Lead Adventure Forum
Miniatures Adventure => Back of Beyond => Topic started by: Ignatieff on March 06, 2018, 02:05:52 PM
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did I ever tell you all about this one?
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It was fought over a vast swathe of unknown lands around the North African deserts and the Horn of Africa....
(http://)
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This looks good! :-*
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and featured, amongst many others, Haile Selassie and his famous (and historical) Brown Condor Legion....
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It featured our largest ever list of players (and nearly killed me in the process..... lol lol lol)
The Tears of Solomon – List of Players
WHO WHAT PLAYER
1. Admiral Horatio St.Vincent Ramrod Governor General of Sudan Jon Carter
2. Col. Janus Paul Ezterhazy Hungarian Mercenary Glenn Caton
3. Col. Rudi Schneiber Austrian Mercenary Paul Cooper
4. Haile Selassie Emperor of Abyssinia Jonathon Driver
5. Der Baron Monster, monster Kev Westwood
6. The Mahdi Leader of Sudanese rebellion Gibby
7. The Mad Mullah Leader of the Somali uprising Mad Bob
8. Msr Stroganoff C.O. ‘Le Force Publique’ Rodge
9. Von Stauffenberg German archaeologists Cameron
10. Cardinal Bernasconi Capponi Italian archaeologists Paul
11. Maj-General Linn British archaeologists Don
12. Oscar Von Neidermayer German Govt Archaeologists ???
13. Dr. Sandi Birkmyre American archaeologists ???
14. Cedric Van Der Suds SOAP Oil Cultural Exchange Pete
15. Wing Comdr. ‘Chopper’ Harris RAF East Africa Command Keith
16. Afrika Bambaataa Popular musician and folk hero Ted
17. F.M. Fevzi Çakmak Turkish 'Military Advisor' Shep
18. Lord Gordon Grey Governor General British Somaliland Neil
19. Prince Luigi Amedeo Governor Italian Somaliland Iain
20. Dr Bogo Pan-African nationalist Jamie
21. Gabriel Akilles Brotherhood of the Cruciform Sword Rory
22. FuManchu International Celestial Enterprises Lon
23. Harry ‘Boy’ Flashman Butterfly collector and entrepreneur Ritchie
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and here's a sample brief.....
The Tears of Solomon – Abyssinian brief
Background
Haile ‘Isambard Kingdom’ Selassie. It had a ring to it. You liked it. And you cut quite a dash in the stovepipe hat. Brunel was your hero. An industrial visionary, a man who transformed England into a top-hole modern nation. And now you would emulate him in Africa.
You are “His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie I, Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah, King of Kings and Elect of God, Emperor of Abyssinia and deliverer of his people”, to give you your full title. You are also determined to make Abyssinia great again, by restoring it to pan-African primacy through the most rapid industrialisation the world has ever seen. Those nice French people have built a railway from Djibouti to Addis Ababa, and your good friend Der Baron has made your country, Abyssinia, the first recipients of his B.O.’s (Baron Oil) Brunei bonanza. Abyssinia’s industrial revolution is underway!
The problem is however, there are enemies all around you. African nationalists are said to be marching from the south, the Italians are greedy for your land, wealth and people (and they resent the fact that your civilisation is even older than theirs!). And then there are the Musselmen. The Mad Mullah has vowed to bring down the last Christian kingdom in Africa, and by the way he is leading the English and Italians a merry tango, he may well try it. It is good therefore that your faithful friend Der Baron has brought his famed Asiatic Cavalry Division to help protect you and the bright modern future you are both planning for the Kingdom. That, and the Mongol State Circus. You liked the clowns best of all…
Objectives
- Continue on your modernising path and return Abyssinia to its place as one of the great empires in the world
- Maintain your rightful place as Ras Tafari, King of Kings and sole ruler of the Abyssinian Empire, crush any and all signs of rebellion or disloyalty with swift ruthlessness, the terrifying habits of Der Baron may help with this
- Maintain friendly relationships with as many great powers as possible without compromising your sovereignty
- If necessary hire foreign advisers/mercenaries to ensure your army isn’t outmatched by any other regional powers
Forces
N.B. each battery is comprised of 12 guns
- 3 Battalions of the Imperial Guard Kebur Zabangna (800 men each) equipped and trained to a high quality, European weapons and tactics, fiercely loyal. Based in the capital. – 3 x modern artillery batteries, 3 x mortar batteries
- Northern front (Eritrean border)
o 5,000 regulars (all rifles)
o 10,000 mountaineers (rifles and spears)
o 15,000 reservists (spears)
o 1 battery of modern field guns 3 x antiquated field gun batteries
- Mahel Sefari (Army of the Center) 15,000 men, half with spears and half rifles – 3 x antiquated artillery batteries
- Army of the Right (British Somaliland and Italian Somaliland) 15,000 men, half with rifles, half with spears – 3 x antiquated artillery batteries
- Southern front (Facing Sudan, Uganda and Kenya) 20,000 men, half with rifles, half with spears - 3 x antiquated artillery batteries
Strategic assets
- Reserve heavy artillery regiment – (24 x 150mm howitzers)
- Armoured Corps (12 x armoured cars)
- Abyssinian Machine Gun Corps – 5 batteries of HMGS
A general mobilisation may be called which could put up to 50,000 further men under arms but be aware that they will be of low quality and more prone to desertion and mutiny than regular forces unless kept in check. And the difficulties of supplying them means they can only stay in the field for a short time.
The Abyssinian Foreign Legion is a small but growing force of foreign volunteers eager to assist an African empire capable of standing up to the circling imperialist hawks, you should encourage foreign specialists to serve in your army, above all pilots as you currently have no standing air force.
Intelligence
- There are rumours of rebellion within Abyssinia – this may be your primary concern. Internal unrest your rule as well as your humanitarian modernising efforts have been compounded by the circling hyenas of foreign powers, ranging from the rebellions of the Mullah in Somaliland and the Mahdi in Sudan to the Italians in East Africa, still smarting from their humiliation at Adowa some 30 years ago.
- The Italians are conducting a huge military build-up in both Eritrea and Somaliland under the command of the aristocratic but apparently humanitarian Prince Luigi Amedeo, a former admiral and expert mountain climber. They are rumoured to have upwards of 20,000 men in the region, supported by a powerful air arm.
- The Governor General of the Belgian Congo, Msr Martin Ruttens, is a friend and fellow Christian. He has despatched a large consignment of arms and ammunition from Stanleyville, hidden with a troupe of nuns, the Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Africa. The problem is they have gone missing somewhere in Southern Sudan. Msr Ruttens has ordered a secret relief mission under Msr Stroganoff to find the nuns and get the guns to you.
- The British do not appear overtly hostile toward Abyssinia but the Baron’s antics in Brunei and will be a lot less sympathetic if they find out that he is in your country with French support.
- A major archaeological discovery has reportedly been recovered by a German team in Libya and vast numbers of archaeologists, academics, mercenaries and treasure hunters have descended on both Libya and Egypt.
- There are greater stirrings of African nationalism in the whole region, Dr Bogo and his criminal army is reportedly on the move through the northern Belgian Congo while a mysterious figure known as Bambaataa has been spoken of as the messiah of African liberation along the Abyssinian western frontier. These may be the main ideological antagonists to your God-given rule over the Abyssinian Empire, beware of the perils of nationalism lest you end up like the Hapsburgs.
- The British and Italians are being run ragged by the Mad Mullah in Somaliland while the weakened British garrison in Sudan (less than a thousand regulars) is bracing itself for the onslaught of the Mahdi. Both of these militant Mohammedan leaders are rumoured to have more than 50,000 men under arms and if they cooperate to converge on your bastion of Christendom you will be hard pressed to fight a two-front war.
- Rudi Schneiber and his old comrade Col Esterhazy are offering the services of their Austro-Hungarian veterans to anyone who can afford it, according to the latest issue of Condottiere Quarterly.
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did I ever tell you all about this one?
I get goosebumps
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I get goosebumps
you can get cream for that......
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a few more briefs.....
The Tears of Solomon – Afrika Bambaataa brief
You are Afrika Bambaataa, legend, folk hero, Robin Hood of the Jungle, Revolution Dub, Mystic Miracle Star, History Mystery Prophet, the Time Boom X De Devil Dead, Lord God Muzick, Technomajikal, the Jamaican E.T., the Mighty Upsetter and returned from Planet Dub to free the enslaved people of Afrika from the White and Christian Oppressors through the majik and violence of The Global Dub Collective.
Your mission is simple. To bring down the empires of the Oppressors, starting with the oldest and most corrupt of all – Abyssinia. After dat, de British, Italians, French and Belgians are fair game too.
Using an army of mercenaries funded by proceeds from your purely medicinal marijuana farms across the globe, as well as some mysterious ‘backers’, you are to raise the Dub flag of rebellion and storm the ramparts of slavery by force and the power of Jah music.
Objectives
1. Bring down the Abyssinian tyranny and replace it with an enlightened Dub collective (with you at its head, obviously)
2. Drive out the white oppressors from all the neighbouring states
3. But don’t have no truck with those Musselmen, unless they see the light and joining the Global Dub Collective
Forces
- A secret network of mobile radio transmitters and stations designed to rise up the slaves, spread throughout the wilds of northern Congo, South Sudan and Western Abyssinia.
- 5,000 armed supporters throughout this region, fairly poorly equipped Ruga-Ruga types along with some Sudanese camel mounted nomads and Abyssinian hill tribes. Light weapons only (rifles and obsolete small arms).
- C.25,000 active supporters, would take part in civil disobedience and unarmed roles, would fight if you could equip them…
- 500 x Red Advisors, commissars, radio specialists and weapons experts, enough fighting men for a company sized unit of elite troops.
- 500 foreign volunteers, Belgian and French deserters, European Leftists/Stoners and a variety of other weirdos who’ve ended up following the way of Jah. Fairly bog standard infantry equipped with modern light weapons and bombs.
- 1 battery of antiquated mountain artillery (8 guns)
- The Night Panther, a near relative of the deceased Border Leopard. A former Belgian Army engineer as well as expert pugilist and martial arts expert. Holds a vehement hatred of the European aristocracy after the horrors of the First World War who can be relied upon for expert infiltration, sabotage and assassination missions. A dedicated socialist, explosives genius and veteran of Africa.
Intelligence
- Haile Selassie’s regime is on the verge of collapse, his thoroughly unrighteous attempts to modernise the country along the lines of them Western imperialists types has provoked a very jah backlash amongst the bredren. He still has a posse of over 120,000 men however.
- He has called on Der Baron to prop up his crumbling regime with a large expeditionary force which that white devil has been only too keen to do.
- Da Baron has also constructed an oil pipeline from Djibouti to Addis Ababa in order to export his new found riches from his little project in Brunei into Afrika’s largest nation with apparent support from the French devils in Djibouti.
- The Sudanese Mosslemans are rebelling under the command of the New Mahdi against the governorship of Admiral Horatio St. Vincent Ramrod (there’s the name of your next album), the British governor of Sudan, who has been installing electricity and running water under the guise of ‘civilisation’ – you know them white devil tricks.
- The Mad Mullah has been running de British and Italians ragged with a guerrilla war in Somaliland.
- Big Bwoi Mussolini has appointed Prince Luigi Amedeo, a former admiral and expert mountaineer to the General Command of the Italian Empire in East Africa. The Prince has embarked on a comprehensive modernisation project throughout the country. Italian military forces are being steadily increased and the word is they are spoiling for a major fight with the British, the Somali bros, the Abyssinians or indeed all three.
- Rumour has it that the most unrighteous Belgians are making a move from the Congo along with the only other man who could possibly disturb your keenly constructed image as Africa’s only plausible saviour, the ever corruptible and highly canny Dr Bogo of Bogo Corp. LLP, based out of Kabolo. He has assembled a large force which is also reportedly moving towards your area of control and could present a major threat.
