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Saturday, April 8, 2023

Turks Fight for the Draw!

Airstrike!
photo courtesy of Grid based wargaming

Peter and I returned to his WWI Palestine campaign this week to see if the EEF could break through the Turk lines and get back on the march to Damascus.  Peter's account of the action is at A Remote WWI Palestine Campaign Game Report.  We switch from playing on a non-gridded to table to a gridded table in this contest.  Please visit Peter's report to understand the background to both campaign and this battle.  I love Peter's comic style battle sketches as seen in the header graphic!

I would be commanding the Turks once again.  Since Peter said that "a draw is as good as win in this battle", I may have to play for a draw.  Once I saw the scenario and studied the force allocation, I figured the Turks might be lucky to pull out a draw.  To make the challenge even more difficult, the EEF added a unit of mounted camel infantry at the last minute.  The Turks, in this engagement will face armor, artillery, and even airstrikes.  The Turks will have their hands full.

Let's take a look at the battle from the Turkish perspective.

The Turks begin the game with only one unit on table.  I selected the heavy artillery to setup on the road adjacent to the bridge.  All of the EEF forces would arrive on Turn 1.  No Turk reinforcements until Turn 3.  It might be a long three turns. 

EEF advances
By Turn 3, EEF mounted infantry arrive near the bridge and come under fire from the Turkish gun.  The mounted infantry remains mounted and begins taking casualties.  Heavy casualties.  EEF forces are bearing down upon the vital bridge as Turkish reinforcements begin to arrive.
First shots of the battle.  Incoming!
Fighting escalates as the EEF continues to close.  Both Turk guns are now sending shells into the enemy and the machine gun infantry take up position along the wadi.  They prepare for a vigorous defense.  With the enemy pinned at the bridge, the Turks mount a flanking attack using the ford that only they know.  The enemy brings forward its tank screened by the mounted infantry and supported by artillery.  The mounted infantry is being cut to pieces!
Fighting intensifies at the bridge
 as the Turks attempt a flank attack.
Casualties rise in the hot fight at the bridge.
Having suffered heavily from artillery fire, the Egyptian mounted infantry peels off to the left to open a direct line of sight for the armor moving up the road.  The Turks continue exploiting the ford to bring one unit over to the opposite side.
Turks cross the wadi
as the enemy tank makes its way to the bridge.
The Turks keep up a steady barrage supported by machine gun fire at the bridge.  The tank suffers minor damage but presses on.  The EEF, to the front of the machine-gunning Turks, evaporates.  Now, two Turkish infantry units make it across the ford with a third signaling that it may be planning the same. 
As the Turkish flanking force presses on,
the enemy's attack at the bridge stalls.
  Casualties are high.
Seemingly out of nowhere, an enemy airplane is seen overhead.  The plane drops its bombs on the Turks protecting the bridge.  Casualties are frightful.  The air attack silences the machine guns.  They are unable to respond.   
Air attack!
Attacked from the air!
photo courtesy of Grid based wargaming
Still, the fight for the bridge continues with the tank and artillery trading shots.  Realizing the threat to its flank, the EEF begins to redeploy to address this new threat.  The flanking Turks swing about to prepare for action.
Turk flanking force swings into action.
Having its sights set on overrunning the Turkish gun, the tank lurches into action and then suddenly stops.  Boom!  There is an explosion inside the tank and it stops, dead. 
The tank is consumed in a ball of flame and smoke!
Artist's rendering of the moment.
photo courtesy of Grid based wargaming
With the tank dead on the road, the attack against the bridge stalls until units can be shifted over to renew the attack.  While fighting dies down at the bridge, the flanking force engages the enemy.  One Turk pins the enemy to its front as two units move up.  Are these Turks planning to launch a counterattack on the bridge from the enemy's side of the wadi?  EEF artillery shifts from targeting defenders at the bridge to the Turkish flanking force.
Activity switches to the flank attack.
Seeing the Turk mountain gun fall silent to small arms fire, the EEF mounted infantry turns about.  Looks like it is heading back to the village to prevent its capture.  Flanking firefight intensifies as a second Turk joins into the combat.  The enemy has had enough and retires back toward the road.  With the enemy infantry approaching the bridge, the badly mauled Turk infantry falls back. 
Heavy fighting on the flank.
Enemy is forced to retire from the firefight.
With the enemy pressing on toward the bridge, a second aircraft is seen overhead.  Again, the target is the unlucky Turk MG unit near the bridge.  Again, the Turks take a pounding.  This time, however, the defiant Turks crumble.
The enemy moves up another unit of infantry in preparation for storming across the bridge.  After taking so many casualties, the defending artillery fails to fire.  The flanking Turks continue suffering from artillery shelling.  Reaching the village looks impossible.
Turks in the flanking force continue to take fire.
Still, hope remains, and the Turks press on.  An EEF infantry unit is shattered as the Turk MG unit swings around to help interdict attacks across the bridge.  That move pays off and the enemy is cut down from behind.  Only one more enemy unit is within striking distance of the bridge.  That enemy unit moves into position but the clock has expired.
One EEF unit destroyed!
And another!
The Turks press on.
When the smoke clears from the heavy fighting, the EEF still holds the village and the bridge is contested.  A draw for the Turks!  There will be celebrations in Damascus but not by the EEF.  For them, their campaigning appears over.

