Ottoman Eclipse

 This is another one in Tims seemingly inexaustible supply of strategic solo games. This one is 'Ottoman Eclipse' and covers the fortunes of the Ottoman Empire in WW1. The general structure is that there are a series of 'fronts' - Mesopotamia, Caucasus, Palestine, Galliopli etc which wicked enemies advance along, while there are also external fronts (France etc) and various external events driven by event cards. The player has a number of action points each turn to be able to influence/respond to these and the aim is to keep the "National Will" at sufficient level to avoid defeat for as long as possible. You do that by having military successes, avoiding the enemy occupying key points, fometing successful rebellions abroad etc. With anything up to six active fronts, various external things and only 1-3 actions per turn, there is always more to do than you can, so it is about prioritising.

The general layout, you can make out the nearer campaign tracks for Palestine, Arab Revolt, Mespot and the Caucasus. Over on the other side are Gallipoli, Salonika and 'The Narrows'. There are also boxes to track external theatres like Galicia and the Western Front, as well as India, Afghanistan etc. The National Will track is in the  bottom right, and we surrender when it hits -4. 

This was naturally an excuse to field ridiculous headgear. Many fez on the assembled Pashas (Pashi?). Mine is from the grand bazaar in Istanbul, purchased by a friends son. I also have one from Kosovo, obtained by a friend doing reconstruction work over there after the civil war.

There were repeated but disjointed attacks in the Middle East and Caucasus, and we beat a lot of these back with varying degrees of success.They are are only really a problem once they get within two zones of Istanbul, as each space lost then reduces Will by one. The British have just landed at Gallipoli and the Germans have won a great victory over the Russians so we are currently on +1.

We used some spare actions to fortify The Narrows with minefields and gun batteries and after a few turns it was looking quite strong.

It all went a bit pear shaped after that. Although we defeated the landings at Gallipoli and held off the various attacks from advancing too far, a string of overseas disasters (all those counters in the top right box) saw our National Will whittled down and the government finally collapsed in 1917! It wasn't quite a catastrophic defeat, but merely a strategic defeat. According to Tim, the worst performance so far. I think we'd over prioritised the immediate threats and should have put more resources into supporting the overseas fronts.

That was actually a very good game, and it very much felt like running a country on the back foot. There were just too many things to fix at once, and I think our priorities went out of the window as the pressure ramped up.

We tried it again on Wednesday night and this time put some more resources into the overseas fronts, which generated some more victories in both Russia and the Western Front and we were also quite successful holding back the various enemy offensives. Having built the Gaza line and with no landings at Gallipoli, we were feeling quite pleased with ourselves. Sadly we had reckoned without the Royal Navy who assaulted The Narrows and proceeded to fighting their way through all the minefields and forts to bombard Constantinople! At which point we were forced to surrender.

It transpired that this time we'd achieved a tactical defeat this timet, so we'd done slightly better than the day before, but still no win and worse than Ottomans irl. 

Second Gaza (Part 2)

The historical background and briefings have appeared in an earlier post.

For the game Tim reprised his role of Von Kressenstein, commander of the Turkish Fourth Army, while John took on the role of Lt General Chetwode. To speed things up I skipped the two day bombardment and we just played the assault on the 19th. I calculated a bombardment resolution table to generate losses for each side instead.Toys are almost exclusively from the Irregular 6mm WW1 and Colonial ranges. I am particularly fond of their steam train set which has appeared in a number of games ranging from the Franco-Austrian War of 1859 to the Crimea in 1944! Each hex is roughly 2km and each base is roughly a battalion, the manouvre elements being brigades.

View from tank redoubt in the Turkish Lines. 53 and 54 division visible in front, 52 Div over on the coast. There seems to be a strange tracked metal thing across the valley as well...

The British rear area with the rail head from Alexandria and porters unloading supplies to be forwarded by lorry. British heavy howitzers across the wadi and various reserve infantry formations. There seem to be be an awful lot of Turks in front.

53 and 54 Div forming  up for the assault, field artillery and divisional HQs behind the  leading brigades.

The first British wave advances behind an artillery barrage. High explosive against the defences in front of Gaza, chlorine gas against the Turkish centre. In the far distance can be seen the French battleships shelling Gaza and in the centre the elderly mark 1 tanks accompany 53 Div.

Over on the desert flank, a Turkish cavalry screen prompts a forceful response from two dismounted cavalry divisions supported by armoured cars.

The sneaky Turks sidestep the marching cavalry and brush off a (very) low level strafing attack by the RFC.

52 Div moves up to pin the Gaza defences, 53 and 54 Div prepare to assault the Turkish centre. Losses to both sides in the initial bombardment had been moderate, but still amounted to several battalions. Historically the British neglected to conduct significant counter battery fire so the Turkish counter barrage was quite fearsome. The French aircraft is a spotter for the battleship.

53 and 54 Div attack while the Turks are still disorganised by the gas, but are repulsed by the defenders despite the support of the tanks. The British were a little unfortunate here as the odds were clearly in their favour.

Von Kressenstein looks inscrutable.

The British cavalry mount up to  pursue the elusive Turks, only to be subject to a strafing attack themselves.

Despite pushing up reserves, the British attack in the centre falters as the gas disperses and the 18pdr regiments fail to supress the defenders. To cap it all a storm of Turkish artillery fire decimates the  leading brigades and the tanks break down. 53 and 54 Div call it a day as their advantages fade away and the losses exhaust both formations.

Historically 'Tank Redoubt' earned its name as it ended up surrounded by broken down and knocked out tanks, a result the game replicated admirably.... In the actual battle the cavalry managed to penetrate the Turkish lines along the Beersheba Road while the  main attack faltered with heavy losses after penetrating the first line of Turkish trenches but the entire attack petered out by nightfall on the 19th.

