The tabletop was briefly cleared of English Civil War figures and green tabletop mat and replaced with an arid looking setting for another WW1 Palestine campaign remote game with Jon (Palouse Wargaming Journal). As usual Jon commanded the Turkish forces.
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| The early stages of the game played on a grid-based tabletop. |
Having a blog titled "Grid-based wargaming - but not always" it is always good to feature a game that is played on grid, in this case a 6-inch gridded tabletop. The grid is very helpful for remote games. I added rocks and bushes to indicate the corners of the squares, normally I rely on discrete crosses marked on the gaming mat, but these cannot be picked up on the camera.
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| Campaign map |
The scenario selected from the campaign rules, which can be found here, is scenario 18, counterattack, from One-Hours Wargames. In the campaign this is the tenth battle and the Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF) has been stuck at stage 4 trying to win a battle to continue their advance on Damascus.
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| Scenario map |
Background
As the Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF) pushes through the Judean mountains in their bid to capture Jerusalem, the Turks are fiercely resisting, and their defensive lines remain unbroken. EEF faces another challenge in their plan as they attempt to seize control of a vital bridge over Wadi Al-Hamra. Supplies are being bought up and the attack is planned to begin in early June 1918. The Turks have detected their the build up of forces and are now preparing to launch their own counterattack.
Order of Battle
Turkish Forces:
- 5 infantry units (2 with attached machine guns)
- 1 artillery unit
- 1 mountain artillery unit
Egyptian Expeditionary Forces:
- 4 infantry units
- 1 Mounted infantry unit
- 1 artillery unit
- 1 tank unit
- 1 Aircraft support
Deployment
The Turks have 1 unit positioned at the start of the game in zone 1 north of the river. Their remaining units will arrive on turn 3 from the northern table edge.
The EEF will deploy all their units (excluding aircraft) along the southern table edge.
Special Rules
The EEF are unaware of the fords and may not use them.
Victory Conditions
Victory is achieved by control of the bridge and occupation of the town on or before turn 15.
Game Report
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| The early stage of the game. Jon had placed an artillery unit at the bridge and the advancing EEF units came under fire as they moved across the open and towards the bridge. |
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| The Turkish reserve arrives to help defend the bridge and also swing round on the EEF’s right flank crossing at one of the fords. |
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| The tank slowly advances on the bridge to support the attack. |
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| Air support arrived, but was not that effective. |
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| The tank attack fizzles out with a break down. A very frustrating moment for the EEF which was hoping to get the upper hand in the game. A roll of 2+ was required, but not achieved. |
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| The EEF are still battling to take control of the bridge and now have to contend with a Turkish flank attack. |
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| The EEF make a last ditch attempt to storm the bridge. This was repulsed and the Turks just held on. |
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| By turn 15 the bridge remains contested and the town in EEF’s hands. A drawn game. |
Thoughts on the game
- Despite ending in a draw, the game had its ups and downs and kept the players on the edge until the end, especially when the EEF made a final effort to control the bridge.
- Previous games in the campaign allowed free movement, but this was the first one that utilized a square grid, which worked out well.
- The tank failed again with a breakdown just like it did in an earlier game, very disappointing for myself as the EEF player.
- Capturing the town was a hard ask for the Turks in this scenario.
The Campaign
In this campaign, a draw is as good as a win for the Turks, and it is now impossible for the EEF to meet their victory conditions of reaching Damascus by October 1918. When designing the campaign, the possibility of drawn games had not been considered, and approximately a quarter of the games played so far have ended in draws. Nonetheless, the players will continue with more games involving the Arab Rebellion armies.
With a "draw as good as a win for the Turks", as the Turk I will take that! Marvelous game and switching to the grid worked smoothly with no challenges.
ReplyDeleteWhen I first looked at the battle briefing, I figured the Turks reaching the other end of the table and the town was a "town too far." Given that, a demonstration toward the town would be attempted just in case but holding the bridge and fighting for a draw would be the best I could hope for in this fight. Imagine my surprise at game time when the EEF added one more unit to its OOB! Surprise!
While the battle fought to a bloody draw, had the EEF's tank not ground to a halt, I reckon the EEF would have taken the bridge and won the game.
As always, great fun played on a handsome table.
Thank you!
The grid did work out well providing a fun game. A well played game by yourself even after being provided with an incorrect OOB. As for the tank’s performance, my high hopes were dashed again.
DeleteA great looking game with a very familiar outcome for scenario 18
ReplyDeleteShame about the tank - I have terrible luck whenever put in charge of armoured vehicles!
Thank you. In is an interesting OHW scenario and one I will surely be playing again.
DeleteGreat game Peter and Jonathan. It has been a hard slog for the EEF but great work by the Turks.
ReplyDeleteYes, it turned out to be most enjoyable and ended in an honourable draw.
DeleteA cracking looking game, with lovely terrain and toys. 👏👏
ReplyDeleteI’ve been to Israel a few times and even spent a few months on a kibbutz (near Hadera, but you haven’t got that far north yet).
Cheers,
Geoff
Hi Geoff, Thanks, the way the campaign is going I am not sure the EEF will be going much further north. Cheers, Peter
DeleteLovely looking game. Glad it played well.
ReplyDeleteI will definitely be giving the square grid another go, especially with a remote game.
DeleteIs this the end of your excellent campaign Peter, given there’s no hope left for the capture of Damascus? It started so well for the EEF, but they didn’t have enough of an advantage to win.
ReplyDeleteChris/Nundanket
The campaign objective is not unobtainable within the timeframe to achieve victory, but Jon and I are going to play at lease one more game involving the Arab Rebellion armies.
DeleteI agree that the grid probably really aids in knowing where things are and in relation to each other in a remote setting. helps with the AAR as well. 10 battles in a campaign is quite significant. 😀
ReplyDeleteThe grid also speeds up the game for the remote player. I am trying to decide if the campaign is over, or to just play it through to its conclusion.
DeleteGreat AAR and game table. A shame the EEF couldn't reach Jerusalem after such a promising start. Another campaign might go an entirely different way.
ReplyDeleteThanks. The EEF progress has certainly stalled in the campaign.
DeleteAnother outstanding game Peter, your table and figures are fantastic to look at. It did not seem like the Turks did much of a counter attack...perhaps if the EEF had sat back and let them advance, you could have whittled them down?
ReplyDeleteThanks, the tabletop is all scratch built. A difficult one for both sides, although from a campaign perspective a draw is as good as a win for the Turks. The EEF had to capture the bridge within 15 turns, and were forced to push ahead.
DeleteYeah, Jon mentioned that in his reply - I had missed that part of the briefing! Not so much of a Turkish counterattack as a meeting engagement really?
DeleteTaking the town is a hard ask for the Turks, diverting some of the counterattacking force to support the bridge was necessary. When I devised the campaign I forgot to factor in draws which favour the Turkish campaign position. Live and learn.
DeleteLovely report on an interesting campaign battle, Peter. I’ve just read Jon’s version of the game on his blog, and it’s been most entertaining reading the differing perceptions of the same action.
ReplyDeleteAlso, did you ‘convert’ some of the pics to the black and white newspaper-style sketch ones shown on Jon’s blog? What software does this, please?
It is always interesting how much you miss and what each player thinks of as a threat. I use the Clip2Comic app (the free version) to create the drawings.
DeleteAnother fine and very close game there Peter to bring this wonderful campaign to an end (?).
ReplyDeleteI am undecided as to the campaign. We are definitely going to have a game with the Arab Rebellion army I have, and I may change the campaign to allow for a few games to allow the EEF loss to be a minor loss. Probably will have to change Generals first ;-)
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