The Turks hold out and turn back the invaders!

Victory Draw for the Turks!

Another fine game and scenario by Peter.  Good fun with a fight to the last turn and the last die roll.  Many thanks for hosting!  For the Palestinian campaign, this defeat may signal the end to the EEF's offensive.  They will never see Damascus.

What is next?

48 comments:

  1. A most enjoyable action report from the Turkish perspective. With a few more turns the Turks could have had a good shot at taking the town for a complete victory.

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    1. Glad you enjoyed my version of this heated affair. I don’t think a few more turns would have helped the Turks. I reckon your artillery positioned astride the road would taken out both of my infantry units before they could close.

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  2. Great report Jonathan and fun to see the battle from both players' point of view.

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    1. Thank you, Ben! Seeing a battle told from both perspectives offers up some useful insight. Peter and my versions match quite closely.

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  3. Wow, neat move with the flanking attack. Take the fight to the enemy when they least expect it, eh! When I saw the initial dispositions I didn’t think the game would last long enough for your reinforcements to arrive. Shame for Peter, but well done you.

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    1. I was skeptical about my chances to hold on until the bottom half of Turn 3 too. A flanking attack I figured necessary if I was going to attempt to fulfill the requirement of capturing the town.

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  4. Great looking game. Its good to read reports from both sides in a conflict eg "the tank breaks down" v "the tank is consumed in a ball of fire"!

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    1. Glad you enjoyed seeing the game from both sides. Having both players weigh-in on the action helps sort what really happened. The tank was consumed in a ball of fire!

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    2. A most enjoyable read - History is written by the victor!

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    3. Well, at least the victor can control the narrative.

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  5. Great game and entertaining report Jonathan.

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  6. I say what a fine game, most entertaining, with some stand out moments throughout. Particularly the "attack is the best form of defence" flank attack and the sudden breakdown of the tank which I think secured at least a draw.

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    1. Thank you, Phil! I appreciate your encouragement! Had the tank not broken down, I think the Turkish goose would have been cooked.

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  7. Great backs to the wall victory ! Lovely graphics too!
    Best Iain

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    1. Yeah, Peter’s comic book interpretations are fab! The Turks may not have this battle but they won they war. Hooray!

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  8. Good looking game, graphics add charm. Seems you just needed to go forward in time to gather a win. If the plane had not shown up......

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    1. Yes, Peter’s games are both handsome and playable; a perfect combination. If that only that plane hadn’t shown up…TWICE!

