The League of Extraordinary Kriegspielers presents........A Line in the Sand!

[Captain Blood]

I've got that book. Got stuck halfway through. In the sand. Quite heavy going... 

Bet your game will be a lot more enjoyable...

[Ignatieff]

I've got that book. Got stuck halfway through. In the sand. Quite heavy going... 

Bet your game will be a lot more enjoyable...

It was fine in our period (interwar), but yes, a bit hard work round the edges....

[Duke Donald]

An update please! The wait is becoming unbearable!

[Ignatieff]

The campaign is moving at pace with all sorts kicking off.  There are three editions of the newsletter: "The Kashgar Illustrated Sporting Pink - never knowingly understood.." Available forth those who wish to have an update....big games weekend is 23-26th of this month....

[Ignatieff]

The Briefs.....

We had ten sides last summers opus, which included quite a lot of doubling up by players.  This had worked in the past well (e.g. Brigadier Linn and Lord Grey), but I also had to do it for my own sanity.  Any more than ten is just too much for one (fairly busy) man to handle.

So the 'sides' were as follows:

1. Ataturk and V.I.Blackwood.  

2. Von Stauffenberg, Col. Schneiber and The Sultan of Hatay.

3. Brigadier Linn and Lord Grey

4. Cedric Van Der Suds III.

5.  Bogo Corp (three players, my sons Rory and Jamie and their cousin Charlie...).  

6. Count Smirnoff.

7. King Faisal.

8. Der Baron

9. Mad Bob.

10. The Beast of Bukhara & Texas Ted.

so 17 players in all....

Next up, the players briefs!

[Ignatieff]

Ataturk & V.I. Blackwood brief

'Go you old fool!'  The Grand Mufti turned and shuffled out  of your office. And so with these words the thousand year old Caliphate was abolished.  Turkey had turned its back on its Ottoman past for good, and was set to modernise, improve and eventually, join the modern world. Of course, old habits die hard, and you still harboured ambition to reconquer the Empire, just without the irritating religious bits, what the west called 'the Muslim papacy'. You however are more interested in the oil than the orthodoxy, as the lands to the south and east are rapidly being opened up by foreign oil companies, and transforming the fortunes of the Middle East.

Turkey, which so recently was nearly carved up by the French and the Greeks was now whole again, with a modern army, a balanced exchequer, and good friends.  Russians mind you, and godless communists at that, but clever men, progressive in their thinking and generous with their grants of arms and men. And, with the same enemies as you: the French, the British and of course the one you two completely agreed upon: The Beast of Bukhara.  You and Adrian Enver Pasha had been at staff college together (he was the bullying type, which you took full advantage of), and then you went your separate ways.  He to the east to found a new Turkic dynasty, weighed down (in your opinion) by the bickering influence of Imans and false prophets, and you,  Kemal Ataturk, to a more modern, enlightened, path.

And following the recent Bolshevik success in Mongolia the game had subtly changed. for Russia, The Beast was all that stood between it and its desire to reunite Old Mother Russia, while his death would leave you the Supreme Leader of the Turkic nations.  It would be a pleasurable, but bitter, fight to the death.

And then there was the little issue of the book, the 'Regnum Umbra porta Nona'. You know The Beast is desperate to acquire this book, but you know not why, but you do know it has something to do with Megiddo in Palestine...

Objectives

1. Give The Beast a bloody nose and undermine, destabilise, and if possible, destroy him.

2. Get the French out of Syria

3. Get the British out of Palestine.

4. Acquire as much oil wealth as you can.

A decisive victory would be achieving objectives 1-3
A major victory would be achieving any two objectives from four.
A minor victory would be achieving any one objective from four.

Forces

Active field force: army - 25,000men in five divisions.  Divisions are made up of Brigades of infantry or cavalry. You have 20,000 infantry and 5,000 cavalry.  The army also has some 100 field and heavy artillery pieces, many of them manned by Russian crews. In addition you have 3 mechanised brigades of WWI surplus tanks (24 tanks in all) and 2 of armoured cars (16 in total). Most of these are manned by volunteer Bolshevik crews. There is a small Turkish air corps, some 12 planes, all manned by ex-German army pilots. Finally, the Turkish navy has mostly coastal patrol boats, an ex-German pocket cruiser, and one ex-German submarine.  This flotilla is based in Istanbul, and whilst good enough for coastal support is no match for the powerful British and French Mediterranean fleets.  Total men under arms, c.40,000, including 3,000 Bolshevik volunteers.

