COOE010 
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Blood on Amba Tzellere Conquest of Ethiopia #11 |
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| (Attacker) Italy | vs | Ethiopia (Defender) |
| Formations Involved |
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| Overall Rating, 3 votes |
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3.33
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| Scenario Rank: --- of 940 |
| Parent Game | Conquest of Ethiopia |
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| Historicity | Historical |
| Date | 1935-12-22 |
| Start Time | 14:00 |
| Turn Count | 20 |
| Visibility | Day & Night |
| Counters | 128 |
| Net Morale | 0 |
| Net Initiative | 0 |
| Maps | 4: 85, 87, 89, 91 |
| Layout Dimensions | 86 x 56 cm 34 x 22 in |
| Play Bounty | 188 |
| AAR Bounty | 171 |
| Total Plays | 2 |
| Total AARs | 1 |
| Battle Types |
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| Hill Control |
| Inflict Enemy Casualties |
| Conditions |
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| Hidden Units |
| Randomly-drawn Aircraft |
| Reinforcements |
| Terrain Mods |
| Scenario Requirements & Playability | |
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| Conquest of Ethiopia | Base Game |
| Introduction |
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In the days following the clash at Debra Ambà the Ethiopian forces regrouped in the Abbi Addi area, increasing the pressure on the Italians deployed there. To relieve the threat, high command directed General Lorenzo Dalmazzo to take his 2nd Eritrean Brigade to reinforce them and assume command. Once situated, Dalmazzo decided to capture Ambà Tzellerè, the source of Ethiopians attacks on Abbi Addi. |
| Conclusion |
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The Eritreans fought bravely but bogged down in the woods and rough terrain. The Eritrean battalions suffered heavy casualties but displayed great heroism to save their artillery from destruction in episodes that saw the tubes fired over open sights at ranges of 50 meters! Just as the commander was considering calling off the attack, the II and IV Battalions of the MVSN began to arrive, bolstering the force. Ultimately, the Italians failed despite bombastic fascist propaganda claiming the Blackshirts successfully captured Ambà Tzellerè. On the contrary, both Badoglio and Diamanti admitted that the attack was a flop, and Badoglio blamed Dalmazzo for his decision to retreat just when the battle was nearly won. Of course Badoglio was not present so it’s hard to second guess the commander in the field (not that this often stopped Badoglio). In any case, the episode clinched the decision to abandon Addi Abbi after burning the village in spite, and the column retreated toward the Uarieu Pass to avoid the danger of encirclement posed by the converging Ras Sejum and Ras Cassa forces. Shortly thereafter the Italians began deploying chemical weapons against the Ethiopians. |
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| Ethiopian Imperial Army |
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| Imperial Irregulars |
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| Sefari |
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| Milizia Volontaria per la Sicurezza Nazionale |
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| Regio Corpo di Truppe Coloniali |
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| Regio Esercito |
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| Another East African Slugfrest in the Rocky Hills of Ethiopia | ||||||||||||||
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This was an intense, 7-session, 4-map, play-through in the wilds of Ethiopia that started as a face-to-face battle, but we were forced to convert to Vassal due to a pet-and-grandchild-related invasion. Tambu ably-led the attacking Italian horde and I had the Ethiopian defenders on hilly, Map 85. We used the FOW, consolidation, smoke, excess initiative optional rules, and drew middling sets of leaders. This one was rather tedious to get through at 20 game turns, It would be better at about 18 turns in length, with standardized morale values, and less obstructive special scenario rules, e.g., amba climbing rolls. We experimented with these 2 house rules: 1) Road Movement for Mechanized & Foot Units - All FOOT & MECHANIZED units may move on roads at the rate of 1/2 a Movement Point (MP) per road hex, just like MOTORIZED units, and 2) Dug In Units are Automatically in Limiting Terrain in Desert Games - Unless prohibited by special scenario rules, ALL units that are dug-in on slope hexes are considered to be in limiting terrain and are spotted if enemy units approach to within 3 hexes, or 4 hexes for reconnaissance units – unless they are marked with a spotted marker, see 8.22. This was a high casualty slugfest for both sides, but especially for the Italian attackers who lost 7 leaders and suffered a disasterous, senior leader decapitation during game turn 13. The Italians changed directly & diagonally across the battle map, and their reinforcements were delayed until the 12th game turn. This led to very heavy fighting and many step loses in adjacent-hex firefights and multiple close assaults. The Ethiopians inflicted substantially more casualties than they absorbed & managed to hold the crucial amba hexes to the end. We both give this one a solid rating of 3 in SHARED mode, as it as mostly fun to play - though probably not properly play tested, and more fiddly than needed. It would probably be a better go in SOLO mode. |
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| 1 Comment |
Oh my!
Let the record show that my generous & discriminating opponent rated this one as deserving a 3!
This may be a first!