In the game the British were somewhat unlucky not to drive in the Turkish centre although they didn't really have the strength to force a clean breakthrough. Like their historical counterparts, they were handicapped by a low artillery density relative to the frontage attacked.  This was generally a much more high tech affair than first Gaza, and the first OP14 game where we've used both gas and tanks but some light relief was afforded by the antics of the cavalry out in the open desert.


Historically it was six months before the British attacked again, so at some point we'll be off to the Third Battle of Gaza and a chance for the Australian Light Horse to cover themselves in glory.

Second Gaza (Part 1)

This was another outing to the Middle East, this time to Gaza in 1917. We've already played first Gaza, and this scenario covers the British/ANZAC attempt to try and take the town again. We used Richard Brooks OP14 for this, played on Kallistra desert hexes (2km per hex) and using my 6mm Irregular Middle Eastern WW1 figures and vehicles.

Briefings below.

Second Battle of Gaza, 17th-19th April 1917

General

Although First Gaza was reported by the British as a victory in terms of both losses inflicted and covering the coastal railway, all the participating formations knew it had been a staff bungle of monumental proportions. A few weeks later the British tried again, by which time the Ottomans had plenty of time to bring up reinforcements and dig in.

British briefing

The extension of the desert railway has allowed more guns and troops to be brought up, however there are still serious problems supplying troops with water in the deep desert flank. 52 and 54 Divs will break through the Turkish lines to the east of Gaza then envelop and capture the fortress while the garrison are pinned frontally by 53 Div. The mounted troops will guard the right flank and push through the Turkish lines on the right as the situation allows.

 

The attack will be conducted in two phases. Firstly advance from the wadi to our jumping off points. The troops will dig in while the artillery carries out a two day bombardment of the enemy defences, the main attack going in on the 19th.

Enemy forces are estimated to be two weak divisions (some 30,000 men), little match for our six divisions amply supported by 170 artillery pieces. The French navy have provided some warships for bombardment, and a company of the new 'tanks' have arrived from France along with supplies of chlorine gas shells.

Break through the Turkish lines on the 19th.

Envelop and/or capture Gaza.

Push mounted troops through the gaps to exploit.

Forces (all D8)

Desert Column (Lt Gen Chetwode)

52nd Lowland Div, 53rd Welsh Div and 54th East Anglian Div each:

HQ, 3 x Bde, 1 x Field arty (3)

Anzac Mtd Div, Imperial Mtd Div, Imperial Camel Brigade: 3 x Divs each of 4 x Cavalry + 2 armoured cars to attach.

Corps assets

Corps howitzers: 1 howitzer (3), 1 x detachment of Mark 1 tanks, French warship squadron (1)

Two x chlorine gas concentrations to deploy via artillery (non persistent).

Troops deploy in their 19th April jump off positions. Infantry 1 hex back from the Turk  line, cavalry two hexes back, all dug in.

Turkish briefing

Since the failed British attack the Gaza-Beersheba line has been heavily fortified and extra troops brought up so our forces comprise over 50,000 men and 100 guns. The line nearer to Gaza is more heavily defended than the deep desert as supply problems restrict the enemy forces which can be deployed there.

A ponderous enemy build up has been observed and it is likely they will attack again soon.

Retain control of Gaza.

Prevent the enemy breaking through.

Forces (D10)

Fourth Army (von Kressenstein)

Gaza Force:

3rd and 53rd Infantry Divisions

HQ, 5 x Infantry brigades, 2 x field artillery (2), 1 x howitzer (2) (one bde deployed in reserve)

Set up holding the sector Gaza-Beer trenches with one brigade in reserve.

Desert Force:

Group Tiller, 16th Infantry Div, 3rd Cavalry Div.

HQ, 3 x Infantry Brigades, 1 x Cavalry Div. 2 x Field artillery regt (2). (one bde in reserve)

Set up holding the Atawineh- Hareira sector with one brigade and the cavalry in reserve. The cavalry may enter anywhere from the east side of the table.

Terrain and weather

The terrain is rolling desert broken up by scrub, wadis and rocky ridges. Hills are passable obstacles for artillery and the wadis are passable obstacles for all arms. Trenches are permanent defences.

Umpires Notes

Dawn is at 0500 and nightfall at 1800. 1.5 hour turns, 8 turns per day.

British move up on the 17th and dig in to their jump off positions, at least one hex from the Turkish positions, cavalry two hexes and ANZACs in reserve.Turks deploy each force with one brigade in reserve and all artillery in the line.

17th - six turns bombardment, British FA and howitzers vs Gaza area, Turk FA and hows reply. Resolve at night - Turks in per trenches, Brits in hasty. Recover and reorg.
18th - eight turns of bombardment. Both sides in perm. Recover and reorg.

19th jump off time.

Quick bombardment resolution on the 19th.

British AvD +4 hits vs Turks (2/3rds vs Gaza)

Turk Avd+3 hits split across inf formations as the cavalry are out of range.

Half of hits can be recovered 'overnight' before the first game turn.

Gas: delivered by artillery as a bombardment, persists for two turns. Doesn't inflict significant losses but reduces combat dice one level (so D10 becomes D12) to units in the square.

French ships: range 5, (1) to hit, but do double damage vs permanent trenches (2 hits). Can only fire at coast, and visible hills unless naval spotter plane over target.

A vague attempt to model the real battlefield on my dining table. The top of the picture is the coast, the main Turkish line is along the road running top to bottom.

Map of the actual battle, Beer trenches etc referred to in the briefing marked. This is the situation later on the 19th.