The Tears of Solomon – British archaeologists brief
‘Brother Linn’. You blinked as the blindfold was slipped off. You knew you were in Lodge No.1, your own. But you didn’t expect to see the Grand Master of Lodge Mother Kilwinning No.1 here as well. This was big, really big…
‘Brother Linn. We’ve called you here to day because the very soul of Freemasonry is under threat, and with that the very fabric of the world we know’
What! thinks you, surely Rangers haven’t signed a Fenian?
‘As you know the legend of Solomon’s Temple is at the very heart of Freemasonry. But what you will not know, and must never reveal, is that Solomon’s Temple still exists, and we, the Grand Masters of the oldest Lodges in the world, are the only two people who upto this moment know this fact. And more importantly, have a fair idea where it is located’.
‘Well thank you for sharing this deepest of secrets Grand Masters, but what has this to do with me?’
‘Well, now we have told you, if you were to tell anyone else we will have your tongue pulled out, in accordance with the Freemasonry handbook, 6th edition, page 47, sub paragraph 3 section headed ‘Consequences of Betrayal’. Is that understood’
You gulped. ‘Of course’ a little less than enthusiastically.
‘So this is what we know Brother Linn’. This was Grand Master of Lodge Mother Kilwinning No. 0, better known as current Rangers F.C. manager Bill Struth. He unrolled a massive Bartholomew map of Europe and North Africa on the altar in front of you.
‘Solomons’ temple is infact a Palace. The ‘Palace without an Entrance’ of masonic legend’. They nodded at you knowingly. You nodded back, clueless. ‘It is reported to be on one of three, maybe four places. Here at Siwa, somewhere near Alexandria, southern Abyssinia, or here’. He pointed to the top corner of the Mediterranean. You squinted to see where he was pointing at. ‘The ancient coastal city of Ugarit, in modern day French Syria’.
‘You are probably thinking, so what? And of course at one level it would be a wonderful thing to discover and share with the world. Who wouldn’t want to know about and visit the mythical temple of Solomon?’
‘But there is a reason it has been hidden for millennia’. This was Grand Master Lodge No.1, your good friend Sir John Gilmour, Secretary of State for Scotland. You had so enjoyed his recent book "The Menace of the Irish Race to our Scottish Nationality". ‘For within the Temple is a weapon. A weapon so terrible that it was hidden. First by Solomon. Then Brother Alexander of Macedon discovered it, and when he went mad and threatened to unleash it, Travelling Lodge no. 624 (Macedonian Diadochi) had him killed and Brother Ptolemy I Soter hid it again. And there the trail goes cold’.
‘But we have new information’, says Grand Master Struth. ‘That others seek the Temple and the evils that lie beneath it. This cannot be allowed to happen. Now the good thing is that the Temple can only be accessed with a key. And that key, as far as we know, has been lost. Nevertheless, we cannot run the risk Brother Linn. Your mission is to sabotage whoever seeks the Temple and keep its secret hidden. Fail and we are all dead. Betray your mission, even to those closest to you, and you will fall to the same fate’.
‘You are therefore to lead a joint Glasgow and Queens University ‘archaeological’ team ostensibly to be part of the digging frenzy that is sweeping North Africa and Egypt at the moment. You will be well supplied with guns and equipment, and much of your party will be made up of experienced and loyal men. You set sail from Greenock the day after tomorrow’…..
Objectives
- Locate the Palace of Solomon and prevent any other faction from either reaching or entering it, no matter the cost.
- If anyone does so, ensure that they are not able to leave with any of the contents of the palace, if necessary ensure they do not leave at all lest they give away the location of the palace to the world.
- Maintain absolute secrecy around of existence of the palace and its contents, if this becomes common knowledge it will only invite more ne’er do wells and Johnny Foreigners to try and get in on the act.
- Ensure the involvement of the Masons remains hidden.
Forces
- Yourself and a small team of archaeological experts from Glasgow University and Queens University and necessary dig support staff.
- 50 ‘on leave’ B Specials – good for counter intelligence and undercover sabotage and assassination work. They may stand out somewhat in duskier climes however so a good cover story is a necessity.
- 1 battery of 3.7” mountain howitzers (4 guns), crewed by ‘on leave’ gunners from 45 Regt RA.
- 1 battery of HMGs (4 guns), seconded from D Coy 2nd Batt Middlesex Regt.
- 1 battery 1st Batt KOSB Stokes Mortars. (4 tubes)
- 1 coy Carson’s Volunteers, all WW1 vets, equipped as British regulars, Lewis Guns, bombs and SMLEs. (120 men)
- 1 Marconi wireless transmitter, truck mounted with generator.
- Enough trucks, which can be armed to your specifications, to transport the entire force.
- Funding to support you and grease any palms along the way.
Intelligence
- The Lodge believe several major expeditions are underway on the trail of Solomon’s Palace; even though it appears most don’t even know what they are searching for yet. Worryingly two Hun expeditions are in Egypt already, one under the command of Von Stauffenberg but much less is known about the other, it is critical they are both stopped. Americans and Italians are also known to be forming as well as the darker forces of international terror and anarchy…
- To the south all of the Horn of Africa is in foment, rumours of rebellion in Abyssinia have led Der Baron to come and assist his friend and smoking buddy Haile Selassie with a large expeditionary force.
- He has also constructed an oil pipeline from Djibouti to Addis Ababa in order to export his new found riches from his little project in Brunei into East Africa’s largest nation with apparent tacit support from the French.
- The Sudanese Muslims are rebelling under the command of the New Mahdi against the governorship of Admiral Horatio St. Vincent Ramrod, your former RN opposite number in Singapore, who has been trying to carry out on a humanitarian mission in the country, poor naïve chap.
- The Mad Mullah has been running both the our chaps in Somaliland, soon to be under the command of Lord Grey, and the Italians ragged with a guerrilla war in Somaliland.
- Mussolini has appointed Prince Luigi Amedeo, a former admiral in the Regia Marina and expert mountaineer to the General Command of the Italian Empire in East Africa. The Prince has embarked on a comprehensive modernisation project throughout the country. Italian military forces are being steadily increased and the word is they are spoiling for a major fight with HMG the Somali Dervishes, Abyssinians or indeed all three.
- The RAF have sent a major contingent to Kenya under the command of a young Wing Commander Arthur Harris fresh from his successful campaign against the Arabs of Mesopotamia.
- Col. Rudi Schneiber and his former Hungarian comrade Col. Janus Paul Ezterhazy are apparently looking for gainful employment for them and their troops once again.
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and a few more....
Tears of Solomon - Cedric Van Der Suds Brief
Intro
New York was colder than it should have been at this time of year. A fresh drizzle blew down Fifth Avenue and you shrunk into your wax jacket and pulled your herringbone cap closer over your brow. You turned back and even in this weather your brand new prototype Bentley Speed Six in dark navy blue looked as stunning as ever. Continuing up the front steps of the Metropolitan Museum you saw Dr Jones himself standing there, umbrella in hand waiting for you, his benefactor.
You spoke little, men of few words as you both were, and continued deeper into the corridors of the museum until you reached his office on the second floor overlooking the park. As you entered you noticed a man in an armchair in the corner of the room, a full grey moustache and a dark 3 piece suit gave him the appearance of a school teacher almost, but you knew a government man when you saw one. “Jonesy, pour us all a bourbon” he growled before rising over to the desk where the three of you now stood leant in over the map of the Nile, the doctor’s desk lamp illuminating what this grey New York day failed to.
“Now gentlemen” - Indy seemed to have found his voice at last. “We know that the German archaeological expedition dispatched in the New Year had shifted the focus of their efforts away from their dig in Egypt and towards Siwa in Libya, but what I’m about to tell you will change everything and give our mission a much greater sense of urgency.” You had a feeling the other man already knew what was coming. “They have discovered a fragment of a hitherto unknown colossal inscription of Ptolemy I Soter, written entirely in Greek, suggesting it was carved very early in his rule over Egypt – the sheer size of the inscription is in itself impressive. Its content however is what is most disturbing.” You swore you could have decked him with how long he was taking to spit it out. “Our sources indicate the inscription is an account of the assassination of Alexander the Great by the Diadochi to prevent some sort of calamity. We don’t know what this calamity was but our best theory is that he planned to dam the Nile as a demonstration of his god like power. This may well have led to his assassination by Ptolemy, Seleucus and the other generals.”
You were shocked. You weren’t an academic by any means but even your interest in Alexander extended to knowing that he died of a sudden fever in Babylon. Jones could sense your doubts. “While we can’t be certain of the details, the significance of this discovery cannot be understated and we can be sure others are on the trail too, indeed a second German-expedition is reportedly working on a site in Alexandria at this very moment.” At this point the government man interjected.
“Mr Suds, we (you wondered who ‘we’ really meant) need your assistance to recover the remaining fragments of this inscription and to discover what it refers to, our best hope is that there may be an Alexandrian treasure comparable to that recovered from the Taklakaman Desert by Von Stauffenberg’s expedition almost a decade ago, lying somewhere under the Nile Valley where this proposed scheme was to take place. We need your experience and resources in the region to assist in this task.”
That evening the weather had perked up enough for you to hit a few balls off the balcony of your penthouse at The Langham Building into Central Park; you awarded yourself a vodka martini for every flapper you hit. On the table to your right lay the unmarked dossier with all the details of your mission. Get to Egypt, figure out what needed finding, find it, stop anyone else from doing the same (especially the Krauts) and get back Stateside with the presumed treasure in tow. Sounded like your ideal safari…
Objectives
- Find and secure the whatever it is that the fragmentary inscriptions allude to, ostensibly for the covert interests of Uncle Sam, in reality you are going to loot anything you can for yourself, to sit on you mantelpiece or for safe keeping in the event your Wall Street ventures don’t work out.
- Extend your business interests in the region.
Forces
- Yourself and Dr Henry Jones Jr.
- C.150 mercenaries from the outset, mostly composed of Texas oilmen, Pinkerton agents, former Marines and Rocky Mountain trappers, tooled up to the nines.
- Your own personal fortune as well as the corporate funds of SOAP Oil.
- SOAP Oil’s Middle Eastern infrastructure which can be utilised at your discretion including ships, tankers, light aircraft, trucks and cars as well as manpower (largely unarmed however and would need kitting up).
Intelligence
- The German discovery at Siwa is already causing a stir across Europe and the States and other expeditions from Glasgow University, Heidelberg, Oxford and Padua as well as government run and privately funded expeditions are rumoured to be assembling. They will undoubtedly get in your way and must be stopped.
- To the south all of the Horn of Africa is in foment, rumours of rebellion in Abyssinia have led Der Baron to come and assist his friend and smoking buddy Haile Selassie with a large expeditionary force.
- He has also constructed an oil pipeline from Djibouti to Addis Ababa in order to export his new found riches from Brunei into East Africa’s largest nation with apparent tacit support from the French. There is potential here for you to assist in removing Der Baron from the area so that you might take over the Baron Oil operations and contracts.
- The Sudanese Muslims are once again in revolt under the command of the New Mahdi against the British the governorship of Admiral Horatio St. Vincent Ramrod, who has been trying to carry out on a humanitarian mission in the country.
- The Mad Mullah has been running both the British and Italians ragged with a guerrilla war in Somaliland.
- Mussolini has appointed Prince Luigi Amedeo, a former admiral in the Regia Marina and expert mountaineer to the General Command of the Italian Empire in East Africa. The Prince has embarked on a comprehensive modernisation project throughout the country. Italian military forces are being steadily increased and the word is they are spoiling for a major fight with either the British, Somali Dervishes, Abyssinians or indeed all three.
- The British have announced the deployment of a major RAF contingent to Kenya under the command of a young Wing Commander Arthur Harris fresh from his successful campaign against the Arabs of Mesopotamia.
- Col. Rudi Schneiber and his former Hungarian comrade Col. Janus Paul Ezterhazy are apparently looking for gainful employment for them and their troops once again and would make a significant addition to the strength of your expedition.