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  9. A very nice game Jonathan with well done commentary.

    Christopher

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  10. Just what blogs are best for, entertaining and inspiring readers! Well done to both parties.

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    1. Ross, great comment and very much appreciated. Thank you!

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  11. Ever since I started following Peter's blog the EFF has not had much success. seems like a draw is the best they can pull off which is not enough to overcome the Turks. Of course the Turks benefitted from your superior generalship. πŸ˜€πŸ˜€

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    1. The EEF needs to take the bridge without losing the village. Peter came very close to victory on this day. Peter may wonder if your viewership is jinxing his EEF's progress.

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    1. The game is all Peter's doing. It does look great, doesn't it?

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  13. Another excellent game Jon, although disappointing for the EEF that they cannot now reach Damascus on time. I was surprised by Peters aggressiveness...if I was told the scenario was a Turkish counter attack, I would have disposed the EEF to defend the town, and let the Turks advance over open ground under artillery, tank and small arms fire...

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    1. The game was very close and went down to the wire. To win, the EEF must take the bridge. Peter came so close to winning this one as there was little change of the Turks reaching the village.

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    2. Ok, I probably did not read that....makes a considerable difference in that case!

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    3. It does! The victory conditions state that whoever controls the bridge and village on or before T12 wins. I wonder if that is Sudden Death?

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  14. Up against tanks, planes and artillery, I'd say that was a very creditable draw. What killed the tank? Was it the artillery piece the tank was trying to attack?

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    1. Lawrence, I thought the Turks were at a disadvantage for sure. With planes buzzing overhead and dropping their ordnance on target, the situation looked bleak.

      If a tank fails an activation roll (which it did), it is destroyed. This happened to Peter in the last battle too.

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    2. That is quite a harsh rule, but then, Peter wrote them! I had thought a strategy might be to sit still and use the tank as a pill box, but if it can self immolate any time it fails an activation, sitting still has no advantage!

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    3. While Peter says armor was quite unreliable in the desert, having lost his armor in this fashion in the last two games may have him reconsidering.

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  15. Cracking AAR. Full of tension, even though I knew the outcome.
    Great scenario set-up by Peter.
    Chris

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    1. Thanks, Chris! Good to see that knowing the outcome beforehand did not spoil my account of the battle.

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  16. Great game report again, Jon. Once again, reading reports from both sides of the battle has been very entertaining. I love how perceptions differ, and how two generals read the game in dissimilar ways.
    Also, much impressed by the black and white ‘newspaper sketches’ taken from photo’s. No idea what software does something that clever, but I’m impressedπŸ‘πŸΌπŸ‘πŸΌπŸ‘πŸΌ

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    1. Thank you so much, Martin! It is always interesting to see a retrospective from both players. There is never enough time post-game for these game discussions so it is useful to bring these thoughts up in blog posts where we can collect our thoughts and impressions. After reading the Opposition Report, I sometimes wonder if we played the same game.

      I recall Peter saying the software used for the comic effect was an iOs app, Clip2Comic. I must give this a try.

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  17. A ding dong battle Jon and another close one πŸ‘

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  18. Another great battle there between the Turks and EEF and a close run thing, which went right down to the wire, which is good to see. Dare I say it a comfortable campaign win for the Turks in the end? To my mind the EEF never seemed to quite recover from the poor start in the first few games, or maybe I mis-remembering? Still a very enjoyable campaign to follow:).

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    1. Very enjoyable campaign, for sure. Based upon early reports from the front and the criteria stated at the beginning, the Turks appear to have stopped the drive to Damascus. However, early reports are not always accurate and rumblings have been filtering down that the campaign may continue...

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  19. That looks really good Jonathan, and a good write up.

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    1. Thank you, George! Happy to have your endorsement.

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  20. That was a very exciting report to follow! Congrats on the not-win! Definitely deserved sir.

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