Intelligence

- The French have some 15,000 men in Syria, but are stretched thin by the scale of the country and the increasingly bold Druze resistance.  The Druze are rumoured to be being supplied by the British.  The French may allow you to use their railway line to supply Kurdish rebels in the Mosul area (see last point below)

- The Kindgom of Hatay, on your southern border, has grand ambitions, but should rightfully be part of Turkey.

- The British have some 25,000 - mostly veteran - troops in Palestine and a well organised counterintelligence operation under Lord Gordon Grey.  There is however a growing Jewish underground, who are rumoured to be being supported by the French.

- You have a well organised, Bolshevik controlled, intelligence network in Palestine and Beirut.

- The Beast is rumoured to be massing on the Persian/Iraqi border, with upto 40,000 troops including a very strong armoured corps.

- there is an ongoing international dispute about who owns the Mosul area of Northern Iraq.  It is rumoured to be very oil rich (the stuff bubbles up to the surface all over the place!). You, the French, British, Hatay and Bukharans all lay claim to it, whilst King Faisal of Iraq is adamant it's going nowhere!  The French have offered to let you ship arms to Kurdish rebels there via their rail network.


Turkish Lancers cross swords with wild Somali horsemen, somewhere in Hatay....

[Ignatieff]

Von Stauffenberg, Schneiber and Sultan of Hatay

"Rolls-Royce Phantom. 7.7 litre, 50 horsepower, six cylinder engine, with Stromberg downdraft carburetor, can go from zero to 100 kilometres an hour in 12.5 seconds. And I even like the colour".  Von Stauffenberg and Schneiber smiled and nodded.

The Sultan of Hatay was an optimistic, even ebullient man.  From an ancient Syrian family who traced their ancestry back to the Byzantine empire (he had changed religion to Islam on a pragmatic whim) he had the wit to realise what the end of the Great War actually promised: opportunity for enterprising young 'nationalists' such as himself.  Turkey was in turmoil, Syria slumped  in sectarian conflict and Palestine paralysed.  What the west needed, and he could promise, was a moderate, liberal regime, someone who was open for business and could create value from the best of east and west..  He was, most certainly, that man.

And the plan was working!  Graf Von Stauffenberg, a renowned German war hero, archaeologist and oil entrepreneur (Chief Executive, Großdeutschen Ölgesellschaft, The Greater German Oil Corporation, no less) had made great efforts to help protect and expand the influence of the nascent Kingdom of Hatay. He and the Austrian war hero, Rudi Schneiber (Pour Le Merite no less) were bona fide guarantors of Hatay's standing in the new world order.

But there were challenges all around.  The Turks to the north, under the resurgent (and you had to admit, brilliant) leadership of Kemel Ataturk, were keen to fall 'like the wolf upon the fold' on your kingdom. The French to the east were keen to 'complete' their Outremer kingdom by taking your capital Alexandretta and the ancient ruins of Antioch, and to the south the British, oh the British.  Why had they put that cretin Linn and his pederast 'Intelligence' officer Lord Gordon Grey in charge?  One would start a revolt, and the other bugger it, quite literally.

No, you had to be quick on your feet, sharp with your wits, and use your friends - and particularly Von Stauffenberg and Schneiber -to secure your kingdom and legacy.

There were two issues you and the Krauts talked about a lot.  The first was oil.  The entire Middle East promised a bonanza not seen since the Spanish heretics took South America 'up the shitter' as Von Stauffenberg's deputy, the combative Colonel Rudi Schneiber would say. The question was where?  Arabia and Iraq were the favourites, with Hatay and the Mediterranean coastal shelf a poor second.  But who knows.  All you know is that Von Stauffenberg has a large line of credit to which to bid for oil franchises.

The second was the curious issue of the books. Rudi Schneiber had told a strange tale of a set of books, three in all, published and printed on the 17th century, which promised the resurrection of the Devil himself!  They were called:  Regnum Umbra porta Nona' or The Ninth Gate of the Kingdom of Shadows.  By Allah's holy trousers, what on earth did this mean.  Who knows?  But Schneiber was a  deranged Austrian on a mission.  You had heard rumours in the souks and from the mountain chiefs that there were many men, mostly of the blackest hearts, after the books, so maybe there was value - or at least mischief - in procuring them. But who knows?

Objectives

1. Survive and retain the territorial and political independence of Hatay

2. Explore and maximise the oil revenues of the kingdom, in conjunction with friendly oil partners.  A separate set of rules for how the bidding process and extraction mechanism will be issued.