The Tears of Solomon - Wing Comdr. ‘Chopper’ Harris’s brief
Background
You liked Africa. There were more toys to play with. In the lake at the bottom of the Squadron’s Officer’s Mess your latest ‘invention’ was taking to the water. Two young Nile crocodiles, with small tin tubes strapped to their backs, were eying each other up hungrily. You’d kept them sedated in cages until they were absolutely ravenous. And now they were going to test your latest innovation. A charge of nitro-glycerine that was activated by motion. Three flips and….Boom! Crocodile chilli for dinner for the next week. Of course, if the cleverer croc could take his opponent out in two flips, all the better, he would win, with just a splattering of claret for this troubles. And you’d made a pretty penny on the betting. What else was there to do with bored RAF men in the Back of Beyond?
That is until you received a telegram from the War Office. It said there was a spot of bother up country in Somaliland. And given the generally good account of yourself you had given bombing the Arabs back to the stone age in Iraq, would you be interested in trying out some new toys on their black cousins up country? I say you would!
A shipment of poison gas bombs was being made ready in Greenock, and would set sail any day soon. You were to get the RAF in Kenya ready for a war, a dirty war, but one the Empire had to win to keep the lid on the old ‘Pax Britannica’. You were to make contact with the Governor there, the legendary Lord Gordon Grey, and between you do whatever it took to keep the peace. Chocs Away!
Objectives
- Assist British forces in the Horn of Africa by asserting and maintaining total air supremacy over the area.
- Use the air assets at your disposal in ground attack and strategic bombing missions against native insurrections in conjunction with friendly ground forces.
- If possible relocate your air forces northwards to give yourself greater operational flexibility and support both GoC Sudan and Somaliland in their efforts against Mohammedan rebellion.
- Use of poison gas is permissible against native forces, it is not to be used against European belligerents without orders.
Forces
47 Squadron – 12 x DH.2s
17 Squadron – 24 x Sopwith Camels
14 Squadron – 24 x Bristol Fighters
216 Squadron – 6 x DH.10s
No.1 Armoured Car Section RAF (12 x Rolls Royce armoured cars)
No.3 Armoured Car Section RAF (12 X Rolls Royce armoured cars)
Plus all necessary support and airfield defence gear and personnel.
Intelligence
- The Mad Mullah in Somaliland and the Mahdi are estimated to have at least 40,000 men each in their respective theatres but are hamstrung by a lack of modern and heavy weaponry, currently estimated to have only enough rifles of varying vintage to equip half their forces – stopping them acquiring more modern equipment should be a top priority.
- The Italian Empire under Mussolini and his man on the ground, Prince Luigi Amedeo, has become more belligerent than usual and is asserting its claims to much of the Horn of Africa and almost certainly has designs on Abyssinia, they should be treated with caution as they are far stronger on the ground than our own forces.
- The Emperor of Abyssinia, Haile Selassie is in a delicate position as he attempts to modernise his nation and has called upon his old friend, the scourge of common decency himself, Baron Ungern von Sternberg to prop him up with his unwashed hordes.
- A large oil pipeline and railway have recently been constructed between the French port of Djibouti and the Abyssinian capital at Addis Ababa.
- An archaeological discovery of immense importance has reportedly been unearthed by a German expedition in Libya, this has acted as a spark for a mass convergence of expeditions from across Europe and America into the Nile Valley and the Libyan Desert as they scramble to discover its nature.
- Savage forces are emerging northwards from the Heart of Darkness in the Belgian Congo as the scent of chaos drifts across the region. Likewise a disturbing mixture of socialist internationalism, pan-African solidarity and pagan folk religion has taken root amongst many of the peoples of southern Sudan, Abyssinia and northern Kenya, led by a mysterious figure known as Bambaataa, knowing the locals he’s probably entirely made up but remains a figurehead for those who seek to cause trouble
Tears of Solomon – Co. Rudi Schneiber Brief
The snow swirled in from the blackness of the Herrengasse. The faded leather Hussar boots stepped down the ancient oak stairs into the cellar of your favourite Graz haunt, the Glockl Brau, and you instantly recognised the face of your old friend, Janos Esterhazy. The years of fighting since you first met on the slopes of the Gran Poz, when you dug him out of his command post buried under an avalanche, had left his angular face lined and worn, though the ever-present half smirk of the Hussar was still there.
As you regaled him with your stories of service across Central Asia and China you could see him yearning to get back in the saddle, frustrated with the corruption of his once-mighty Hungary by the ‘Red cancer’ as he called it; you knew he would jump at your offer. The mention of the instability amidst the exotic reaches of Abyssinia and the rumours of a discovery of monumental importance in Egypt spelled not just opportunity, but destiny for you both.
Some weeks later in the grounds of your sunlit barracks outside Salzburg, your jaegers and stormtroopers looking as sharp as they did in 1914 alongside Esterhazy’s Hussars, in their Royal Blue Pelisses, you had everything prepared: the men, the material, and most importantly the hunger for the fame, wealth and power that would propel you and Austria unto greatness once more….
Objectives
Hire yourself out alongside Col. Janos Esterhazy to the highest bidder in the developing intrigue of Africa.
Extract and loot as much as you can to rebuild your position as a leading figure in Austrian society.
Keep an eye on Esterhazy throughout, this ‘unscrupulous mercenary’ lark can take some getting used to.
Forces
- One battalion Austrian stormtroopers, c. 800 men, heavily armed and loyal to a man
- One company Jaegers, 250 men, crack shots and expert mountaineers all
- Edelweiss Alpine field battery, 12 guns
- HMG company, 12 guns
- Schwere mortar company, 12 x heavy mortars equipped with HE and poison gas shells
Intelligence
- The world of the 1920s is a dangerous place. There is fame and and wealth to be earned by the enterprising soldier of fortune.
- The current hot spots are in Egypt, Sudan, Abyssinia and the Horn of Africa, where nationalist, Islamist and plain old criminal forces are putting the old empires under increasing pressure. That is where you should head!
- Rumours of a major archaeological discovery are permeating Europe’s elite and a scramble is afoot to find out exactly who has found what.
Tears of Solomon – Count Janus Paul Esterhazy’s brief
Intro
It was the best party you had ever held and you smashed what was left in the wine cellar that you and your comrades in arms didn’t polish off. It was maybe the hangover, but probably not, but it was the saddest winters morning, when you rode of out of Forchenstein Castle in Burgenland, Austria, for the last time. Your proud and noble family, descended from Vlad Dracul and Attila the Hun, had built this place in 1622 as a bulwark against the Turk. And now you are turned out of this ancient bastion, not by the Turk, but by your own people. The Red menace is everywhere, and Austria and Hungary have been rent asunder. The ‘People’s Commissariat’ have requisitioned the castle as a lunatic asylum, the irony of which is not lost to you.
The only good cheer was your meeting up with your old comrade in arms, Col. Rudi Schneiber, who amazed you with his tales of his adventures these past few years. He seems to be thriving. You have therefore decided to throw in your lot with him and his band of desperadoes and seek your fortune on the shadowy world of the mercenary.
As you rode down the steep wooded track from the castle, an Italian fellow, academic looking, asked the way. ‘Odd’ you thought to yourself, ‘he doesn’t look the communist type’. Anyway, you had better be away, there was a full moon this night and that always caused trouble in these parts….
Objectives
Hire yourself out, alongside your good friend Rudi, to the highest bidder. Rebuild your family fame and fortune.
Forces
500 Hungarian Hussars. The finest horsemen in the world. Loyal to the death to you and your family
500 Hungarian stormtroopers. Veterans of the savage wars on the Alpine front.
1 x company of HMGs and Field guns.
1 x Albatross fighter plane. Your own. Specially modified for superior performance.
1 x PKZ-2. The world’s first helicopter.
Intelligence
The world of the 192?s is a dangerous place. There is fame and and wealth to be earned by the enterprising soldier of fortune. The current hot spots are in Egypt, Sudan, Abyssinia and the Horn of Africa, where nationalist forces are putting the old empires under increasing pressure. That is where you should head!
Other news….
- The Sudanese Muslims are once again in revolt under the command of the New Mahdi against the British the governorship of Admiral Horatio St. Vincent Ramrod, who has been trying to carry out on a humanitarian mission in the country.
- The Mad Mullah has been running both the British and Italians ragged with a guerrilla war in Somaliland.
- Mussolini has appointed Prince Luigi Amedeo, a former admiral in the Regia Marina and expert mountaineer to the General Command of the Italian Empire in East Africa. The Prince has embarked on a comprehensive modernisation project throughout the country. Italian military forces are being steadily increased and the word is they are spoiling for a major fight with either the British, Somali Dervishes, Abyssinians or indeed all three.
- The British have announced the deployment of a major RAF contingent to Kenya under the command of a young Wing Commander Arthur Harris fresh from his successful campaign against the Arabs of Mesopotamia
- There are swarms of archaeological expeditions all over North Africa and the Nile valley. There may be an opportunity here to rent your troops out as protective muscle.
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we're on a roll......
Tears of Solomon – Baron Von Ungern Sternberg brief
Intro
‘My name is surrounded with such hate and fear that no one can judge what is myth and what is truth and what is false and what myth’ (tattoo reportedly inked across Der Baron’s buttocks).
You are Major General Roman Nikolai Maximilian von Ungern-Sternberg, Khan of Mongolia, Conqueror of Kashgar and Tashkent, Liberator of Baronberg, Lord of Outremer, King of Cyprus and now Sultan of Brunei. You are ‘The God of War’. And you are having a parade in Kashgar to celebrate your new best friends, the French.
You thought the regimental band of your Chahar Mongols made a decent fist of the Marseillaise. Probably a tad too much gonging and nasal chants for the purist, but hell you're in Kashgar, and the French ambassador didn't seem to mind. Mind you, you're sure you saw him wince at the unveiling of your new national anthem: 'Wacht Am Urga'. Whatever. You were just enjoying the moment. The newly presented Grand Chevalier of Legion D'honneur sat nicely atop the rich display of existing fruit salad on both sides of your full dress uniform. It had all happened so quickly...
The trouble with so much damned oil was finding a market for it. The Yanks and the Brits through their Standard and Anglo Persian oil monopolies had most of the industrialised world sewn up. Then there were the oil bandits, like SOAP, who dumped the stuff wherever they could. No, you would have to find new markets and new ways of selling all this black gold from Brunei.
And then fate, as it so often does, played its hand in your favour. The French Interior Ministry sent a telegram asking for urgent talks about an 'arrangement'. Turns out they were as sick of the Anglo-Saxon stitch up as the rest of the world. Would you, Der Baron, consider an exclusive arrangement with The Fourth Republic to supply oil to the mainland and its colonies? Their plan was hardly original - use oil to extend their political influence, particularly in areas not yet under Les Roast Boeuf and Septic Tank sphere of influence? They even offered to throw in a Legion of Honour, so who were you to say no, and so it began.
Supplying the French market was easy. And then it was Africa, and your old friend Haile Selassie. He wanted inward investment and they wanted a market in Africa that wasn't all sand and mullahs. So, they (the French) promised to build a railway from Djibouti (which they did) and you got to provide the oil for old coconut head's hare brained scheme of being the next great industrial superpower.
He has modelled himself on Isambard Kingdom Brunel, and took to wearing enormous stove-pipe hats around the place. Too much Afghani hashish in his system for his own good, but he was a good sort really. And then it got complicated. The French were terrified of upsetting the English (in Somaliland) and didn't want to noise up the Italians (in their Somaliland), so it all had to look like a Baron Oil (B.O.) show. Well, the Mongolian state circus hadn't had a tour for a while, so it was off to the Horn of Africa you went...
Objectives
- Protect your investment in the worlds largest African oil pipeline.
- Extend your influence wherever you can see a main chance – direct control over a deep-water port and unimpeded access to the sea would be a good start.
- Crush your enemies under the wheels of your chariots, enslave their womenfolk and make the world a better place.
- Keep old coconut head Selassie in power.
