This post reports the second game of our Gallabat-Metemma mini-campaign. Part 1 reported our first game and also provided some historical background and notes about how we organized our campaign.
Historically, while two companies of the Royal Garhwal regiment were recapturing the fort at Gallabat (see our report of Game 1), the other two companies, accompanied by two light tanks, bypassed the fort and advanced toward the Boundary Khor (the dry riverbed that marked the border between Sudan and Ethiopia). As they approached the khor, the Indian troops came under fire from Italian machine guns in the khor itself and in forward positions in Metemma. The Italians then counterattacked using two Eritrean colonial infantry battalions. Our second game simulated this phase of the battle. In campaign time, this game began very soon after our first game ended, at about 0800 hrs.
This map shows the operational area:
http://www.kaiserscross.com/96801/571722.html
Terrain: Our 9X5 foot table was set with the long axis running east-west. In order to get everything to fit on the table, the terrain features were slightly reduced in size, compared to the first game. The Boundary Khor ran across the table lengthwise, entering from the west near the SW corner, and exiting at the midpoint of the eastern edge.
The far western end of the table was dominated by the outer defenses of Fort Gallabat, which overlooked the Boundary Khor. In the NW corner behind the fort was a hill which gave the British artillery observers a good view over all of the areas of open ground. At the foot of the hill were two destroyed and four disabled British tanks, immobilized in a minefield where a track entered the table. The track ran past the fort and entered the small village of Gallabat, which was surrounded by a zariba (thorn hedge). The track then crossed the khor and continued toward Metemma (off table), passing the customs house. An area of cleared ground separated the fort from the heavy brush and elephant grass that covered most of the remainder of the table on the Sudanese side of the khor. The Ethiopian side of the khor was open ground except for a few clumps of trees growing along the khor. The forward edge of the belt of barbed wire that surrounded Metemma along with a few weapons pits completed the terrain on the Ethiopian side of the table. The rising ground on the Ethiopian side gave off-table Italian artillery observers a good view of the open ground on the table. Neither side’s observers could see very far into the thick bush. As in all of the games in this series, the ground was too hard and rocky for troops to dig in during the game, and the brushy areas were hazardous to moving vehicles due to the presence of concealed boulders.
Very significantly, the tributary named Khor Marian Waha that flows into the Boundary Khor on the eastern side of Metemma (see map) was off the eastern edge of the table, and its existence was unknown to the British players. It seems that the British did not make a very thorough reconnaissance of the ground before the historical battle, so it is plausible that they might have missed the potential significance of this feature, and its off-board presence in our game was intended to give the Italians a concealed axis of advance onto the table that might give the British a rude surprise.
Forces and Deployments:
The British were deployed historically, except all of the tanks had been used in Game 1 to attack the fort, so all of the tanks that were still operational started this game at the fort.
The British started with one infantry company from the Essex battalion occupying the defenses of Fort Gallabat. Four Vickers light tanks were within the defenses, and two Cruiser tanks were on the track outside the fort. Two companies of Garhwali infantry were in the bush advancing toward the khor. Each infantry company had two HMGs in support. Off-table to the north, three companies of the Essex battalion were held in reserve. During the game, the British commanders could commit any or all of these reserve companies to the table, to arrive anywhere along the British baseline after a slight delay.
Historically, one of the British artillery batteries had been ordered to move to a more forward position, so that battery was not available in this game. This left the British with two off-table batteries, with observers on the hill above the fort. Those batteries were given the choice of firing at Italian units on the table, or suppressing the off-table Italian artillery in Metemma, and they did a mix of both during the game.
The British infantry was rated Reluctant Trained; the Indian infantry (represented by Australian figures) was Fearless Trained, the British armor was Confident Trained, and the British artillery was Confident Veteran.
Historically, the Eritrean troops pressed their counterattack with some vigor and endured heavy casualties, so for this game their morale was raised to Confident Trained (many of the Eritrean troops are represented by Italian figures in the game). We know very few details about this action, so the Italians were given a great deal of latitude in their deployment. They deployed two infantry companies, four machine guns, and four ATRs on the table. The Italians placed all of these assets in the western and central parts of their set up area, within the khor facing Fort Gallabat, and in the weapons pits and in the customs house inside the barbed wire. Thus all of the support weapons and some of the troops benefitted from being in bulletproof cover.
The remaining five Eritrean infantry companies could enter the table from anywhere along the Italian baseline, or from the eastern side of the table, using the off-table khor to mask their movement. Any units advancing via the eastern khor would move off-table 8 inches per turn and then could enter the table from that point on the following turn. The Italians decided to commit three companies to advance along the eastern khor. The remaining two companies were held in reserve off-table, ready to be committed as required. Four HMGs were distributed among the attacking companies.
The Italians also had two off-table batteries of light artillery. The Italian guns did not have the range to counter the British artillery, but they could be suppressed by the British artillery. If that happened, each suppressed battery would have to unpin before it could fire in the turn.
Finally, twenty Italian bombers with a strong fighter escort would arrive later in the game. This would give the Italians ten airstrikes to use against the British on the table. This wave of aircraft was the first of four waves to arrive on this day.