3. Find the three books.

Forces

Hatay:  5,000 men, including 1,000 cavalry.  Mostly motorised with a good proportion of supporting machine guns and artillery.  6 aircraft, mostly with ex-Belgian pilots (no, I've no idea either...). 2 small coastal patrol craft. 6 modern tanks, 6 armoured cars, 25 field pieces and 6 'Big Berthas'

German/Austrians: 2,000 hardcore ex-storm troopers.  Comprehensively  equipped with the latest heavy weapons (artillery, flame throwers, anti-tank rifles, etc), 6 armoured cars and a special ops 'dirigible' company.  One modern submarine and one supply ship. Six field guns.

Intelligence

The Turks have a field army of c.30,000, supported by Bolshevik 'advisors'

- The British have c.25,000 troops in Palestine.

- Faisal's Iraqis have c.10,000 men supported by elements of the RAF.

- The Beast of Bukhara is rumoured to be deploying through Persia, with a large (25,000+) army, and to have signed an oil deal with Texas Ted.

-  There is one copy of 'the book' somewhere in England.  It was previously owned by John Milton, the 17th century poet and proselytiser.

- Cedric Van Der Suds III is rumoured to have a 'war chest' for oil franchises of £200m+. Texas Ted is the other power in the region.  He is rumoured to be backing 'The Beast of Bukharas' franchise bid.

- The head of Haganah is known to be called Ze'ev Jabotinsky, a Russian born Jew.

- there is an ongoing international dispute about who owns the Mosul area of Northern Iraq.  It is rumoured to be very oil rich (the stuff bubbles up to the surface all over the place!). The Turks, French, British, Hatay and Bukharans all lay claim to it, whilst King Faisal of Iraq is adamant it's going nowhere!

[Ignatieff]

Brigadier Linn & Lord Gordon Grey's brief

The court martial lasted less than an hour. Lord Grey's defence was as eloquent as it was devastating.  If it was not for the intelligence his pundits provided about the Russian advance what was, admittedly, a humiliating retreat would have become the retreat from Kabul in the First Afghan War.  And once the action around Urga was lost, if it wasn't for Linn's consummate defensive skills the game would have been totally up.  HMG should be giving him and Linn medals, not trying to pick over the bones of a disaster of their own making.  Whether this would have been enough for an acquittal if Grey hadn't had a series of pictures of the General Maitland and a troupe of Baden Powell's finest in a sauna in Brighton is anyone's guess, but it probably did no harm...

Bullivant was waiting in a car outside.  "Right you two, in here now".
"Well that was a bloody mess. How the hell did the Bolos know where everyone was coming from?  One thing you can usually rely upon is that with an allied army the enemy doesn't usually have a clue, just like the allies themselves.  But Blackwood and Red Ted seemed to know everything". The three of you sat in silence for the journey back to London. The capital had emptied for the summer, and so the journey to his office was mercifully swift.

"Whisky and soda?" His mood seemed to have lightened. "How much do you two know about Palestine, Syria and Mesopotamia ?" He put the 1922 Times atlas down on the table. Brigadier Linn couldn't help himself, and positively launched into an uninterruptible monologue about the Selucid Empire before a look ('that look') from Bullivant brought him to an abrupt halt. "I meant nowadays" cut Bullivant, visibly interested once more.

"While you two have been away squandering HMG's treasure in the Gobi desert the mandates have been invoked, and us and the French have taken up our formal positions.  The French have become unbearable however, invoking their 'thousand year right' to a kingdom in Syria and how they are duty bound to bring their 'culture' to the benighted locals. Understandable at one level, as its the first colony they've had that isn't just camels and sand, though there's still plenty of that around".

"We are still smarting that we had to give up Allenby's conquests and let them in in the first place, but HMG is scared what the yanks will think about building a new extension onto the Empire". He refilled your glasses, generously. "And then there's the main game of course - oil.  Every since Jackie Fisher worked out that oil is four times more efficient at fuelling our battleships then the game has been on. We are well placed of course, but there's tensions rising in the north of Iraq, near a place called Mosul.  It's ours of course, but the Turks want it back (and the frogs are letting them ship arms, Bolshevik arms mind you, by rail to the Kurdish rebels there); the Frogs want it, obviously,  realising only now that Clemenceau was duped by Lloyd George in '18; and Adrian Enver Pasha has thrown his fez into the ring, claiming its a historic part of Greater Bukhara.  Anyway, Faisal's got 10,000 men, a large chunk of the RAF and T.E.Lawrence has just flown out to help him, so he should be fine. our man there, Sir Henry Dobbs, will shout if he needs help".  Big Ben struck four outside. "And to the south Ibn Saud, the old fox, is playing a waiting game.  He wants Iraq, and is keeping in with all the major powers.  Keep an eye on him, though he's unlikely to get involved unless the balloon goes up".

