I bought AOI on a lark. I know next to nothng about the East Africa .campaign. But once I opened the box I was bitten. Now I'm in the hunt for literature on the subject (only know of one recent book The First Victory Stewart, 2016) The game featurees 6 battle campaigns and historical text; a wonderful addition to PG that I've come to expect. One thing I’d like to see is the geographical location map pinpointing each scenario and a bibliography for the history of each campaign so the player can read up on the subject as he or she desiires.

On to scenario #1. It is a very mall scenario; 17 counters. This is smallest I've ever played. In fact, I was loath to play it because I didn't think I was going to have much fun. But it turned out to be a very tense play.

The object for each side is simple: Capture the villages on board #91. Historically, the Italians tried to raid the British outpost at Moyale, Kenya on July 1, 1940. (This was the 1st ground action but not the 1st action of the campaign. An air attack on Wajir, Kenya happened on June 13). The Kings African Rifles held the fort and even captured the enemy outpost on turn #14. By this time, There was no opposition to the KAR. They won the initiative for that last turn and finally took advantage of 4 steps destroyed to the Italian 25th Colonial Infantry too many losses late in the game. By contrast, the KAR lost 1.

It felt like I was playing a good game of chess. Butit came down to die rolling. The main KAR force was surrounded by the Italians but they punched a hole in th the net and captured their village on turn 14, ending the game.