Keren

I'm making this nice little game for Revolution games. 17x11", about 130 counters and...4 pages of rules

http://www.kangerproject.com/eritrea/Keren-show3.jpg

De quoi parle le jeu, je je suis pas sûr de connaître

Fréd, my dear friend, it's elementary . It is the allied invasion of Italian East Africa in 1941. The game depicts the fighting in the north - Eritrea - where the hardest fighting took place:

Obvious indeed

I saw a french unit on the screenshot accessible through the link you provided.
What side were they on? Axis or Allies?

That's a very original topic which should interest our No Turkeys friends...

They are the free French. Two more free French batallions will arrive as reinforcement at the northern map edge. Among them the a unit from 13 DBLE.

The only Vichy French in the neighbourhood were the garrison units at Djibouti

Hi.
It's a very interesting theater of operation.
I know only two previous (old) games
East Africa (ST 130) and Bloody Keren (W59).
The first one covers the whole Theater (and in my opinion) is at a bad scale.
But Bloody Keren seems to cover the same operation, the northern Eritreian part of the campaign.

Is the scale the same ? (battalion size) What sorts of differences can we found in the system ?

I have been inspired by Bloody Keren although I have a slightly different order of battle. The system is my own and is meant to be easy but still a bit elegant. Each side does:
Reinforcements - Supply check - Move - Enemy reaction move - Combat - Exploitation move.

Having the reaction and exploitation moves combined with short supply lines makes the positions of your units important.

I decided to have Italian spelling on all towns (except Kassala, of course). So Keren will no be Cheren.

Roger Miller and I will play through a game of "Road to Cheren". If you wish, please join us here: http://talk.consimworld.com/WebX/.1dd75b2a/21

Merci pour le lien.

I have just finished another session with Roger Miller http://talk.consimworld.com/WebX/.1dd75b2a and I'm very pleased with the game. A perfect tournament game. I will make some final adjustments and that will be it.

Thanks for the news.

Hello Mr. Kanger

The battle of Cheren is of course well remembered in Italy, at least among those who have interest in history, as an important feat of arms of WW2. I'm glad to see such a fine little game on this often overlooked subject.

I also have a question for you.

I see in the countersheet on CSW two mountain units (battalion-sized) named "Alpini" and "Savoia". I'm not an expert of this period but I can find only one Alpini battalion in AOI in 1940: it's the alpini battalion "Uork Amba" which was part of the 10th Grenadier Regiment of the 65th "Granatieri di Savoia" Division. Could you explain what units are represented by the two counters?

Bonjour M. Kanger

La bataille de Cheren est un episode dont naturellement on se souvient bien en Italie, au moins parmi ceux qui s'intéressent à l'histoire, comme d'un fait d'armes important de la WW2. Je suis content de voir un excellent petit jeu sur ce sujet souvent négligé.

J'ai aussi une question pour vous.

Je vois que dans la planche des pions on CSW il y a deux unités de troupes de montagne (taille d'un bataillon) nommées «Alpini» et «Savoia». Je ne suis pas un expert de cette période, mais je ne trouve qu'un seul bataillon Alpini en AOI en 1940: c'est le bataillon alpini "Uork Amba", qui faisait partie du 10ème régiment de grenadiers de la 65ème Division "Granatieri di Savoia" . Pourriez-vous expliquer quelles unités sont représentées par ces deux pions?

Hi Tristan,

One is the Alpini. The other unit is a battalion of Bersaglieri. I have always considered them to be mountain troops, but perhaps that is not totally correct.

J'ai lu la critique dans VV du jeu du magazine World at War...sans doute la critique la plus dure parue dans l'histoire du magazine...

And that game: Keren, has, of course, nothing to do with my game: The road to Cheren.

Then start making your marketing to avoid confusion on the French market

Kim Kanger a écrit:Hi Tristan,

One is the Alpini. The other unit is a battalion of Bersaglieri. I have always considered them to be mountain troops, but perhaps that is not totally correct.

Thank you Mr. Kanger,

In fact they're rather a kind of light infantry. "Bersaglio" in Italian means "target", so a "bersagliere" is a sharpshooter, more or less the equivalent of "chasseur" or "tirailleur". They were also famous as bycicle troops.

For a short history you can see the article on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bersaglieri

One of the counters is then the Battaglione bersaglieri d'Africa which was part of the 11th Grenadier Regiment of the 65th "Granatieri di Savoia" Division.

"The road to Cheren" is the final title of the game?

Merci M. Kanger,

En effet ils sont plutôt de l'infanterie légère. "Bersaglio" en italien signifie "cible": donc a "bersagliere" est un tireur, à peu près un équivalent de "chasseur" ou "tirailleur". Célèbres les bersaglieri cyclistes.

L'article dans Wikipedia donne une petite synthèse historique.

Un des deux pions est donc le Battaglione bersaglieri d'Africa intégré au 11ème régiment de grenadiers de la 65ème Division "Granatieri di Savoia"

"The road to Cheren" est le titre final du jeu?

I can change the unit symbol into a normal infantry symbol. Yes, "The road to Cheren" will be the title.

Just to emphasize the difference between Keren in World at war and my game is that Keren only covers the battle itself. The road to Cheren covers the whole campaign from Kassala in Sudan to Massaua at the Red sea coast.

There was only one Alpini battalion in AOI, the battalion "Uork Amba", however it consists of company command, a platoon transmissions, Platoon recon, heavy weapons platoon, Platoon guns and four rifle companies. It was the corps battallion which had the greatest organic.
Was dissolved in April 1941 after being almost completely destroyed.

Kim you know when it is published your game?

PS I approve your decision to use Italian terms

I believe the game will be published already in February.

PS I approve your decision to use Italian term

Grazie

http://www.revolutiongames.us/

If you want to read about the campaign, then read this: http://ourstory.info/library/4-ww2/Ball/fire01.html

Good news. Thanks.