Objectives:
The British orders were to cross the Boundary Khor and establish a bridgehead from which an attack on Metemma could be mounted. Also, being a campaign game, the unstated objective for both sides was to reduce the enemy and preserve your own forces.
The Italian objective was to counterattack and disrupt the British offensive, causing as much damage as possible, for the least cost.
Special Rules:
The British were given an opportunity to repair some of their disabled tanks. First, the minefield had to be cleared, and a platoon of sappers was provided for this purpose. On each turn, the British player rolled one die and recorded the result, and when the dice rolls totaled 12+ the mines would be cleared. Once the mines were cleared, the maintenance truck with spare parts could enter the table via the track, and repairs to the tanks could begin. The process for tank repair was the same, with an accumulated total of 10+ being needed for each tank. Any repaired tanks could return to action.
The still-operational tanks had expended most of their ammunition in support of the earlier attack on Fort Gallabat. Thus, each tank rolled a D6+2 for their machine guns and main guns to determine how many turns of ammunition they had for this game. Command of the tanks was given to our most diligent player, who we knew would keep track of the ammunition correctly! An ammunition supply truck was provided which could enter the table via the track after the mines were cleared, and which could reload the tanks if required.
Battle Report: The game stated slowly, with the British moving first. The British artillery suppressed the Italian artillery, and the opposing forces near the fort took pot shots at each other, which did almost no harm because the targets were in bulletproof cover. The light tanks began to exit the fort and moved toward the Italians in the khor. The two Garhwali companies advanced through the bush toward the Boundary Khor. The sappers began clearing the mines around the disabled tanks. Thanks to a run of good dice rolls, the mines were swiftly cleared, and three tanks were eventually repaired.
On their turn, the Italians sat tight in their starting positions. Over the next several British turns, the light tanks moved toward the khor to engage the Eritreans near Gallabat, and lost one tank to antitank rifle fire. A lucky machine gun shot then eliminated the ATR. A British infantry platoon exited the fort to follow the tanks, and was caught by an Italian artillery strike. The survivors of this platoon quickly returned to the fort. The light tanks moved to the edge of the khor, and then became aware that the sides of the khor were too steep for vehicles to traverse. The tanks halted on the edge and fired their machine guns at the Eritreans who were taking cover in the khor. The Eritrean infantry then assaulted the tanks, which broke off and pulled back toward the fort. An infantry platoon that had started to move up to support the tanks also retired back into the fort.
On the rest of the table, with very little opposition in sight, the Gharhwalis continued to advance, and soon their leading platoons were entering the Boundary Khor in the central and eastern parts of the table. One platoon on the far eastern flank pushed across the khor some distance into Ethiopia. This platoon then became aware of the Eritrean troops moving off-table, but by then it was too late to react.
The Eritrean flanking force then entered the table and all hell broke loose on the eastern flank. Two companies entered the table near the Boundary Khor, and the third company surrounded the leading Garhwali platoon on three sides. Those brave Garhwalis beat back three assaults in one turn, and in the process virtually destroyed an entire Eritrean company!
The not-as-brave Eritreans then stood off at a distance and shot down the few survivors of the isolated Garhwali platoon. A second Garhwali platoon near the khor soon suffered the same fate.
Seeing a major enemy counterattack developing in the east, the British commanders summoned two British infantry companies from the reserve. Those two companies soon appeared, and advanced through the bush to link up with the embattled Garhwalis. Their presence helped to stabilize the situation on the British left flank. The Eritreans were holding the Boundary Khor on its eastern and western ends, and the Garhwalis were holding the khor in the center of the table. The British artillery shifted from suppressing the Italian guns to hitting the Eritreans behind the wire in front of Metemma, causing heavy casualties and knocking out the support weapons.
The Italians then committed another infantry company from their reserve, which entered from the eastern end of their baseline. It would take a few turns for this fresh company to reach the forward edge of the battle.
At this point the Italian air force arrived and began bombing the British. The first strike hit the area where the tanks were bing repaired. One disabled tank was destroyed, along with the truck carrying all of the spare tank parts. No more tanks would be repaired during the campaign.
Other airstrikes were directed at the British troops holding the fort, and one of them knocked out a light tank that was caught in the bombing pattern. Further strikes hit the Indian troops in the khor, along with some Italian artillery strikes, which thinned their ranks.
This enabled the Eritreans to make some limited assaults on the flanks of the Allied troops in the khor, which reduced their presence to a small area in the center of the khor.
At that point the game ended. Both sides had damaged the other about equally. The losses to the Indian troops were severe, and the Garhwali battalion was just about knocked out of the campaign. The two lost British tanks were more than compensated for by the repair of three tanks. The Italians lost all but one of their precious antitank rifles, and about two companies of Eritrean infantry. So both sides were left battered but unbowed. Both sides still had much to play for in the campaign. Stay tuned for Part Three!
- TJ
Great narrative at the end after an excellent description of the set up – I like campaigns where day of battle is not the only objective so this has been really good in that losses are carried forward. Thanks for the effort required to put a post like this together.