"So, what's your part in all this I hear you say?.  Well it's two fold, firstly you are to take command of Palestine and stop the Jews and Arabs from slaughtering each other, which they've taken to do with a vengeance.  You've a very large occupation force of 25,000 for that purpose.  Secondly, I want you to stir up the hornets nest that is Syria for the French. Our best hope is the Druze, who have already started but are short of everything.  Their leader is Sultan Pasha Al Atrash, a good man and someone we can do business with. Try and avoid a direct confrontation with the French, but if they start something the PM is happy for you to finish it." Bullivant turned away an unlocked a book cabinet behind his desk. He placed an old book on his desk. "and thirdly, this..." Linn's eyes lit up. "the 'Regnum Umbra porta Nona' or 'The Ninth Gate of the Kingdom of Shadows'. This is one of three remaining copies left in the world.  The wires in the Middle East are full of rumour that all the major powers are after them. Well were not, but we are keen to find out why everyone else is.  This copy was in the John Milton museum somewhere in the Home Counties, but there have been three attempts to steal  it in the last month, so we replaced it with a bad forgery." He pushed it over the desk to you. "Take it with you, it might prove useful collateral in your mission". Brigadier Linn, you are to assume full military command of Palestine, Lord Grey, you start as Head of Military Intelligence forthwith.".

Objectives

1. Drive the French mad by encouraging all forms of revolt, especially the Druze. Deny everything, of course. A decisive victory would be to force them to evacuate completely.

2. Keep the peace in Palestine, and stop the Jews and Arabs slaughtering each other.

3. Find out what everyone is wanting the books, and make sure British interest are not undermined by it.

Forces

25,000 men, a mixture of veteran British and locally raised militia.

- three divisions of British infantry, with full supporting arms.
- one cavalry division, partially mechanised
- two armoured Brigades, 2/3 armoured cars, one third tanks. 60 vehicles in all.
- Two heavy artillery Brigades (mostly 9" guns)
- mixed division of locally raised troops and specialist troops.
- 12 Handley Page bombers, 48 fighter aircraft.
- 2 destroyers, 6 coastal patrol boats and two mine layers/sweepers can be requested from the RN.

Intelligence

-  The Turks have a field army of c.30,000, supported by Bolshevik 'advisors'

- The French have some 15,000men in Syria.  All arms.

- the Kingdom of Hatay has a small c.5,000 man army, as well as an unknown number of German and Austrian mercenaries under Von Stauffenberg and Schneiber.

- There is an oil franchise bidding process underway thought the region.  Franchise bidders are known to be Cedric Van Der Suds III, Von Stauffenberg (closely aligned to the Sultan of Hatay), and Texas Ted who is fronting for the Bukharans. Their financial resources are not known, but are thought to be in the region of $100m each.

- Bukhara has an internal revolt going on in the little known mountain province of Gherkush.  They are Christians, and therefore good guys.  Gherkush is being supplied arms directly from Russia by our Red friends, but also by us via India.  You believe they also have people in Beirut, who are sourcing arms there as well.

- Der Baron is rumoured to be in Addis Ababa, smoking dope and talking nonsense about a crusade.

- Cedric Van Der Suds III is based out of Cairo.

- Mad Bob is reportedly holidaying in an old crusader castle in the Far East of Syria.


British armour supporting the Gordons as they attempt to retake Baghdad from The Beast

[Ignatieff]

Cedric Van Der Suds III

Egypt, 192?, somewhere in the Sinai desert...

"Aziz, more light!.....earth, water, air, wind...and a fifth element, more powerful than....AZIZ, LIGHT!!"

You turned to see the chamber of the tomb turn dark. It wasn't Aziz's laziness that had caused the light to fade, but something blocking the entrance chamber. What sounded like a cohort of heavy footsteps approached, accompanied but the jingle of metal fittings. Your hand naturally moved to unbutton the holster of your broom handled Mauser. It was a M1898, the finest ever made.....