Forces
Armee Der Afrika
Leibstandarte Panzer Brigade Von Sternberg - Good
- Schwere Panzer Abteilung (12 x steam tanks)
- Panzer-Auto Abteilung (24 armoured trucks)
- Strassenpanzerwagen Abteilung (12 armoured cars)
- Cidermen (100 men)
Sturm Brigade Chuffer - Excellent
- Kornilov White Officer Shock Battalion (500 men)
- Edelweiss Austrian Ex-POW Battalion (500 men)
- Kornilov Weapons Company (12 HMGs)
- Druzhinski Volunteer Artillery Detachment (8 guns)
99th Infantry Brigade Sepailov - Poor
- 1st Manchurian Rifle Battalion (500 men)
- Buryat Rifles (500 men)
- 99th Siberian Partisan Battalion (500 men)
- Samara Volunteers (500 men)
- 1st Manchurian HMG Company (12 HMGs)
Golden Horde Cavalry Brigade Hülegü – Good
- Chahar Mongol Cavalry (250 sabres)
- Mongolian Irregular Cavalry (500 sabres)
- Grey Wolf Cossacks (250 sabres)
- Tibetan Lancers (250 lances)
The Mongolian state circus is also in town, providing you with a wide array of weightlifters, professional arsonists, trained man eating animals and other technical experts.
Attached assets
6 x heavy guns plus observers
4 x light aircraft (German and Russian Pilots)
The Wolf Pack (6 U-Boats) is stationed at Djibouti
Intelligence
- There are rumours of rebellion within Abyssinia – this may be your primary concern. Internal unrest with Haile Selassie’s rule as well as his modernising efforts have been compounded by the circling hyenas of foreign powers, ranging from the rebellions of the Mullah in Somaliland and the Mahdi in Sudan to the Italians in East Africa, still smarting from their humiliation at Adowa some 30 years ago.
- The British do not appear overtly hostile toward Abyssinia but they still remember your antics in Brunei and will be a lot less sympathetic if they find out that you’re in country with French support.
- A major archaeological discovery has reportedly been recovered by a German team in Libya and vast numbers of archaeologists, academics, mercenaries and treasure hunters have descended on both Libya and Egypt.
- There are greater stirrings of African nationalism in the whole region, Dr Bogo and his criminal army is reportedly on the move through the northern Belgian Congo while a mysterious figure known as Bambaataa has been spoken of as the messiah of African liberation along the Abyssinian western frontier.
- The British and Italians are being run ragged by the Mad Mullah in Somaliland while the weakened British garrison in Sudan (less than a thousand regulars) is bracing itself for the onslaught of the Mahdi.
Tears of Solomon – Dr Bogo
The cigar smoke from your smouldering Cohiba hung in the air above your head, the tin roof of the shack in which you found yourself detained providing no escape for either the heat or the smoke, not that the Equatorial jungle outside would give it anywhere to go…
The door wrenched open and the towering Askari guard stooped inside and took up a sentry position to left of the doorway. Following in closely behind him came Col. Lacroisette, the French commander in these parts, looking visibly fatigued. You’d been captured a week ago as you attempted to pass your monthly arms shipment through French territory and east into the hands of the Abyssinian army, and your confinement had not quite been your suite at the Beaumont to say the least.
“Well Docteur” he always smirked at your title, despite your entirely valid credentials “have you reconsidered our offer? Five thousand francs could be a very nice retirement fund in Provence and you know your suppliers would sell you out for much less.” ‘Five thousand francs’ you thought, insultingly low for a man of your abilities…
You paused
“Don't think because I grew up without running water... I am simple, Colonel.” At this he narrowed his eyes and leaned back on his stool that he perched on for his daily attempt at interrogation. “I do know something about history. See all this?” You gestured at the troops parading half-heartedly in the jungle heat outside “It's simply shaping tomorrow. A tomorrow without a lot of Parisian white boys' ideas in it.”
He smiled “Well, I wouldn't know about that. I'm from Gascony.”
You stared right at him “Mr. Lacroisette, I think you shouldn't have come here.
This is an African war. This is our war. Not yours.”
He didn’t even have time to change his expression before the machine gun fire came punching through the thin wooden walls of the hut, hitting the Askari twice in the chest and catching the Frenchman in the throat, ‘right on time’ you thought to yourself.
Twenty minutes later it was all over, the surviving half-dozen French officers had surrendered while their Askaris had fled into the bush and your men were torching the station. A smart little victory. You had taken particular pleasure in stepping over the Colonel as your men burst through the door to rescue you.
Now you were back where you belonged and there was merchandise to be shifted and history to be written, business as usual…
Objectives
- Continue funneling arms across Africa from West to East as the conflict in Ethiopia intensifies
- Make sure you end up in a position of power after the smoke settles there
- Make as much for yourself along the way as you can
Forces – all start in the jungles of northern Congo/southern French Equatoria
- 3,000 Bogo Corp. LLP employees (3,000 lightly armed African militia)
- 5,000 tribal African allies, ferocious fighters but armed only with spears and bows etc.
In addition you have the arms that you are smuggling into Abyssinia which you can use at a pinch so long as they remaining functioning, obviously they wont fetch as high a price. They include:
- 4 x French 75mm Mle1897 field guns
- 24 x heavy machine guns
- 4 x mortars
- 5,000 modern rifles
- 10,000 German stick grenades
Intelligence
- Rumours of rebellion and unrest are rife in Abyssinia where Emperor Selassie is attempting to modernise the nation. Added to this is the threat of the Italians, the Mad Mullah, the Mahdi and various self-proclaimed African nationalists all around the Kingdom.
- As a result the Baron himself has pitched up in Abyssinia in force to keep his smoking buddy on his throne. He has reportedly constructed a pipeline from Djibouti to Addis Ababa in order to export his new-found oil wealth from Brunei.
- The Abyssinian army is huge but poorly equipped and in need of outside technical assistance.
- A mysterious figure known as Bambaataa has gained a significant following in the Western Abyssinia-South Sudan-Northern Uganda region as a messianic figure of African liberation.
- Stroganoff is on the move from Stanleyville, heading towards Sudan as far as you can tell and may get in your way.
- There has been much talk of archaeological discoveries in Egypt but the hubbub may be too far north to be of much immediate concern for you.
- The Italian forces in East Africa are under the command of Prince Luigi Amedeo, a former admiral in the Regia Marina and an expert mountaineer as well as long-term resident of Somaliland and apparently genuine philanthropist.
- Lord Grey has been named as the new Governor of Somaliland while Admiral Horatio St Vincent Ramrod has been attempting a civilising mission in Sudan.
- The Mad Mullah has a vast force of Dervishes (~50,000 men), but they lack heavy weapons and seem reluctant to engage the British and Italians head on.
- The Mahdi reportedly has a similar sized force in Sudan and is gaining followers at an alarming pace.
The Tears of Solomon - FuManchu brief
Background…..
"Twenty-two acknowledged concubines, and a library of sixty-two thousand volumes, attested the variety of his inclinations; and from the productions that he left behind him, it appears that the former as well as the latter were designed for use rather than ostentation"
What a succinct, sensational and seductive pen portrait of an Emperor for a month, Gordian II. You do like Edward Gibbon. His 'History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire' is not only your favourite book (you read a page a day), it is also your blueprint, your playbook and your master-plan. The decadent West is in its last legs, and you - FuManchu - are the author and orchestrator of its collapse.
And this time the fools are going to be the architects of their own downfall. They will lead you to an ancient weapon of planet killing proportions, hidden somewhere in the corrupt and tottering kingdom of Abyssinia.
The archaeologists will do your work for you. British, Italian, American, Germans are all on the trail of this terrible secret, yet none of them know the story nor where to find all the clues. Use them to do your bidding unknowingly, feed them with your coolie labour, and corrupt them with their own fantasies.
The sound of the steam whistle playing ‘Die Zauberflöte’ told it was your move in the chess game with your mechanical Turk, Suleiman.…..
Objectives…
1. Discover and seize the weapon known only as ‘The Tears of Solomon’ and use it for your own nefarious world domination purposes.
2. Set the Western degenerates against each other. The more mayhem, the greater the glory.
Forces….
The global tentacles of your intelligence and crime network allied to your unprecedented knowledge, intellect and cruelty gives you all the forces you could possibly need….
Intelligence…
As always, the Kashgar Illustrated Sporting Pink will be a major source of intelligence, as well as an outlet to disseminate your black propaganda, web of lies and tissues of deceit….however as a teaser to begin with…
- Count Zeppo Capone and his Italian expedition, sponsored by the Vatican, is rumoured to be operating near Siwa in the Libyan desert.
- There are two German expeditions, one ‘official’ government attempt, under Oscar Von Neidermayer is operating somewhere west of the Valley of the Kings. The other’s whereabouts, under your old foe Von Stauffenberg, is unknown.
- ‘Brigadier’ (actually Major General now, what fools the British are…) Linn is currently planning to set sail from Greenock at the head of a joint Glasgow University and Queens Belfast University expedition. Destination unknown. Said to be sponsored by the two oldest Masonic Lodges in the world, Lodge No.1 (Edinburgh), and the mysterious Lodge Mother Kilwinning No. 0.
- Cedric Van Der Suds, the rapacious American is also said to be in transit to the upper reaches of the Nile. Ostensibly as part of the current ‘Egyptian fervour’, but your spies tell you he is actually in search of rare earth metals, rumoured to be on behalf of the US government.
- Another American expedition, under the renowned Head of Ancient Antiquities at the Metropolitan Museum of New York, Dr. Sandi Birkmyre, is currently operating in the Valley of the Kings.
- In addition there is major unrest amongst the dominant indigenous peoples of the region.
- The Egyptian army officer corps is said the be plotting revolt against their English masters
- A new Mahdi has proclaimed a jihad in the vast and empty deserts of Sudan
- The Mad Mullah in Somalia has taken up the cause, and is running the British and Italian occupiers ragged
- Both armies lack modern weapons and supplies and could benefit from support
- The mad Emperor of Abyssinia is said to be incapacitated with syphilis, and is in the control of his old ally, Der Baron
- The British are reported to be sending poison gas bombs out to their bases in East Africa in a desperate bid to restore ‘Pax Britannica’.
- And there are new forces of nationalism on the march from deep inside the Dark Continent…..
11/06/17
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seems impolite to stop here....
The Tears of Solomon – Governor General of Sudan brief
Intro….
You are Admiral Horatio St.Vincent Ramrod. After a good campaign in the Far East, you were mildly surprised to be offered the Governorship of this troubled region. However the Admiralty knew what it was doing. Your father had fought with Gordon at Khartoum, where he escaped the siege to take command of the boats of the River Column under Sir Garnett Wolseley. And what with the cuts to the Royal Navy, and all the trouble at home with labour unrest, you were glad to be offered a ‘front line’ posting.
You had gone about your civilising mission against a backdrop of nationalist unrest led by discontented (and ungrateful!) Egyptian officers. Your predecessor, Governor General Sir Lee Stack, had been foully murdered by a cabal in Cairo, and HMG had decided that a military man was needed to quell the troubles. Your approach however was one of carrot and stick. The white man’s burden was to civilise and bring Christian values to the dark continent, and your strong moral compass provided the light in these troubled times.
And light was one of the first things you brought to Khartoum. As you stood – brandy and cigar in hand - on the first floor balcony of the Residency, feet from the spot where General Gordon had been cut down, you couldn’t help admire the twinkle of the electric lighting that you had installed in the British quarters. The natives had been much impressed, and the country had been quiet these last few months. Progress was being made, and there was much to be content about. The last blaze of the giant midsummer sun was just slipping beneath the horizon when a breathless runner came sprinting across the courtyard in a proper funk….
Objectives
The runner brings news of a massive Mahdist uprising in the north of the country, led by Abd al-Rahman al-Mahdi, who despite supporting the British Empire in WWI, had become increasingly ungrateful for all the civilising efforts that England had brought. There are rumours that he is in cahoots with rebel Arab/Egyptian officers (under the guise of ‘The White Flag League’) and a shadowy Turkish organisation known as ‘KA’.
