Ok, maybe not a cigar, but if you have Gurkhas, then you are in a good position. This was the second game in the journey that Wayne B. and I are taking through Indian Unity, which is turning out to be a group of great little scenarios that have gone down to the wire in both games so far.

Tuljapur Ridge pits an Indian force made up primarily of Gurkha fighters with a platoon of Indian Sappers and Shermans along with a mortar company and artillery. The Hyderabadis deployed with a 25 pdr on the 80m hill to the north of town, the 17 pdr on the eastern edge of town and the 6pdr protecting the west.

In the three sessions, the battle seemed to teeter one way then the other. Initially, The Indian units approached and tried desparately to soften up the defenses with artillery bombardment and were unable to do that. The Hyderabadi 17pdr and 25 pdr guns, however, had a field day as 3 steps of Shermans were destroyed by the end of turn 4 along with 2 RIF and 1 SAP units. The Hyderabadi losses were 1 step of HMG and RIF units. However, after the 4th turn, things seem to turn for the Indians as a two-pronged attack was launched with several RIF units, the SAP and the Sherman attacking the northern hill, with the remaining INF and HMGs attacking the center, following an artillery barrage allowing them to close to begin assaulting at will. As expected, once the Gurkhas were able to "lock horns" with the Hyderabadis, it became a turkey shoot as they were able to cut through and assault the Hyderabad strongpoints, taking out the key positions with the 25 and 17 pdr guns, allowing the rest of the Indian units to move at will. It wasn't until the town was almost taken when the realization hit that if I could spread the Hyderabads and force assaults with leaders and eliminate them, any units affected by morale couild no longer threaten the objective locations as there was no one to direct them. That become the primary focus of the remaining Indian assaults and attacks, pinpointing the leaders and attempting to eliminate then and force the remaining units to flee off the hills. There were several points in the end game where several canny moves by Wayne forced me to counter, and bringing the game almost to the last turn. In the end, a failed Hyderabad rush to retake the hill was repulsed and the victory was secured.

In our sessions with Indian Unity, it seems that each session favored one or the other but in the end, the battle played far closer than either of us expected. Once again, having the multiple objective victory conditions does make it a challenge for the Indians and an interesting tactical puzzle. In the end, the Gurkhas did make the difference in this battle, but it was a see-saw affair that was extremely fun to play.