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Scenario Author:
RhinoBones
Author's E-mail Address:
RhinoBones@aol.com
Last Scenario Revision Date:
May 18, 1999
VERSION 1.0
Background
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January of 1915, high up in the Caucasus Mountains, the Russian army was bitterly engaged with the Turks in the Battle of Sarikamis. During this brutal battle men were dying faster from freezing than the enemy could kill them with their weapons. The Russians called upon their allies to attack the Turks on a different front in order to provide some relief for their desperate soldiers. Considering that the Russians had more than filled their obligations to provide the same type of relief to their western allies, the Russian call was more than justified. Thus was set into motion the western campaign which would finally end in defeat at Gallipoli.
The British had first tested the defenses of the Gallipoli pennisula in November 1914 by conducting a naval bombardment of the Turkish fortresses guarding the Dardanelle narrows. A short 20 minute bombardment was all that was needed to dismount all of the guns at the fort guarding Sedd-el-Bahr. The British Admirality was jubilent that a naval force could push it's way through the narrows with such easy and it was obvious that the navy would then be able to enter the Sea of Marmara and invest Constantinople. A plan was formulated which envisioned the opening of the straits to allow allied traffic a direct route to Russia and at the same time divert Turkish troops from the Caucasus to the Dardanelles.
At the disposal of the British commander, Admiral Carden, were a number of obsolete battleships which were unsuitable for facing the Germans in the North Sea but, with their 12 inch guns, were more than adequate for shore bombardment. These ships, supported by approximately 12,000 infantry based on the Island of Limnos, a French battleship squadron and some mine sweepers were available to do the job. The Admirality issued the order, "to prepare for a naval expedition in February, to bombard and take the Gallipoli Peninsula, with Constantinolpe as its objective".
The battle was joined early in March; the allied battleships pounded the forts, mine sweepers cleaned the narrows as best they could, the forts returned accurate fire (most guns were manned by German crews) while mobile artillery along the shores peppered the allies with harassing fire. The news was enchouraging to the allies until about 2 pm on the 18th. At that time the old French battleship Bouvet suddenly exploded and sank. The British surmised that a luckly shot had been scored by the Turks. About two hours later the English battleships Inflexible and Irresistible struck mines, and a third, Ocean, struck a mine while engaged in rescue operations. Fully one third of the allied fleet had been put out of action by the mine field.
The timing of events was indeed lucky for the Turks for their supply of shells and mines was nearly exhausted. The allies were on the verge of victory before failing to error on the side of caution.
The initial reaction of the British was to continue the assault, however, after consideration it was thought that the Turks were floating mines down the narrows and that it would be futile to attempt to sweep the mines while under the guns of the forts. The decision was made to withdraw and wait for the arrival of a sizeable infantry component to open the narrows for the navy. The achievements and suffering of the ANZAC, British and French infantry at Gallipoli would be recorded in history during the next phase of the campaign.
To this day military historians still ponder how the allied naval forces
had hoped to invest Constantinople with a force of battleships .
. . since they were unable to accomplish the forcing of the
narrows, we can only surmise what they would have done upon reaching the
objective.
Victory Conditions
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Constantinople is the one and only objective. The British must capture and hold the prize until the end of the scenario. If the Turks are able to recapture Constantinople prior to the last Allied turn, the game engine will immediately end the scenario and score it as a Turkish Victory
Remarks
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This scenario is designed to be played from the Allied (British, French) side. The Turkish side should be played by the AI with the AI set to the Aggressive Defense setting (red computer icon).
Cheyenne games are possible, however, since the game is designed for the Turkish side to be played by the AI, you should expect that the Turkish Cheyenne player will have a distinct advantage. Since there is very little pretige available (and nothing for the Central Powers to buy) balancing adjustment should be made to the allied side by adding +3 prestige.
Last Update Changes
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