"Cedric!" boomed a familiar cheery sing song voice.  It was the Dalai Lama. But what brought him to the Back of Beyond?  "Cedric, a thousand pardons for interrupting your hobby, but we must speak, alone..."

The sunlight dazzled as you moved out of the tomb and into your nearby camp.  The oil derricks pounded rhythmically in the dry baking heat. No oil from any of them yet, but you remained confident.  You entered the relative cool of your tent, poured the Dalai his favourite (1898 Glenlivet) and attacked a large block of ice with a pick.

"Well Dalai, I'm all ears.."

What followed was the most amazing tale you had ever heard. The Dalai was here to enlist your help in the search for three books that had the potential to destroy the world. "They were written in the mid 17th century, by a man who had - genuinely- sold his soul to the Devil.  The Catholic Church, with our help, managed to destroy all but three copies, and by the late 18th century the trail had gone cold.  However new intelligence has reached us, and been confirmed by a strong disturbance in the force, that the hunt for the last three remaining books is back on. A number of 'collectors' have recently surfaced, some genuine, some with more sinister motives, who want to acquire the books, unlock the code therein, and, whether knowingly or unknowingly bring about 'The End of Days'. I'm sure you can imagine who might be interested".

A gruesome image of  'Mad Bob' laughing like a drain flashed through your mind...

"I presume you are referring to the  'Regnum Umbra porta Nona' in English, 'The Ninth Gate of the Kingdom of Shadows'?" you enquired...

"The very same Cedric, the very same.  However there is something wrong with each of the copies, or at least some of the pages therein. Whatever it is we cannot allow anybody to sit down with all three copies.  We must find them Cedric, and soon".  He poured himself another large scotch." I will leave you a company of my finest monks. Disguise them as Chinese coolies and work them hard.  They will look after you". With that he was gone.  You didn't see him finish his drink, or leave the tent. "How the hell does he do that?" you wondered out loud.

The dark shadow of the Tibetan zeppelin receded into the cobalt blue sky.  You had come here with a war chest of $100m to bid for oil franchises and carry out a bit of hobby archeology.  But the game had just gotten more complicated and  a helluva lot more serious.......

Objectives

1. Successfully bid for as many of the five oil franchises on offer (Hatay, Palestine, Syria, Arabia and Iraq), and extract as much black gold as you can. A separate set of rules for how the bidding process and extraction mechanism will be issued.

2. Find the three books, and get them to the Dalai.

Forces

- S.O.A.P oil expedition comprising 1,500 workers, armed guards, light machine guns, artillery and armoured cars.

- Three reconnaissance biplanes

- an armed freighter based at Suez, and two fast patrol boats

- 100 elite Tibetan monks


Intelligence

-  The Turks have a field army of c.30,000, supported by Bolshevik 'advisors'

- The British have c.25,000 troops in Palestine, but are struggling to contain the Arabs and Jews who are at each others throats.

- The French have some 15,000men in Syria, but are under concerted attack by the Druze.

- Faisal's Iraqis have c.10,000 men supported by elements of the RAF.

- The Beast of Bukhara is rumoured to be deploying through Persia, with a large (25,000+) army, and to have signed an oil deal with Texas Ted.

-  There is one copy of the book somewhere in England it is thought.  Another may be in the Middle East.

- the Kingdom of Hatay has a small c.5,000 man army, as well as an unknown number of German and Austrian mercenaries under Von Stauffenberg and Schneiber.

- The other oil franchise bidders are known to be Texas Ted (working with the Beast), and Von Stauffenberg (closely aligned to the Sultan of Hatay). Their financial resources are not known, but are thought to be similar to yours.

- The head of Haganah is known to be called Ze'ev Jabotinsky, a Russian born Jew, who has begun to make life difficult for the British in Palestine.

- there is an ongoing international dispute about who owns the Mosul area of Northern Iraq.  It is rumoured to be very oil rich (the stuff bubbles up to the surface all over the place!). The Turks, French, British, Hatay and Bukharans all lay claim to it, whilst King Faisal of Iraq is adamant it's going nowhere!

You start in Cairo......


Cedric Van Der Suds III - a modern business Titan

[Ignatieff]

Bogo Corp Brief

Pope Pius XI was younger than you thought he would be, intelligent, curious and very interested to hear of the suffering of the Gherkushian Catholics.  "I will do everything in my temporal and spiritual power to help the oppressed masses of Gherkush, but in return I need the help of enterprising men like yourselves". At that point, a small Italian Jesuit Cardinal, who you later found out was Cardinal Benacci, ushered you out of the Holy Fathers presence and into a windowless ante-chamber.

