken Dingley and Bill Thomas for Compass Games, LLC.

© 2018 Compass Games, LLC.

© 2018 Compass Games, LLC.

About this Designer Signature Edition. . ................ 2 Air and Naval Transport [7.0]. . ........................ 8 Air and Naval Units [2.2.8]............................... 4 Air Missions [13.1.2].................................... 14

Close Air Support Mission [13.1.4].. ........... 14

Naval Transport Interception [13.1.3].......... 14 Air Power [13.1]. . ........................................ 14 Air Power and Sea Power [13.0]..................... 14 Air Transport [7.1]......................................... 8 Air Unit Recovery [13.1.5]............................. 15 Allied Concentrated Artillery Fire [10.5]............. 11 Artillery [10.0]........................................... 11

Allied Concentrated Artillery Fire [10.5]...... 11

Artillery Fire Support [10.1]..................... 11

Attack Support [10.3]............................. 11

Defending [10.2].. ................................. 11

Fired [10.4]......................................... 11

Participation Limit [10.1.5]...................... 11

Terrain Effects [10.1.4]........................... 11 Attack Supply [6.4.2]...................................... 8 Basic Concepts [3.0]...................................... 4 Bridges [8.3.3.2].......................................... 10 Charts and Tables [2.3].................................... 4 Combat [11.0]............................................ 11

Armor Bonus [11.3]............................... 12

Attack Requirements [11.1.6]................... 12

Attack Restrictions [11.3]........................ 12

Combat Allocations [11.5.1]..................... 13

Declaration [11.1]................................. 11

Determine Combat Odds [11.5.2]. . ............. 13

Resolving Combat [11.5]. . ....................... 13

Terrain Effects on Combat [11.2]............... 12 illustrated example......................... 12 Combat Refusal [14.2]. . ................................. 17 Combat Results [12.0]. . ................................ 13

Advancing After Combat [12.4]. . ............... 14

Special Advance [12.4.6].................. 14

Special Limitations [12.4.5].............. 14

DRIVE ON DAMASCUS

Air Transport [18.2]......................................

Combat Effects of Terrain [19.0]....................

Lava Flow Areas [19.2]. . .........................

The “Ghouta” [19.1]..............................

Commando Raid [20.4]. . ................................

Designer’s Notes [23.3].................................

Designer’s Section [23.0]..............................

Game Credits [23.4].. ....................................

Game Scale [17.1]. . ......................................

German Intervention Option [21.0].. ...............

Historical Setting [17.0]. . ..............................

Nationality Background Colors [17.2]................

Playing the Game [17.3].. ...............................

Set Up Codes [17.3.2]............................

Scenarios [22.0]..........................................

Scenario 1: Drive on Damascus [22.1].........

Scenario 2: Syrian Campaign [22.2]. . ..........

Special Groups [20.0].. .................................

Allied Druze Group [20.3].......................

Allied Habforce Group [20.1]...................

Axis Irregulars [20.2].............................

Special Movement Restrictions [18.0]..............

Special Terrain [18.1]....................................

Holding Boxes [18.1.4]....................

Lava-flow hexsides [18.1.1]..............

Palestine [18.1.3]...........................

Steep Roads [18.1.2].......................

Syrian Campaign Suggested Reading [23.2].........

Unit Abbreviations [23.1]...............................

23 23 23 23 24 26 25 28 22 24 22 22 22 22 24 24 25 23 24 23 24 22 22 23 22 23 22 26 25

Combat Losses [12.2]. . ........................... 13

Combat Results Table [12.1]. . ................... 13

Retreating [12.3]. . ................................. 13 Combat Supply [6.4]....................................... 8 Commando Raid [13.3]. . ................................ 16

