This big battle lasted WAY too long and finally resulted in an Italian victory after 20 face-to-face sessions. I led the Italians & their African Allies, while the doughty and courageous Tambu fought very hard for Ethiopia.

Please check his detailed AAR on this one, as I lost count of such things as combat 7-die rolls - there were many - FOW-shortened game turns - there were plenty of these as well - and the huge number of step losses. Oh, and I Lost track of the countless Ethiopian counter attacks & close assaults, too. Plus, we had this game on the table for about 8 weeks, so both sides were periodically attacked by the local fauna, in the form of small, very curious, relatives!

Maneuver was rather circumscribed in this encounter, and it was a massive, die rolling ordeal to get through, but it was relatively balanced and hard to win against a skilled and able opponent.

In the end, Ras Immirù did get himself killed, late in the game which was just enough to give the surging Italians the edge that they desperately needed to make this one into a costly victory for il Duce.

I give this one a 4, in shared play, but as published, it is probably better played online in Vassal, or in SOLO mode. A rewrite that splits it into two or more separate scenarios would make it a better & quicker play-through, IMHO. The more experienced player should handle the defending embattled Ethiopians.

I'm afraid that my too-generous and wily opponent, has overestimated my ability to tell the story of this epic, face-to-face fight. Especially for a slightly tedious and boring scenario that was played without tanks on either side.

I will say that inspite of my best efforts and the repeated, plagues of inquisitive grand children, we had to rebuild the battle map at least 4 times to finish our 20-session struggle.

The general flow of this fight was simple: I setup the Ethiopian side in the best terrain available, with ample reserves nearby, and waited for the Italians to make a mistake. Unfortunately, they did not make many. And I counter-attacked, too many times losing too many units in the bargain. I had good luck in most ways for the first 6 or so turns, and then things started sliding into the dumpster.

This is called playing to not lose, rather than playing for the win. It was a mistake, when playing a relentless opponent who is always on offense, and who never cedes the initiative. This is something that I have yet to learn.

This one deserves a 3 in shared play. As always, you learn more from your mistakes, than your successes.