An stunning looking game, very impressive.     

More great stuff Martin - sorry we interrupted the narrative!

Paul
Hello. The sea is formed from green A4 acetate sheets, cut to shape, cellotaped together and just laid over my game cloth. An idea shamelessly copied from another gamer's blog.

Like we used to use with OHPs

That is surprising effective on a large scale

I've used that approach for lakes, ponds and bogs. Painted them underneath (in reverse order) with a bit of paint on top for the bogs

However, this company had drawn the Turkish fire allowing men below the tower to cut the wire unhindered. This enabled Munsters on the beach to rush up into the Old Fort in the nick of time. The firefight here with the village had gone badly, the Dublins were down to a half-platoon. (Photo21)

The village defenders knew of the battalion plan to reinforce the coastal defences once attacked. Was a reserve company ever going to come to their aid? 11th Company had forced marched from inland. (Forced march!? They obviously needed a rest because it took two turns to deploy from a Blind! After waiting ten turns of the Blank Card to get them on-table, I needed them quickly). With the enemy strength increasing had the moment passed? It was a snap decision: reinforce the village or counter-attack the Old Fort and drive the enemy back into the sea? (Photo22)

With cries of "Allah!", 11th Company launched itself down the road towards the gateway. (Photo23)

The close combat was short and bloody, with losses to both sides. The Munsters held and the Turks withdrew to the village. (Photo24)

Having lost all their own officers, the Munsters were rallied by those of the Dublins. They had orders to attack the village. The Turks couldn't be given time to re-establish a defence of the village. With another company skirting below the seaward walls, the Munsters delivered a joint attack, fighting two separate close combats. (Photo25)

The Munsters were out for revenge and bloodied their bayonets! (Jase hadn't thrown particularly well all day. Until now. I swore at the number of sixes!) 10th Company men died in the houses. 11th Company died in the open street, its survivors routing far along the Krithia Road. The Munsters hadn't lost a man! (Photo26)

The British commander paced the bridge of the River Clyde. The battle had moved beyond his effective control. He had to move his HQ ashore. Before him the last remaining company of Dublins had just landed. On the beach they were met by their own commanding officer. He had left a single, weary and bloodied half-platoon in the Old Fort. They had done enough. But the Lieutenant Colonel was about to go for his second fort of the day. A solitary boat load of Dublins at the far end of beach had sneaked into an empty Fort No.1 whilst no one was looking! This last company was to go to their relief, and then secure Hill 138. (Photo27)

As the Munsters consolidated their hold on Sedd-al-Bahr, the British commander was intent on moving forward to organise the next attack to take Hill 141. With the 2nd Middlesex still on the River Clyde, he wanted an attack in strength with fire support in place to minimise any losses. Little did he know the battle had already been won. The Turkish Major had been leading the small remnant of 10th Company up the trench line for a last-ditch defence of the Harapkale Tepe redoubt. They had been under fire from the River Clyde's MG all the way and those machine gunners had the range and elevation now. It was a cruel twist of fate that as he was about to enter the redoubt, a burst of fire killed the last of his men and the Major himself. Honour had indeed been satisfied. There was no one left to stop the British taking all of their V Beach objectives. (Photo28)

I had taken a note of losses, but I think the story speaks for itself. I honestly thought the odds were stacked in my favour to actually win at ITLSU! It was just enjoyable to finally be able to put on another game.

I hope you've enjoyed the report.

       

If the Ottoman reserve had arrived a turn or two earlier things may have worked out very differently

I'm definitely looking forward to playing this scenario at some point

Excellent stuff Martin. Great looking game, a close scenario and a great write up

Wow, that really is impressive!

Hi

Stunning looking game, really well done and thanks for the exciting batrep.

Cheers Paul

Marvellous looking game! As a (mainly) pre-20th century miniatures wargamer, I often skip most AARs for this era but so glad I read this one.* Very entertaining. 

Mind you, I had to look up what ITLSU meant.  

Quote...
Mind you, I had to look up what ITLSU meant.  
...

TFL (Too Fat Lardies) pick some pretty obscure titles for their rules but this one sums up the period well

"...Til we meet again, if the Lord Spares Us".

So ends the last letter written home from Gallipoli veteran 202537 Lance Sergeant Albert Skinner, 2/4^th Royal West Kent Regiment, just a few weeks before his death in the hills near Tel Khuweilfe, a few miles north east of Beersheba, Palestine on 4^th November 1917.

These rules are dedicated to Albert and all those other poor sods who are still out there.

I've just checked my research for Beersheba and I had decided that Tel el Khuweilfe was a promising part of the battle for a scenario.
Definitely a scenario I will have to develop now to remember Albert.

Appreciate your comments Gents. Anyone spot the unit error? Rushing to finish at the end, '2nd Middlesex' should read 'Hampshires.'
Regards to All.

Morning Martin

As I mentioned back in January your game has inspired me to create a Cape Helles scenario for ITLSU, but including W and X beaches as well.....been down many rabbit holes in the quest to find the correct Turkish OOB and what supporting weapons were there (there is much confusion about if the Turks actually had any MG's or heavier weapons at all around Cape Helles) I beleive that I now have a fairly accurate OOB for both sides. Been gradually gathering resources for the game and intend to construct the main landscapes using polystyrene blocks shaped with a hotwire cutter.

I do have a couple of questions about your game if you don't mind:

Where did you get the (presumably MDF) boats that you used for the troops landing at V Beach and the Camber from?

Are the models of the River Clyde and the lighters that you used from Heroics & Ros's 3mm naval range?

Thanks for your assistance.

Peter 
     

Hello Peter. Just caught your post.
The 'Clyde' is a 3d print from www.magpiedesigner.com. Not sure if this model is still available as I bought in 1:600? scale and the website now suggests only 1:1800 and 1:2400. The ships' boats for the troops are scratch-built from plastic card. For both see my forum post under Non-Pendraken Stuff/Hitting the Beach from April 2020.

The 'lighters' are card models from www.papershipwright.co.uk and are the 'coaling barge' free download.

Hope this helps. Good luck with your Helles project. I look forward to the game report.

Regards
Mart

Thanks very much for your assistance Martin 

I will definitely be posting a report on the days play once we have everything in place, looking at running it at the next local convention here in Wellington in early August, provided we are able to, though the Covid 19 restrictions have been lifted now so hopefully Call to Arms 2022 will be able to go ahead.

QuoteThe 'lighters' are card models from www.papershipwright.co.uk and are the 'coaling barge' free download.

Oooh, thanks for that. Not seen these before.

Soime nice stuff on that site