Author	wleonard1
Method	Solo
Victor	Ethiopia
Play Date	2020-11-25
Language	English
Scenario	COOE007

This scenario sets up on two boards almost as two separate battles. A battalion of Italian allies wants to push a group of local mercenaries out of a village on the south board; a second battalion of Italian colonial troops wants to capture a fort from a group of Ethiopian regulars on a ridge on the north board. Moving between the boards is discouraged by heavy mud that reduces everyone’s movement, everywhere.

No subtlety on the south front; the Italian militia moves right up to the village and starts taking fire. There is some more maneuver up north; the Italians circle around to approach the fort from the west; the Ethiopians redeploy to face the new threat axis. After an hour, the Ethiopian regulars have redeployed , but the Italian colonials are making some progress in assaults on the front line. Olol Dinle’s forces in the south are not so fortunate in their assaults on the village; six lost steps and a lot of disruptions and demoralizations for not much progress.

The next hour is close to an even fight in the north; Italian airstrikes help soften up the Ethiopian front line, but Italy has not yet broken through. Bad news for Italy in the south – they are pushed out of the village hexes, and Ethiopia finally extricates a leader from an assault hex to get the reserves moving forward. As we reach the halfway point, Italy has broken the Ethiopian defense line in the north, but has not yet been able to rally and approach the fort. And the air support has run out. In the south, Ethiopia has started to pursue the Italian militia, but has again made the mistake of tying up all of their leaders in assaults, so the rest of the troops can’t move toward the enemy.

It takes an hour, but the Italian troops in the north finally close up adjacent to the fort. One assault is pushed back, but a second may be imminent. Hamid Badil’s Ethiopian irregulars continue to push Olol Dinle’s troops away from the southern village. Ethiopia looks to have a secure minor victory. Ethiopian Major/Italian minor hopes will rest on control of the fort. The second assault on the fort goes in as darkness falls. A couple of step losses for both sides, lots of disruption and demoralizations, but the Ethiopian garrison holds on to the fort. With keeping the village as well, that’s a major victory for Ethiopia.

Overall, not as lopsided a battle as the final score might indicate. A couple more airplanes that could find targets, one or two better assault rolls, and the battle easily could have gone the other way. This play ran as two completely separate battles, except for allocating air support and initiative between the two battles. Mud slows down movement between the village and the fort, but the Italian Bande are effectively twice as fast as the Ethiopians, and might easily be able to concentrate against one objective initially. It would then be down to the wire to see if they could reach the second objective in time.

Author	treadasaurusrex (Ethiopia)
Method	VASSAL
Victor	Ethiopia
Participants	CavDo (AAR)
Play Date	2023-08-15
Language	English
Scenario	COOE007

This was a 5-session slugfest, with tragically little maneuver and without armor. As others have noted, it is a tale of 2 nearly separate battles on 2 different map boards. I led the 2-part, dug-in, defending Ethiopian force, and the hard-fighting, CavDo had the attacking Italian colonial allies/mercenaries in this decently-balanced - but very muddy - African shoot 'em up. We used the FOW and excess initiative optional rules in this exotic scenario, and both sides drew crummy leaders. There were 7 FOW-shortened turns in this play-through that once again materially benefited the defending side, especially on the southern half of the battle map, where they held the village for the entire game. This was repeated on the ridge in the north map, where a lengthy, seesaw fight saw the Ethiopians eventually prevail over the Italian mercs, thanks principally to their attack sequences being discombobulated by the FOW and the back-and-forth struggle over the entrenched fort. There were an amazing number of disruptions & demoralizations in this fight on both fronts that we lost track of. With a couple of exceptions, Italian air strikes were remarkably ineffective, and leader casualties in close assaults were heavy for both sides. In the south, the Italian approach to the village was direct and costly. I the north, frequent disruptions and the westerly approach combined to undermine the strength of the Italian allies by the time that they were decisively engaged.

In the end, The Ethiopian garrisons held the fort & the village, resulting in a major victory for Ethiopia. This one could have gone either way and truly hinged on the Italian air support failing to locate their targets, and the endless number of morale recovery rolls whose successes tended to favor the Ethiopian side. Close assault rolls also slightly favored the Ethiopians, though the step losses were high for both sides. A stronger focus on a single objective might have yielded an Italian victory, or at least a draw, since the Italian allies are faster than their Ethiopian counterparts. Here the deciding factor was actually the turns that were lost to early FOW throws, which, when combined with the effects of the mud, decisively slowed the Italian tide. I give this one a generous rating of 4, since it was fun to play with a challenging & determined opponent, though the special scenario rules made it a bit of a slog. IMHO, this frustrating scenario is best played in SOLO mode

Author	CavDo (Italy)
Method	VASSAL
Victor	Ethiopia
Participants	treadasaurusrex (AAR)
Play Date	2023-08-15
Language	English
Scenario	COOE007

Like my opponent reported, this was a very frustrating battle, that might have gone either way. It was entertaining, but played like another Verdun, but in the muddy wilds of Ethiopia.

I would avoid this exasperating scenario in shared play. Will be playing it again in solo mode.