A telegram from London orders the immediate suppression of the revolt, ‘by all means necessary’, but adds – less than helpfully – that there are no reinforcements available at this time.
Available Forces
The Sudan Defence Force:
5,000 native troops organised as follows
- Sudan Camel Corps
- Shendi horse regiment
- Western Arab infantry Corps
- Eastern Arab infantry Corps
- Equatorial infantry Corps
15th Brigade, organised as follows
- 1st Battalion Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders (500 men)
- 1/27th Punjab Infantry (500 men)
- 1/10th Sikh Infantry (500 men)
- A Coy. 12th Battalion Middlesex Regt. (12 HMGs)
- A Battery, 14th Regt. Royal Artillery (8 guns)
Attached troops
1 x squadron, The Duke of Westminster’s Armoured Cars (12 cars)
1 x RAF attachment with six DH2s
Nile Squadron
Armoured Paddle Steamer ‘The Waverley’
HMS Chlamydia (monitor)
HMS Truncheon (river patrol boat)
Plus transports for c.half the army
Intelligence
The Mahdi is rumoured to have some 80,000 men under arms, mostly in the north of the country, but with nationalist sympathisers everywhere.
There are rumours of trouble in the south. Abyssinia is in a fragile state, with foreign powers said to be trying to overthrow the ancient dynasty.
Belgian gun runners are meant to be operating in the south of the country
And there are swarms of archaeologists all over the damn place!
The Tears of Solomon – Harry ‘Boy’ Flashman’s brief
You are Harry ‘Boy’ Flashman, grandson of the eponymous Victorian hero, adventurer and scoundrel. Unlike your father who sought solace in the Church after the scarring incurred growing up as old man Flashman’s son, you have returned to the families traditional occupation of being a rake, cad and scoundrel. More commonly called a ‘businessman’ in the 192?s
In addition to your full time ‘occupation’ you are also a member of numerous clubs and societies, including Sons of the Trench Snipers (Kalrstadt), Patagonian Bear Hunters club (Punta Arenas), the Peaky Blinders (Birmingham), the R.A.C (Royal Automobile Club), Whites and United Services (both resigned), the Turf Club (another gentleman’s club). Chairman, The Flashman Rubber Company Ltd (slogan: ‘Come in a Flash!’); director Shanghai British-Russian fellowship; director British Opium and Cocaine Trading Co.; Honorary Chairman Kashgar Embers F.C.; governor Rugby School, Honorary President Cork Mission for Reclamation of Reduced Females.
The heat in the steam room in the basement of the RAC was suffocating. This helped of course as your assistant, Anastasia Topov, was better able to carry out her ‘administrative’ duties sight unseen from the staff wallahs. It was at that point that enormous Turk in a Fez appeared right in front of your face just as Anastasia was finishing you off. There was a ‘yelp’ from down below.
‘Meester Flashman I presume?’ He was the biggest, fattest thing you had ever seen with his clothes off, excepting the Duchess of Argyll at Ayr races that time, of course.
‘How dare you! And who the devil let you in? No women, no blacks and no foreigners are the rules and you fail at least two of these three tests Abdul’
He leered closer, his face enormous and stubbled, eyes yellow, and his breath putrid like something out of a cigarette factory with the clap.
‘I breeng a message from my master. Eee says you like money’. He thrust a crumpled card into your hand and vanished into the clouds of billowing steam.
The offices of Glover & Co., a branch agency of the great Jardine Hong dynasty, was situated just off Poultry in the City, near where the Midland Bank was building the biggest bank branch ever built. Glover’s had made their fame and notoriety as arms dealers in Japan in the late 19th century, but since then had settled down into the more sedate occupation of silk, tea and bonsai importers to the genteel and rich families of London.
Ronald Glover was a narrow chested chap, with a long nose that you felt he used purely to look down on you. ‘Ah Mister Flashman. How are we today?’ The greeting was as insincere as it was oily.
‘Capital!’ says you, wondering where this was going. ‘So you sent that filthy Turk to my club, what the deuce were you thinking of?’
‘I am sorry for that Mr Flashman, I had to ensure I got your attention. You see I felt it was better we met face-to-face to discuss my proposal’
‘And what might that be?’ say you. ‘Guns running’ says he, matter of factly.
‘I’m afraid you have the wrong fella Glover. Not my game. Never has been. I’ve my reputation to consider. And even if I did need the money, which I do not, why would I want to work with an almost complete stranger?’
‘Well’ says he in a long drawn out way that had you worried right away. ‘But were not complete strangers are we Harry? You do recall that little incident in Shanghai with those young, very young if I recall, White Russian girls?’.
‘You mean the ones I saved from the Bolsheviks and Chinese traffickers?’ says you, bluffing it out.
‘No, the ones you sold to FuManchu. I was the Police Inspector on the case if you recall’.
Cripes! It was him. Chalky Glover. You had had to pay him off big time to keep the wraps on that little deal. But you’ve a safe full of dirt on him back in the office, so why was he coming onto you so high handedly?
He took out a thick brown file and placed it on the desk in front of you. ‘Well now I’ve got my hands back on this little ‘inconvenience’, I’d say you are in my pay now. Especially with the price of rubber through the floor and half your stock mortgaged out to pay your debts’.
The complete bastard. Not only had he stolen the papers you had on him, he also knew you’re seriously short of ackers.
‘I thought of you Flashman when all this kicked off’. He pointed to today’s Times which was all ablaze about war in Abyssinia and Mahdist uprisings in Sudan and Somalia. ‘You know this part of Africa well. And where there’s a war on, there’s an opportunity. You see my father, Thomas Blake Glover, made quite a name for himself as an arms dealer in the Far East’. You remembered that sanctimonious old bastard. Fraserburgh born and as tight as he was nasty. Glover continued ‘But after he died and what the War and all, it became much more difficult to carry on the family business, hence the move into all this’ he waved airily at all the high fashion goods around the shop. ‘But we never left the profession, fully’.
Profession? thinks you. Since when did a merchant of death qualify as a profession, like a doctor or a courtesan?
He passed a small pocket ledger to you. ‘This is what we have in store at Tillbury, ready to sail’. You flicked through it. It was a veritable Fortnum’s catalogue of death. Guns, bombs, armoured cars, machine guns, field guns, you name it. There were even some ex-Kraut aircraft.
‘You Mr Flashman, are to find markets for this merchandise. And there’s more where this came from. There are Musslemen with money and no guns. There’s the stone age army of the Abyssinians who could do with re-equipping’ the Mad Mullah is reportedly loaded but with no toys to speak of, and then there’s the mad Africans down south, all of whom would pay a pretty penny for a whiff of this stuff’.
‘Okay you bastard, what’s in it for me?’ says you. ‘10% Flashman, and not a penny more. And any double-crossing will see you swimming with the fishes. You see we have people everywhere. Now, good day to you. Kemal will see you out and sort your necessaries’. The Anatolian Ape had appeared from behind a curtain.
Ah well, thinks you, lets see what we can make of this then……
Objectives
- Flog the armaments to the highest bidder and make it out of Africa alive.
- Make as much as you can for yourself along the way, 10% isn’t going to quite cut it.
Intelligence
- Rumours of rebellion and unrest are rife in Abyssinia where Emperor Selassie is attempting to modernise the nation. Added to this is the threat of the Italians, the Mad Mullah, the Mahdi and various self-proclaimed African nationalists all around the Kingdom.
- As a result Der Baron himself has pitched up in Abyssinia in force to keep his smoking buddy on his throne. He has reportedly constructed a pipeline from Djibouti to Addis Ababa in order to export his new-found oil wealth from Brunei.
- The Abyssinian army is huge but poorly equipped and in need of outside technical assistance.
- A mysterious figure known as Bambaataa has gained a significant following in the Western Abyssinia-South Sudan-Northern Uganda region as a messianic figure of African liberation.
- The Belgians under Stroganoff are assembling a north-bound expedition in Stanleyville.
- Dr Bogo is also on the move from the Northern Congo with his army of Ruga-Ruga criminals and local tribesmen, apparently headed toward Abyssinia as well.
- The Italian forces in East Africa are under the command of Prince Luigi Amedeo, a former admiral in the Regia Marina and an expert mountaineer as well as long-term resident of Somaliland and apparently genuine philanthropist.
- Lord Grey has been named as the new Governor of Somaliland while Admiral Horatio St Vincent Ramrod has been attempting a civilising mission in Sudan.
- The Mad Mullah has a vast force of Dervishes (~50,000 men), but they lack heavy weapons and seem reluctant to engage the British and Italians head on.
- The Mahdi reportedly has a similar sized force in Sudan and is gaining followers at an alarming pace yet also lacks modern equipment.
- There are rumours circulating of a major archaeological discovery in Egypt and a vast number of expeditions, both private and government backed, are descending on the country.
The Tears of Solomon – Italian Archaeologists Brief
Background….
You are Cardinal Bernasconi Capponi
Summoned to the Vatican Secret Archives in the dead of night, you knew that something serious was afoot when the Pope himself appeared in the basement of the ornate Renaissance library. Pius XI was a clever political Pope, one who knew the importance of the Mother Church in a world on the edge of chaos.
‘My dear Cardinal, I am sorry for bringing you here under such secrecy, but there is a deadly danger that threatens the entire world, and one that only the Holy Mother Church is capable of stopping’.
‘You know of Alexander the Great?’ It seemed a strange question to an educated man such as yourself. ‘Why of course Holy Father’. The Pope walked over to a locked and barred bookcase, and took out an ancient tome from behind the wire mesh.
‘But do you know of his death, and why he was…..killed?’ You thought you had misheard. The rumours that Alexander had not died of a fever were well known, though given little credence in serious academic circles. The so-called ‘Royal Journals’, quoted in Arrian and Plutarch, were no more than a legend.
The Pope opened the book, written on thick papyrus in faded ancient Greek script, and began reading clearly and quickly, as if it was his first language….”The truth is, we did kill him. By silence, we consented. But not because we couldn’t go on. The truth is he was going to kill us all, everyone”….he paused, as if irritated by something, his finger darting across the manuscript….”and then Ptolemy placed the amphora so that none could find it, back in the palace without an entrance”. ‘The Palace without an entrance. Do you know what this is Capponi?’. You shrugged. Pius stared deep into you. ‘It’s a Masonic legend about the Palace of Solomon. It had no visible windows or doors, but he managed to get in and discovered an idol inside that had in its mouth a silver tablet, saying in Greek that the statue was of ‘Shaddad, the son of ‘Ad’, and that it had reigned over a million cities, had under it a million vassals and slew a million warriors, yet it could not resist the angel of death’. He pointed at the book. ‘This is the only surviving copy of the ‘Royal Journals’. None know it is here, and none can know it is here, for it is too dangerous’.
The Pope paused, as if trying to choose his words. ‘We believe that Alexander had something that his generals feared. Something that they feared so much they murdered him. Some kind of terrible weapon, and they killed him to stop him in his final madness turning it on the world. Ptolemy was behind it, and he hid the weapon, where it has remained to this day.’
He gestured for a document case to be handed to him. ‘Have you seen this?’ It was a copy of the Times of London, dated two weeks ago. An article had been ringed. ‘German expedition discovers lost Palace of Ptolemy. Amazing discoveries throw fresh light on death of Alexander the Great’.
‘We need you to find out what they have found and stop them. Recover whatever it is and whatever they know, and bring it back to the Vatican. Failing that destroy it’.
The Colonel of the Swiss Guard stepped forward and handed you a folio. ‘In here you will find your orders, intelligence and details of your expedition. You are to proceed to Siwa in the Libyan desert with all haste. God Speed, and good luck’.
Objectives
- Track down evidence of the artefact the Pope has mentioned, beginning with Siwa but follow up any and all leads using the Vatican’s intelligence network.
