We adapted a scenario taken from the old “Battlefields” magazine which proposed a counterfactual US intervention into Italian Somaliland in November 1935 in response to Italy’s invasion of Abyssinia. We substituted a British force for the US Marines because we had British figures.
British Situation: After fighting on the previous day, the British advanced guard has two infantry companies (both down to two platoons) occupying a small town in Italian Somaliland. The British are supported by a HMG platoon, a 3″ mortar battery, and a troop of three Mk.VI light tanks, all of which are critically low on ammunition and fuel. The British have just received two trucks loaded with ammo and fuel with which to resupply. British orders are to secure the town and the LOC to the north, and to send a patrol to the south, in order to facilitate an advance by follow-on British forces coming from the north.
Resupply Rules: The fuel truck must be adjacent to a tank and both must spend the entire turn refueling. For each turn spent refueling, the tank gains enough fuel to move for three turns. Only one tank at a time may refuel because there is only one hand-operated fuel pump. The ammo truck must be within 6 inches of any HMG, mortar, or tank teams that are receiving ammo. Any such teams must spend the entire turn reloading, and each turn spent reloading will provide each team with enough ammo for three turns of firing. Teams that are refueling and reloading are considered to be moving in the open as a target.
Italian/Somali Situation: Unknown to the British (but suspected by the players), the Italians have moved their main force into the area to try to isolate and wipe out the British advanced guard. This force consists of two large companies of trained Askaris, one large company of tribal irregulars, and one company of tribal camel troops, supported by four Brixia mortars, two 65mm mountain guns, and four HMGs. This force starts the game hidden behind the hills to the South-SE of the town. Additional groups of Somali tribal troops will randomly arrive over the course of the game at the table edges.
Terrain: The terrain on the 8X5 foot table is generally open and arid with small patches of tall grass and brush (which block ground level LOS) and with several large rocky hills (which provide bulletproof cover). A small town is in the center of the table on the main road. The main road runs north-south across the length of the table and has a spur to the NE. A smaller village is along the road on the north end. A wadi (providing bulletproof cover) runs east-west across the table between the town and the village.
Battle Report: The British decided to hold the town with all available forces and wait for reinforcements to arrive before sending a patrol to the south. The British deployed using the buildings and walls for bulletproof cover, supplemented by a few stone sangars. The resupply trucks were placed in the center of town where they would be best protected.
The Italian commanders could have held back their main force and waited for more Somali tribal troops to appear, but instead they decided to seize the opportunity to isolate and overwhelm the British advanced guard before it could be reinforced. They thus sent one Askari company on a long march around the town to the NE, with the goal of blocking the main road and threatening the town from the north. The second Askari company with the mortars and two HMGs occupied the ridge to the SE of the town and took the town under fire. The Somali tribal company surged over the hill toward the SW corner of the town, placing two mountain guns and two HMGs on the crest of the hill. The Somali camel company stayed behind the hill, waiting until needed.
The British withdrew their tanks into the town to begin refueling and rearming, while the HMG crews drew ammo and the mortars fired without effect on the Somali mountain guns. Once rearmed with three turns worth of ammo, the HMGs moved to the west side of town to fire on the advancing Somali tribal troops, and their fire effectively halted the Somali attack.
Pressure mounted on the British as groups of Somali tribesmen started randomly appearing around the table, moving toward the sound of the fighting. Although there was only a 1/3 chance of each player getting a tribal group each turn, the dice rolls were good and the tribesmen appeared rapidly. Two groups occupied the northern village and formed a blocking position on the main road, while two other groups started moving along the wadi to further cut off the town from the north. Other tribal groups reinforced the main attacks on the town.
At the town, mortar and artillery fire claimed a few British casualties, along with some lucky small arms fire. Although British losses were much lighter than Somali losses they could not afford to lose many men and their perimeter weakened. With the British HMGs deployed on the west side of town, their tanks moved to the SE side of town to stop the Askaris from moving off the ridge.
Fortunately for the British, on Turn 5 a fresh motor rifle company, supported by two HMGs and two ACs, appeared as reinforcements on the north end of the road. Dismounting from their trucks, the British swiftly moved to beat the advancing Askari company to the village. The first British assault on the houses was bloodily repulsed, but a second attack swept away the Somali tribal troops and captured the village.
On Turn 6, a British Indian motor rifle company, supported by a mortar battery, unexpectedly appeared on the NE road. This force was from a neighboring battalion and took the initiative to move to the sound of the guns. Their arrival put them in the rear of the advancing Askari company, and, in coordination with the British company, the Indians defeated and drove away most of the Askaris. The Indians could now move south to relieve the town.
By this time, the British in the town desperately needed relief. The cumulative effect of casualties and low ammunition made it increasingly more difficult to fend off the probing attacks of the Somali tribesmen and Askaris. The British were forced to give up the south side of the town and consolidate their position. With masses of Somali tribesmen and Askaris pressing from all sides, the British commanders were forced to order an evacuation of the town, to try to link up with the Indian company coming from the north. However, the Somali tribal troops holding the wadi had to be eliminated, or at least pushed away from the ford. The British gathered all available troops, including mortar crews serving as riflemen, and assaulted the wadi.
The first attack on the wadi was repulsed by accurate defensive fire. The British then had one more chance to break through, and on the last turn of the game, their final attack succeeded. The British then advanced and linked up with the Indians!
The surviving British defenders could take pride in their gallant defense and breakout from the town, but the day was lost for the British. Instead of advancing they were retreating. About half the defenders of the town were lost, along with the two supply trucks and most of the heavy weapons. The tanks would have to be abandoned along the road as they ran out of fuel, destroyed by their crews to deny them to the enemy. The relieving British company also lost about half of its men in taking the village and helping to defeat the Askaris in the north. It was, however, a very good day for the Indian relief force. This would all look very bad in the British press.
The Italian press would spin this engagement into a glorious victory. Their colonial defense force drove the British from the town, captured several HMGs and mortars, and forced the abandonment and self-destruction of the British tanks. Losses among the Somali tribesmen were very high, but this would not even receive a mention in the press accounts of this “Vittoria Gloriosa!”
- TJ