Evacuation [13.3.9]............................... 16

Landing [13.3.3]................................... 16 Comprehensive Example of Combat (illustration).... 18 Controlled and Contested Hexes [3.1.2]................ 4 Contiguous Hexes [3.1.3]................................. 4 Defense Supply [6.4.3].................................... 8 Engineer Effects on River [8.3.3.3]. . .................. 10 Example of a Combat Unit (illustration)................. 3 Explanation of Artillery Unit Values [2.2.5].. .......... 3 Explanation of Ground Unit Values [2.2.4].. ........... 3 Expanded Sequence of Play............................ 20 Game Inventory [2.0].................................... 3 Game Map [2.1]............................................ 3 Garrisons [5.3].............................................. 6 Ground Unit Movement [8.0].......................... 9

illustrated example.................................. 9 Ground Unit Type Symbols [2.2.7]...................... 3 Halving and Rounding [3.5].............................. 5 Holding Boxes [9.3].. .................................... 10 How to Move Units [8.1].. ................................ 9 How to Read the Units [2.2.2]. . .......................... 3 How to Win [15.0]. . ..................................... 17 Infiltration Movement [9.2]............................. 10 Introduction [1.0]......................................... 2 Lake and Sea [8.3.4]..................................... 10 Markers [2.2.9]............................................. 4 Motorized Units [3.6]...................................... 5 Mountain Units [14.1]................................... 17 Movement Supply [6.5]................................... 8 Naval Ground Interdiction Mission [13.2.3]......... 15 Naval Fire Support Mission [13.2.5].................. 15 Naval Transport [7.2]...................................... 8 Naval Transport Interception Mission [13.2.4]...... 15

Note

pages 1-20 (Standard Rules Book) pages 21-36 (Play Booklet)

Naval Unit Recovery [13.2.6].......................... 16 No Retreat [14.3]......................................... 17 Optional Rules [14.0]................................... 17

Combat Refusal [14.2]. . .......................... 17

Mountain Units [14.1]............................ 17

No Retreat [14.3].................................. 17 Playing Pieces [2.2]........................................ 3 Reinforcements [5.2]. . ..................................... 6 Road Movement [8.3.5]................................. 10 Sea Power [13.2]......................................... 15

Available Naval Missions [13.2.1]. . ............ 14

Naval Mission Procedure [13.2.2].............. 15 Sequence of Play [4.0].................................... 6

Setup [4.1]............................................ 6

Turn Outline [4.2]................................... 6 Special Ground Movement [9.0]..................... 10 Stacking [3.3]............................................... 5 Strategic Movement [9.1]............................... 10 Strategic Segment [5.0].................................. 6

Turn Record and Activation Phases [5.1]........ 6 Supply [6.0]................................................................ 7

Combat Supply [6.4]................................ 8

Supply Sources [6.3]................................ 8

Supply Status [6.1].................................. 7

Supply Routes [6.2]................................. 7

Supply Route (illustration).. ......................... 7 Terrain Effects on Movement [8.3]...................... 9 The Die [2.4]............................................................... 4 Unit Size Symbols [2.2.6]. . ............................... 3 Unit Steps [3.4]............................................. 5 Untried Unit Placement [5.4]............................. 7 Vehicle Icons (illustration). . ................................ 3 Zones of Control [3.2]..................................... 4

Efects on Movement [8.2].. ........................ 9

Effects on Movement (illustration)................. 9

illustrated example.................................. 4

BLOODY KEREN

Designer’s Notes [30.3].................................

Designer’s Section [30.0]..............................

Eritrean Campaign Suggested Reading [30.2].......

Game Scale [24.1]. . ......................................

Historical Setting [24.0]. . ..............................

Italy’s Native Eritrean Forces.. .........................

Irregulars [27.0].........................................

Allied Irregulars [27.2]...........................

Recruitment [27.2.2].......................

Axis Irregulars [27.3].............................

Recruitment [27.3.2].......................

General Restrictions [27.1].. .....................

Irregulars in Combat [27.1.5]. . ..................

Optional Rules [28.0]...................................

Italian Morale [28.2]..............................

Replacements [28.1]..............................

Playing the Game [24.3].. ...............................

Set Up Codes [24.3.2]............................

Scenarios [29.0]..........................................

Scenario 1: The Road to Keren [29.1]. . ........

Scenario 2: Bloody Keren [29.2]. . ..............

Special Groups [26.0].. .................................

Allied Conditional Reinforcements [26.1]. . ...

Optional: Allied Aden Group [26.2]............

Special Terrain Movement [25.0]. . ..................

Friendly Holding Boxes [25.3]..................

Special Terrain [25.2].............................

Steep Roads [25.1]................................

Supply Line [25.4]................................

Unit Abbreviations [30.1]...............................

32 31 32 29 29 33 30 29 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 29 29 31 31 31 29 29 29 29 29 29 29 29 31

© 2018 Compass Games, LLC.