- If you locate the artefact you are to bring it back to the Vatican or failing that, destroy it.
- Other nations and expeditions will be on its trail, they must be stopped using any means necessary.
Forces
- One company Papal shock troops, mostly ex-Arditi and Alpini veterans of the Great War. Skilled with every kind of weapon as well as hand to hand combat and mountaineering – to be equipped at your choice. (120 men)
- C.100 Cosa Nostra ‘Made Men’, your own finest Sicilian heavies, particularly useful at more discreet undercover work.
- Unarmoured trucks to transport your expedition; can be armed to your standards but must be able to maintain a relatively low profile.
- Vatican Jesuit scholars as well as your own trusted academics from the University of Padua to assist with your investigations.
- ‘Porco Rosso’ the famed mercenary pilot has been hired to assist you with air cover, his seaplane will be usable so long as you remain close to the coasts or major rivers and lakes.
- The spending power of the Catholic Church should the need arise.
Intelligence
- ‘Brigadier’ (actually Major General now, what fools the British are…) Linn is currently planning to set sail from Greenock at the head of a joint Glasgow University and Queens Belfast University expedition. Destination unknown.
- Cedric Van Der Suds, the rapacious American is said to be in transit to the upper reaches of the Nile.
- Another American expedition, under the renowned Head of Ancient Antiquities at the Metropolitan Museum of New York, Dr. Sandi Birkmyre, is currently operating in the Valley of the Kings.
- German, Austrian and Hungarian expeditions are also reportedly setting sail for the region.
- In addition there is major unrest amongst the dominant indigenous peoples of the region.
- A new Mahdi has reportedly proclaimed a jihad in the vast and empty deserts of Sudan.
- The Mad Mullah in Somalia has taken up the cause, and is running the British and your own Italian colonial government ragged.
- The mad Emperor of Abyssinia is said to be incapacitated with syphilis, and is in the control of his old ally, Der Baron.
- The British are reported to be sending poison gas bombs out to their bases in East Africa in a desperate bid to restore ‘Pax Britannica’.
- And there are new forces of nationalism on the march from deep inside the Dark Continent…..
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Not many to go know...
The Tears of Solomon – Italian Brief
You are Prince Luigi Amedeo, Duke of Abruzzi, naval hero, explorer, mountaineer, member of the Royal House of Savoy and cousin to King Victor Emmanuel III. You see yourself on a civilising mission to the most benighted and darkest regions of the world, bringing the most rarefied and tangible benefits of ‘La Bella Figura’ to native peoples across the Italian Empire. Your only weakness, if it can be called that (you are Italian after all), is women. Particularly native women, who you find are closer to God in their whims, appetites and desires. They come from a simpler time, uncluttered by modern distraction, and focussed on what God put them here for: procreation.
Somaliland was to be your Eden on earth. It was after all near the cradle where life itself was born. You have been here since 1918, transforming the savage wilderness. You are particularly pleased with Villabruzzi, your model town, where natives and Italian settlers live in perfect harmony in a modern civilised settlement. The roads, dams, schools, hospitals, church and yes, even a mosque, that you have built are tangible evidence of this Great Mission in action.
But still they come and try and destroy you. The Mad Mullah, and his tens of filthy fanatical barbarians, refuse to accept that you and the Italian Empire are a force for good and progress. Or maybe they do, and what they really fear is you and your enlightenment breaking their stone age hold on the lovely and gentle folk of these parts. No matter. You will ‘civilise’ them with gun and shell if that’s what it takes….
Objectives
1. Destroy the Mad Mullah
2. Seek new territories to extend Italian Civilisation – Il Duce likes results you can point to on a map
3. Don’t be pushed around by the British or French or Abyssinians
Forces
- Your best troops are your Eritrean Ascaris and elite Italian units such as Alpini, Arditi detachments and Bersaglieri units.
- Your estimation of the average Italian conscript as a fighter is low and as a professional soldier you hold Mussolini’s Blackshirt thugs in disdain.
- You also have other native units such as Somali Dubats which are useful irregular infantry.
1st Native Division (Asmara - c.5000 men)
• 1st Mixed Brigade (1000 Ascari + support)
• 3rd Mixed Brigade (1000 Ascari + support)
• 5th Mixed Brigade (1000 Ascari +support)
• Banda dell'Hassamò (500 Irregular troops)
• 6th Cavalry Squadron Group (250 sabres)
• Native Cavalry Squadron Group (250 camels)
5th Division (Massawa - c.5000 men)
• Roma Brigade—79th and 80th Infantry Regiments (2000 regulars)
• 7th Alpini Battalion (800 men)
• 2nd Bersaglieri Regiment (1000 men)
• 11th Alpine Artillery Regiment (4 x batteries mountain guns)
• Gladio Arditi detachment (500 men)
• 79th HMG Company (12 HMGs)
9th Division (Mogadishu – c.5000 men)
• Milano Brigade – 7th and 8th Infantry Regiments (2000 regulars)
• 4th Alpini Battalion (800 men)
• 5th Bersaglieri Regiment (1000 men)
• 10th Alpine Artillery Regiment (4 x batteries mountain guns)
• Pugile Arditi detachment (500 men)
• 8th HMG Company (12 HMGs)
2nd Native Division (Lugh – c.4000 men)
• 2nd Mixed Group (1000 Dubat irregulars)
• 4th Mixed Group (1000 Dubat irregulars)
• 6th Mixed Group (1000 Dubat irregulars)
• 10th Native Horse (500 sabres)
• 12th Native Horse (500 sabres)
Following all based in Asmara or Mogadishu (your choice):
1st Cavalry Brigade - 13th Light Cavalry Regiment of Monferrato & 20th Light Cavalry Regiment of Rome (250 sabres each)
2nd Cavalry Brigade - 4th Cavalry Regiment of Genova (250 sabres) & 5th Lancer Regiment of Novara (250 lances)
Gruppo Armato d’Africa – (24 x FT17 tanks, 48 Lancia and Minerva armoured cars, assorted improvised armoured trucks)
Gruppo Aereo D’Assalto – (24 x fighters and 12 x fighter bombers)
Gruppo Aereo De Bombardiere – (24 x heavy bombers)
27th Field Artillery Regiment (12 x heavy guns)
29th Field Artillery Regiment (12 x heavy guns)
41st Field Artillery Regiment (12 x heavy guns)
The Regia Marina (your old naval arm) also has various gunboats, several destroyers and two cruisers based in Mogadishu and Massawa. Reinforcements are available from Italy if needed but achieving your objectives with a relatively small and professional force would be ideal.
Intelligence
- The Mad Mullah has some 50,000 men under arms, fanatically loyal and fast moving. They are however extremely ill-equipped and lack basic heavy weapons and even rifles in some cases, they are unlikely to take you head on but isolated garrisons and convoys will be under threat.
- The British in Somaliland are under the command of the degenerate Lord Grey and have a relatively small force of around 5,000 Indian Army troops backed up by local Gendarmes, their intentions appear to be primarily aimed at crushing the Mad Mullah but they still might to cause trouble for you as they still view Italy as the unwelcome colonial newcomer.
- The British have also deployed a major RAF presence to Kenya according to your eyes and ears in Nairobi, under the command of a young officer named Harris.
- The Abyssinian Empire is on the verge of revolution as Haile Selassie attempts to plough forward with his modernising industrialisation plans. The Emperor alone has some 100,000 men under arms but many are equipped only with spears and swords, he has called on his erstwhile smoking buddy and ally, Der Baron, to prop up his regime with a sizeable expeditionary force.
- Aerial reconnaissance has spotted a new oil pipeline and railway being built from Djibouti to Addis Ababa by Ethiopian and Der Baron’s forces with the apparent support of the French.
- Nationalist African forces are also rumoured to be undermining the Abyssinian regime and on the verge of opening hostilities.
- The new Mahdi has launched a rebellion similar to that of the Mad Mullah’s in Somalia against the British Governor Horatio St Vincent Ramrod of Sudan.
- The crisis in Abyssinia may present the greatest opportunity to expand the East African Empire without upsetting too many major European powers.
- There has been much talk in the papers of major archaeological discoveries taking place in Egypt, various European and American expeditions are being dispatched at this time by both private and governmental benefactors.
Avanti Savoia!
The Tears of Solomon – Lord Grey’s brief
Amery* was a bit too earnest for you this early in the morning. No doubt he had been up since before dawn thrashing himself with birch twigs and swimming bollock naked in the Serpentine
‘Grey, you had an easy time of it in Thailand. But the King seemed to like you and you kept the place quiet whilst it was all kicking off down south. For that we are grateful.
‘However there’s a new game afoot, and we need someone with your
ability to tie two bits of rotten lanyard together and create the Forth Road Bridge.
‘Somaliland’ says he, pulling out a large scale map of the Horn of Africa. ‘Christ’ mutters you under your breath. The arse crack of Africa. All dust, Dervishes and Dengue fever.
‘What was that Grey, eh?’
‘er, Crikey sir! Isn’t that where the Mad Mullah is on the warpath?’
‘Precisely. And your job is to stop him. Or at the very least make sure that he entertains our Italian friends ahead of us, and, critically, he doesn’t try and topple Haile Selassie. He may be a drug addled absolute monarch with psychotic and despotic tendencies, but he’s our drug addled absolute monarch with psychotic and despotic tendencies. If the Horn falls to chaos, then Suez is under threat. And watch out for the French. They’re upto something’
He moved a copy of today’s Times from a thick government folder marked ‘top secret’. The papers were endlessly full of ‘new mysterious discoveries’ in Egypt these days, and the Times leader was railing about Germans, Italians and all manner of Johnny Foreigner stealing a march on good honest Brits.
‘Grey. Concentrate’. Amery had a bullying way with minimal effort and words.
‘You are to proceed to Berbera immediately. There you are to make contact with the RAF based out of Kenya. Smart young fella by the name of Harris. Nicknamed ‘Chopper’. Did sterling work in Iraq. Bombed sense into the Arabs. He is to do the same with the Mad Mullah. We’ll be moving up the heavy crates from Kenya by the time you get there. We’ve also got some of Winston’s pacifiers ready to ship from Greenock’
‘Winston’s pacifiers sir?’
‘Gas, poison gas. Churchill swears its good for the native constitution. Haw-haw..’
‘And try and get those buggers to pay some taxes whilst you’re at it. Imperial protection doesn’t come cheap these days’. He was referring to the fact that tax collection in British Somaliland hadn’t really ever got going and was being used by the Mad Mullah as a rallying call for the faithful.
‘You’ve a decent division of troops out there. Indian army. Solid. I’ve also managed to convince Horseguards to send the Brigade of Guards out for some training. Lazy buggers need toughening up. Right that’s it, good day to you’.
As the cab took you to the clap clinic on Wimpole Street you couldn’t help reflecting on the state of affairs you’d found yourself in. Your first big independent command was bound to be somewhere fly blown and dangerous, but this had the potential to be fatal as well…
*Leo Amery, Secretary of State for the Colonies. Balliol man, fluent in nine languages, noted for his interest in British military preparedness, British India and the British Empire.
Objectives
1. Crush the Mad Mullah and his rebellion, or at least deflect him onto the Italians
2. Ensure Haile Selassie stays in power by any means necessary
3. Feather your own nest
Forces
7th Division
29th Infantry Brigade
- 1st Battalion Royal Ulster Rifles (500 men)
- 2/27th Punjab Infantry (500 men)
- 1st Battalion 2nd Ghurkha Rifles (500 men)
- C Coy. 12th Battalion Middlesex Regt. (12 HMGs)
- 206th (Ulster) Battery, Royal Artillery (8 guns)
30th Infantry Brigade
- 2nd Battalion Royal Hampshire Regt. (500 men)
- 13th Rajputs (500 men)
- 14th Ferozepore Sikhs (500 men)
- D Coy. 12th Battalion Middlesex Regt. (12 HMGs)
- B Battery, 4th Field Regt. Royal Artillery (8 guns)
9th Cavalry Brigade
- Queen Alexandra’s Mounted Rifles (250 kiwis)
- 1st Bengal Lancers (250 lances)
- Somaliland Camel Corps (500 rifles)
- 16/5th Lancers (12 armoured cars)
Attached 7th Division Assets
- 129th Battery Royal Field Artillery (12 heavy guns)
In addition to this you have 10 companies of Somaliland Gendarmerie (c.1000 men) scattered across the country keeping day to day law and order but they are lightly equipped and trained for policing duties rather than any serious engagement.
