Entrenchments in river/bridge hexes and/or airfield hexes.

[Brett Nicholson]

Brett,

reading the historical intro etc and seeing as it is the mouth of the Juba river, I would say it is a Major river and thats why they need the only bridge in that area as VC's.

The scenario 'Other' section on card 1 is poor not to mention what type of river this is and it should be submitted for errata by yourself. It seems strange that none of the five other plays have mentioned it. There are no crossing numbers probably because there are no ENG units, but one could argue that there are no crossing numbers because it is a Minor river. Either way, major or minor is usually clarified in the 'other' section of the scenario card.

ALL modifiers count in assault, there are no maximums. So stack em' up if they apply bud !! The -2 for the river is only in the first round though.

The bridge negates the -2 for assaulting into a major river. This -2 is for an opposed ENG crossing of a Major river hex, or if not crossing, it counts that the 'defenders' are probably lined along the bank taking easy pickings at enemy units entering the bank side on the other side of the river. Remember, assault is not always hand to hand if hardly ever. But instead, close in SMG, Grenade throwing nose-to-nose point blank fighting, with both sides trying to out-stealth the others as well as kill em'.

I find the scenario kind of vague in areas. For instance, the South African victory conditions state that the airfield hexes must be controlled and that either the town on map three OR the bridge must also be in South African control. Well, if this is a major river and there are no ENG units then the bridge has to be taken as there is no other way across the river to the airfield. Anyway, thanks for clearing up the bridge matter in the case of assaults and glad I placed one of the entrenchments at the airfield as that is where I placed half my force. I'm on the 10th turn and the South Africans are just now in the vicinity of the bridge.This by the way has been a very fun scenario so far; Italian colonials are some of the quirkiest units with the Bande units behaving like bumbling keystone cops. The first real battle at the bridge should be interesting. With 21 turns left to go the colonials still have a shot at it. I will finish the play as counting the river as major as it would be an easy rollover if South African foot units could bypass the bridge to the other side and storm the airfield as the town on map 3 is just about secured. Thanks again Vince!