Small number of offshore patrol vessels also available, essentially light civilian craft and motorboats equipped with HMGs.
Intelligence
- The Italian forces in East Africa are under the command of Prince Luigi Amedeo, a former admiral in the Regia Marina and an expert mountaineer as well as long-term resident of Somaliland and apparently genuine philanthropist.
- They have a much larger presence in theatre than HMG currently with somewhere in the region of 20,000 men between Eritrea and Somaliland backed up with air power and armour. Many of these troops are natives who although less well equipped than their Italian counterparts, they should by no means be discounted.
- The rhetoric emanating from Rome and Il Duce seems to suggest they are gearing up for a campaign in the region but we are unsure of where exactly.
- The Mad Mullah has a vast force of Dervishes, perhaps outnumbering you as much as ten to one (~50,000 men), but they lack heavy weapons and seem reluctant to engage your forces in set piece engagements.
- Rumours of rebellion and unrest are rife in Abyssinia where Emperor Selassie is attempting to modernise the nation. Added to this is the threat of the Italians, the Mad Mullah, the Mahdi and various self-proclaimed African nationalists all around the Kingdom.
- As a result the Baron himself has pitched up in Abyssinia in force to keep his smoking buddy on his hemp throne, be wary of them but they don’t seem like an immediate threat to the Empire.
- There has been much talk of archaeological discoveries in Egypt but the hubbub is too far north to be of much immediate concern for you.
The Tears of Solomon - The Mad Mullah's Brief
Background…
Aaah... heaven is cleaning up on the craps table, whilst pulling on a Cohiba Robusto, with Mitzi bouncing up and down on your lap, whilst polishing off a perfect Negroni. It had been a long night at Mogadishu's main casino, the Casa D'Oro, but you were friends with the proprietor, a greasy little Italian by the name of Benacci, who always kept your cover, and made sure the services were discreet and classy.
You needed a respite from your day job, that of The Mad Mullah, Allah's appointed representative on this God's earth, adored and venerated icon to the faithful, scourge of the Italian and English kafirs, and all round top hole black bogey man. It was when you were at Oxford, studying Classics, that you realised that your co-religionists made, what was it Lenin said….'useful idiots'. When you have nothing and God's anointed turns up offering 77 Virgins and a chance to howl at the moon, it's amazing how lucrative a game it could be. And so far it had been. Since you first raised the black banner of revolt some two decades ago, you had salted away enough to have a villa by Lake Geneva, a string of floosies in every port, and enough 'friends in high places' that nobody had even got a sniff of who you were, what you were up to and where you would strike next.
Anyway, the orange blazing sun was rising over the Indian Ocean. It was time to get back to your day job....
Objectives
1. Destroy the Italian colony of Somaliland, and turn it into your personal fiefdom
2. Destroy British control of their Somaliland, and add it to your possesions
3. Overthrow that sanctimonious coconut headed stoner, Haile Selassie, so called ‘Lion of Juddah’
Forces
50,000 fanatical Somali and Dervish fighters, mixture of modern and obsolete firearms. You are short of machine guns and heavy weapons, but have the advantage of a supportive population, particularly in the countryside.
You can deploy your forces in either British or Italian Somaliland, but not less than fifty miles from a major city or port.
Intelligence
- The Italian forces in East Africa are commanded by Prince Luigi Amedeo, Duke of the Abruzzi. The man is a former admiral in the Regia Marina as well as an expert mountaineer, linguist and generous humanitarian (swine).
- He has been conducting a wide ranging and apparently genuine attempt to improve Somali infrastructure along the lines of their efforts in Eritrea through the construction of Italian style urban centres, hospitals etc.
- Italian forces are also strong in the region, their Askari in Eritrea are particularly fearsome but they are reinforcing Somaliland and have the full support of Rome in pursuing conflict against both you and their other neighbours – total numbers are somewhere north of 10,000 men, largely composed of native troops of varying qualities but with significant European forces alongside supporting arms.
- The British are much weaker on the ground by contrast and their swathe of Somaliland is under the command of the famed degenerate Lord Gordon Grey. Reportedly his forces are less than 5,000 strong and suffering from desertions among native troops.
- A powerful British RAF contingent has been redeployed to Kenya under the commander of an officer known by the Europeans as ‘Chopper’ Harris.
- Haile Selassie and his regime in Abyssinia are in a precarious situation in the midst of his modernisation efforts (he apparently refers to himself as Haile Isambard Kingdom Selassie these days, sporting a stovepipe hat). Rumours of coups and rebellions abound.
- He has called on the assistance of Der Baron who has arrived in country with a sizeable force and has overseen the construction of an oil pipeline and railway from Djibouti to Addis Ababa.
- There are rumours of forces of African nationalism with overtones of socialism emerging from the hinterland of Abyssinia while the usual forces of darkness are emerging from the northern Congo at the first hint of trouble.
- There is talk in the European papers of a major archaeological discovery in Libya.
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The Tears of Solomon – The Mahdi’s brief
Intro
The blazing yellow disc of the sun drifted up into the sheer blue desert sky. The shadows in the valley below shortened, and what looked like a moving landscape stirred and drifted in all directions. The sun’s first rays caught a glimpse of steel, and then a murmur that turned into a wave of sound as the call to prayer reverberated across the sunken landscape. 50,000 warriors took up the incantation and suddenly all seemed possible. It was time, once and for all, to throw the infidel out of Sudan.
You are Abd al-Rahman al-Mahdi, the son of the Messenger of the Prophet who died fighting the English forty years ago. As his son, you had been treated with suspicion by the infidel, but had spent decades assuring them of your loyalty and fealty. Your support for the British during WWI had finally convinced them, even though the ejection of the Turk was also your plan too.
Now it is time to wipe them out. All of them. And with this new ineffective governor, ‘Admiral’ Ramrod, the entire house of cards is ready to collapse. And it is not just in Sudan that the True Religion is in the ascendency. From Somaliland comes news that the Mad Mullah is making advances all over the Horn of Africa. Weapons and ammunition flood into support his cause. And that Christian viper in Ethiopia, Haile Selassie, is said to be close to being deposed by his own people. But it is to you, the Mahdi, that Islam looks. It is to you that the honour of throwing the infidel out of the ancient Nile Kingdoms has presented itself. You shall not fail this time.
Objectives
- Throw the British out of Sudan and foment rebellion in Egypt
- Support your Muslim brothers in the south, especially the Mad Mullah
- Destabilise and if possible overthrow Haile Selassie’s regime and unite the faithful across the region
- Secure support from abroad in order to give your forces a better chance at above
Forces
50,000 of the faithful. Infantry, cavalry, camelry. Ferocious and loyal, they are however short of modern weaponry. British magazines can help solve that problem, as can supplies from friendly nations, notably the Turks and the Bolsheviks.
You also have an effective intelligence network throughout the colonial administration.
The officer corps in the Egyptian army to the north is also a source of weaponry and intelligence. They are currently doing their best to not cooperate with the English occupying forces.
Intelligence
The British have the following forces in Sudan
The Sudan Defence Force:
5,000 native troops organised as follows
- Sudan Camel Corps
- Shendi horse regiment
- Western Arab infantry Corps
- Eastern Arab infantry Corps
- Equatorial infantry Corps
- supporting artillery and machine guns
(these are deployed across the country, mainly in the south and around Khartoum)
15th Brigade (deployed in Khartoum), organised as follows
- Battalion of the Devils in skirts
- Battalion of Punjab Infantry
- Battalion of Sikh Infantry
- machine gun compnay
- battery of 18pdrs
Attached troops
12 rolls Royce armoured cars
1 x RAF attachment with six aircraft
Nile Squadron (on patrol)
Armoured Paddle Steamer
Armoured monitor
Armoured river patrol boat
The Tears of Solomon – Turkish Brief
Ataturk was standing with his back to you on the balcony overlooking the Golden Horn. In the distance the Galata Tower shone white in the lowering sun. Since the capital had been moved to Ankara, the western wing of the Topkapi Palace was used only for the most secret of briefings.
‘Fevzi, come in. We have much to talk about’. Spread out on the marble table in front of you was a huge German staff map of the near and middle east, headed ‘Orient’, and a smaller, more detailed, British military map of East Africa.
Ataturk wore that look he had when over-excited about something. All restless energy and deep penetrating eyes, he was irresistible at these times.
‘It is time my dear Fevzi to strike back at the Western Powers for their humiliations of the Turkic peoples and the despoliation of our ancient homeland. It is time to take chaos to the allies’. The Turkish War of Liberation had just recently ended. British, French and - most foul of all - Greek armies had soiled the Turkish homelands. If it hadn’t been for the brilliance of Kemal Ataturk (plus a little help from the Bolsheviks), Turkey would have fallen and been enslaved.
‘And the good news Fevzi is that it won’t cost one Turkish life, nor cost us one single lira. We have warehouses overflowing with captured allied arms and ammunitions, and tens – nay hundreds - of thousands of willing Muslim allies in Egypt, Somalia and the Sudan. All of who burn to throw off the yoke of the West as we have just done. We must be their guide, their strategist and their salvation, and you my dear friend, Field Marshall Fevzi Çakmak will be their inspiration. But it all must be done in complete secrecy. Come, we have much to plan and talk about. But first let us head down to Karaköy for some fun and female company!’
Objectives
1. Arm and advise the Mahdist and Somali rebellions to evict the western powers from these respective regions
2. Overthrow the Christian government of Abyssinia and install a puppet regime favourable to Ankara.
Forces
- Six modern(ish) freighters:
S.S. ‘Sultan of Onan’
S.S. ‘Cream of Asia’
S.S. ‘Shaft of Suleiman’
S.S. ‘Back Allah’
S.S. ‘Manzikert’ (also spy listening ship, currently deployed off the Horn of Africa)
S.S. ‘Iskander Kebap’
- 20,000 modern French and British rifles, with ammunition.
- 100,000 French and British hand grenades
- 100 Vickers machine guns plus ammo
- 100 Hotchkiss machine guns plus ammo
- 20 French 75mm guns plus ammo
plus trainers for all of the above
In addition, a small Turkish ‘technical’ attachment has been formed
- 1 battalion of Stormtroopers (600 men)
- 1 HMG coy (12 guns)
- 1 squadron of Turkish lancers (120 sabres)
- 1 battalion of engineers (400 men)
- 1 battery Turkish 77mm field guns (12)
- 1 battery Turkish 150mm heavy guns (6)
- 6 Turkish aircraft
N.B. all of the above can be accommodated in your six ships. However you will need a deep water port to land them.
Intelligence
- The British are stretched thin across the Horn of Africa, relying on underequipped and under-enthused local forces to maintain the peace for the most part.
- They do however have powerful air units stationed in both Kenya and Egypt, which may be of some concern as well as usual Royal Navy presence in the Med and Red Sea.
- The Italians are heavily invested in the region with large numbers of men and equipment in Eritrea and Somaliland.
- The Empire of Abyssinia is fraught with talk of rebellion and coups but the Emperor himself, though debilitated with sickness, still has the unwashed hordes of Der Baron to prop him up.
- There is talk of factions of African nationalists emerging throughout the region, many with European support, and converging on Abyssinia.
- The usual selection of archaeologists, slavers, humanitarians and other ne’er do wells are also operating in the region.
- There is a certain Msr Stroganoff, operating out of Belgian Congo, who is a well known and successful arms smuggler who may be of use. He is always on the look out for a deal. Attaturk has despatched an agent to make contact with him
The Tears of Solomon - Von Stauffenberg's brief
'God's Holy Troushers'. Dr. Henry Jones's Scottish brogue had not softened even after decades of living and working in America. 'Do you know what this is Shtauffenberg? Thish, thish..'. He was getting excited now...'thish turns history on its head. Not only the hishtory of Alexander the Great, but potentially the entire hishtory of mankind. It's ashstonishing...'
You were standing in the Great Hall of the recently discovered Palace of Ptolemy I Soter (meaning 'saviour') deep beneath the bowels of Alexandria. Long thought lost under the sea, it turns out that Ptolemy knew about the dangers of earthquake in the region and built his most secret and important Palace inland, safe and far from prying eyes. You and Dr. Jones had come together through a mutual love of Alexander, and he had played an important role in settling the deal with the British government when you discovered the treasures of Alexander in the Taklakaman desert, eight summers and a thousand years ago. You had been friends ever since. You had then been caught up in Jones's conviction that Alexander hadn't just died of fever in Babylon, but had been poisoned by Ptolemy and the other Diadochi, and between you had funded this expedition. Jones, a masterful academic and practical archaeologist and you, a romantic and adventurer.
Your Greek was excellent... 'We killed him before he killed all of us, all of humanity, all of history... I was the only one who knew of the weapon (opla), and I hid it, where they found it. In the Palace without an entrance at the junction of...’
This was big. Very big indeed
Objectives
1. Piece together the other clues to complete the mystery of Alexander’s death, identify what ‘the weapon’ is and where it is hidden.
2. Recover whatever it is and decide what best to do with it.
3. Beware that there are enemies out to kill you and steal what you have found. Be very discreet about what you know
Forces
- 3 companies of Brandenburgers assisting with site security (120 men each)
- Zeppelintruppen (120 men)
- Panzerwagen Detachment (12 armoured cars)
- Panzer-Auto Detachment (12 armoured trucks)
- 1 company Askaris (120 men)
Intelligence
- The discovery at Siwa by your rival expedition is already causing a stir across Europe and the States and other expeditions from Glasgow University, Oxford and Padua as well as government run and privately funded expeditions are rumoured to be assembling.
- To the south all of the Horn of Africa is in foment, rumours of rebellion in Abyssinia have led Der Baron to come and assist his friend and smoking buddy Haile Selassie with a large expeditionary force.
- He has also constructed an oil pipeline from Djibouti to Addis Ababa in order to export his new found riches from Brunei into East Africa’s largest nation with apparent tacit support from the French.
- The Sudanese Muslims are once again in revolt under the command of the New Mahdi against the British the governorship of Admiral Horatio St. Vincent Ramrod, who has been trying to carry out on a humanitarian mission in the country.
- The Mad Mullah has been running both the British and Italians ragged with a guerrilla war in Somaliland.
- Mussolini has appointed Prince Luigi Amedeo, a former admiral in the Regia Marina and expert mountaineer to the General Command of the Italian Empire in East Africa. The Prince has embarked on a comprehensive modernisation project throughout the country. Italian military forces are being steadily increased and the word is they are spoiling for a major fight with either the British, Somali Dervishes, Abyssinians or indeed all three.
- The British have announced the deployment of a major RAF contingent to Kenya under the command of a young Wing Commander Arthur Harris fresh from his successful campaign against the Arabs of Mesopotamia.
- Col. Rudi Schneiber and his former Hungarian comrade Col. Janus Paul Ezterhazy are apparently looking for gainful employment for them and their troops once again and would make a significant addition to the strength of your expedition.
- There is unrest in Egypt amongst the Arab officer corps.
Right, that's all the briefs, now for the games......
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Dear lord, man! A chap could catch dyslexia from all that reading...
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Dear lord, man! A chap could catch dyslexia from all that reading...
while I, dear fellow, merely went mad writing it all......
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so here's a pic of the adventurers at the start of our final eve dinner. Every man a rake, adventurer and with that 1000 yd stare that says........
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right... a rest before I start on one of the strangest story that's ever been told.....
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A fine collection of 'Gentlemen' as one can see.
But you seem to be missing one.
Where's Waldo?
Can't wait to see photos of this game.
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and over all...............the shadow of Fu Manchu lol lol lol (Those are ominous laughing emojis by the way)
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If you, loyal reader, have ploughed through the marathon briefing session, you will have figured out this was campaign in the finest traditions of the League: a giant geo-political backdrop with pure Pulp at its heart. In this case the hunt for the 'Tears of Solomon' a weapon so devastating it would inevitably result in the end of the world as we know it. The first game however was set in Bonnie Scotland, where the key to the Temple, the so-called 'Knot of Solomon', was hidden somewhere. Various competing parties descended on Cockabendy Lodge by the banks of Loch Loonie, to be met with grumpy locals, a werewolf family (nod to Dog Soldiers), and the brilliantly reasonable local police force (unarmed of course) led by the indefatigable Sergeant Ramsey (played to a tee by The Beast himself, who is of course a son of a policeman in real life). We normally leave this sort of mass caper game till the Saturday night, but this time we decided to mix it up a bit. Spirits are normally high on the first night (i.e. strong drink is normally taken. In quantities), so this was the right game at the right moment in the weekend. Cockabendy Lodge was built from a MDF kit by the master himself, Rodger Williams, and much fun was had but all. and oh, the 'key' was being used as a toasting fork in the The Lodge, and was recovered, and spirited away, by Fu Manchu and his deadly acolytes. Which was the worst possible start for civilisation as we know it....more soon.......
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heres a few more views of The Lodge....
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Never a disappointing read,with tables that take some serious studying in order to take it all in.
Proper nice.
The Tudor manor house has been on my list of options for the big house for my own table. Until now I'd not seen any figures against one to see if it worked. Was the Tudor brickwork iffy ? As your seems to be covered up.Like it all the same.
Mark.
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Wow that;s a lot of work ..I have read bits..but love your research..i have marked this page to reference .So much cool info ..thanx for the hard work ..always love your campaigns..pure eye candy.
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Truly magnificent. Really saddened I live across the pond, would love to partake in the adventures. :D
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Never a disappointing read,with tables that take some serious studying in order to take it all in.
Proper nice.
The Tudor manor house has been on my list of options for the big house for my own table. Until now I'd not seen any figures against one to see if it worked. Was the Tudor brickwork iffy ? As your seems to be covered up.Like it all the same.
Mark.
Mark
Don’t know to be honest, the supremely talented Smirnoff, aka Rodger Williams did the work
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Wonderful rugs ;) :)
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Looks to be great fun - as always with your games. I look forward to seeing how this progresses (my money is on Ruddi and Esterhazy).
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This is just perfection! Hugely enjoyable reading so far.
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Wonderful rugs ;) :)
lol lol lol
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Unadulterated madness, but quite wonderful and played out on such an exquisite tabletop.
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Always superb... :o :o :-*
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Your group is either,
Fun, Fun, Fun,
or Mad, Mad, Mad.
I, love, love, love the game. lol
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The Battle for the Gheralta Plateau......
Meanwhile, down in Abyssinia, Afrika Bambaataa, the legend that is the Dub King of African emancipation, has seized the strategically important plateau at Gheralta to broadcast his Jah Revolution in the heart of Abyssinia.
The Lion of Judah, aint gonna take this insult lying down. An army group is formed, and an assault planned....
Army lists
Gheralta Plateau – Afrika Bambaataa
Objective: Defend the plateau, ensure you are not captured.
Army List
CinC Afrika Bambaataa, +2 lucky, pistol, bombs
2iC Shorty Gahfield +2 lucky, ferocious, LMG, bombs
3IC Beyonce +1 pistols and grenades
1 x Unarmed Red Transport Aircraft (can be used for getaways)
2 x 24 Ruga-Ruga, C4 M3 irregulars, obsolete rifles
1 x 10 Bunmen, C3 M2 irregulars rifles, bombs
1 x 20 pygmies C4 M3 irregulars, spears, blowpipes
1 x 10 IRA men C3 M3 stubborn. Rifles, bombs, 1 LMG
1 x 10 Soviet Advisors C2 M3 stubborn, rifles, bombs, 1 LMG
1 x Sniper C3 M3
1 x Bun-Man Makele HMG C3 M2 irregular, stubborn
2 x Bolshevik Field guns C3 M3
1 x Bolshevik HMG C3 M3
2 x light AA guns
Abyssinian forces
Gheralta Plateau – Haile Selassie
Objective: Clear the board of the infidel invader!
CinC His Imperial Highness, Rex, Rasta-Fari +2 lucky, pistols. Gives +1 in morale to any unit within 12”
2IC – Gen Isiah Abbidishu +1 lucky.
2 x 10 Imperial Guards C2 M2 ferocious. rifles, bombs 1 LMG
1 x 10 Mountaineer Unit, C2 M2, Marksmen, bombs, 1 LMG
1 x 10 ‘A’ team mercenaries C2 M2 stubborn, marksmen, rifles, bombs 2 LMGs
1 x 10 NAACP Friendship Battalion C3 M3, rifles, 1 LMG
2 x 10 riflemen C3 M3 stubborn. rifles, bombs, 1 LMG
2 x 24 irregular C4 M2 ferocious spearmen
1 x Sniper C3 M3
1 x 10 noble cavalry C3 M2 irregulars, lances
2 x obsolete artillery pieces C3 M3
2 x modern artillery pieces C3 M3
2 x improvised armoured cars C3 M3
6 rounds of off-table HE Must be pre-planned
3 x Brown Condors C3 M3 2 light bombs each
pictures to follow.......
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pictures to follow.......
Can't wait!
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Gheralta Plateau - the action!
The attack saw the Abyssinian imperial forces attempt to assault up the seemingly impregnable plateau in order to seize and destroy the Afrika Bambaataa FM radio stations at the top, as well as to seize the infamous Reggae Rascal himself...
After a shaky start owing to ambushes from pygmies and tribal irregulars on the plains below the plateau, the Abyssinians were able to begin the hard slog up the mountain paths towards the summit under a hail of gunfire and boulders, ably assisted by their mountaineering troops and, most importantly, the Brown Condor Legion of crack African-American pilots flying their Albatross D.VAs. With the help of their air support knocking out key heavy weapons guarding the pathways, the imperial troops were able to burst onto the plateau and destroy most of Bambaataa's forces, although the man himself made his getaway aboard a Bolshevik-piloted Gotha.
Haile Selassie had started the campaign in stunning fashion and snuffed out the first real sign of rebellion, while Bambaataa fled into the mists as quickly as he had arrived...
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The Brown Condors open the batting with an air attack on the plateau
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Abyssinian ground troops start the assault, helped by the NAACP friendship battalion....
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Abyssinian irregulars, including the splendid noble cavalry complete in barded armour, start the dangerous ascent...
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The defenders on the hill await the best the Abyssinians can throw at them. Bun Man Makalele and his gold plated vickers along with a mortar crew and some friendly bolos hold the western end of the plateau
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Bun Man buys the farm as the Abyssinians encroach....
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at this point, Afrika Bambaataa decrees that the broadcasts will stop for the day and he makes good his escape on a friendly Bolo transport plane....
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Love that plane! It it a kit? (If so, who does it? It’d look brilliant on the North West Frontier!).
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Love that plane! It it a kit? (If so, who does it? It’d look brilliant on the North West Frontier!).
An Aurora Gotha. I think they were made in the 1970s originally, but you can still pick them up on eBay. I'ver got a DH10 which is even bigger!
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Most splendid Steve! Great to see portions of the struggle that I was only dimly aware of (though the Fu network KNOWS ALL, of course lol). The League's toy collection must only be surpassed by the League's toy collection storage capacity! lol
Lon
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An Aurora Gotha. I think they were made in the 1970s originally, but you can still pick them up on eBay. I'ver got a DH10 which is even bigger!
Thanks Steve - much appreciated!
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Fantastic to see the quilt-armored cavalry on the table.