"Have you heard of a book called 'Regnum Umbra porta Nona' in English, 'The Ninth Gate of the Kingdom of Shadows'?"

You both said no.

"It is a book of the utmost importance to the Catholic Church, and one that we we desperately need to have 'returned' to the Vatican.  It was written by a heretic in the 17th century, a heretic who was in close commune with none other than Lucifer, Prince of Darkness. Since the advent of the Counter Reformation, the Jesuits, as the shock troops of the Counter Reformation have sought out and destroyed copies of the book.  We now know that there are only three copies left, and it is on this mission that the Holy Father would like your help.  Seek out, find and destroy the three remaining books. In return, we will provide support and intelligence for the Gherkushian Liberation Organisation, as well as an elite company of highly trained Jesuit shock troops". He handed over a plain envelope in which was a letter of credit for $10m.  "For your 'expenses'". Your head was spinning by this point.  You came here to ask for help for the revolt, but ended up on a mission to save the world! "Oh, and one final thing" whispered the Cardinal.  "Not all your friends, even within the Holy Mother Church, are what they seem, or indeed are you friends.  Be careful gentlemen!".

Objectives

1. Find and destroy the three remaining books

2. Buy, steal or trade as much arms as you can for the Gherkushian revolt.

Forces:

- An office in Beirut

- four fast patrol boats armed with single 20mm canons and one LMG each.

- fifty experienced Gherkushian freedom fighters

- fifty elite Jesuit shock troops

- $10m

- an extensive intelligence network based on the Catholic Church.

Intelligence

- one of the books is believed to be kept in an ancient monastery in or near the Sinai peninsula, another somewhere in Europe and a third is unknown.

The Turks have a field army of c.30,000, supported by Bolshevik 'advisors'

- The British have c.25,000 troops in Palestine.

- Faisal's Iraqis have c.10,000 men supported by elements of the RAF.

- The Beast of Bukhara is rumoured to be deploying through Persia, with a large (25,000+) army, and to have signed an oil deal with Texas Ted.

- the Kingdom of Hatay has a small c.5,000 man army, as well as an unknown number of German and Austrian mercenaries under Von Stauffenberg and Schneiber.

- Cedric Van Der Suds III is rumoured to have a 'war chest' for oil franchises of £100m, as does Texas Ted (who is in League with The Beast) and Von Stauffenberg.  They are bidding for oil franchises all over the Middle East.

- The head of Haganah is known to be called Ze'ev Jabotinsky, a Russian born Jew.

- The head of the Druze revolt is called Sultan Pasha Al Atrash.  The Druze revolt is already causing the French problems

- Mad Bob is rumoured to be holed up in an old crusader castle somewhere in Syria.

-  there is an ongoing international dispute about who owns the Mosul area of Northern Iraq.  It is rumoured to be very oil rich (the stuff bubbles up to the surface all over the place!). The Turks, French, British, Hatay and Bukharans all lay claim to it, whilst King Faisal of Iraq is adamant it's going nowhere!

    
The mysterious shady characters behind 'Bogo Corp'

[Ignatieff]

Count Smirnoff's brief

"Was it you or your brother who was killed in the war?". You smiled benignly at your Commanding Officer.  Gouroud had not been well since slipping off the tomb of Saladin in Damascus and landing on his head.  To cover it up, you had let him take the credit for your words at that historic moment, "Saladin, we're back!" It had already gone down in history...

The call had come through almost as soon as you reached Paris.  The debacle outside Urga had left your star in decline, and you were not expecting gainful employment any time soon.  It was the Élysée Palace. They were struggling to find officers to take up the French mandate in Syria.  You had no such hesitation, and accepted immediately.

When you got to Damascus you realised why.  15,000 troops to hold an area the size of Western Europe.  Where the British could deploy a Brigade in Palestine, the French could barely scrape a company in northern Syria.

To the north was a resurgent Turkey under the brilliant Kemel Ataturk, but with Bolshevik paymasters.  His intentions were not clear, but given that France had occupied large parts of Turkey just a few years earlier, and had encouraged the Greeks to come calling, it was unlikely to be benign.  To the south the British, still smarting from having to give up Allenby's conquests, were causing mischief with the Druze. And the Druze themselves, in revolt, were growing bolder by the day.  Their attacks had reached Damascus, and were now taking place during the day, fuelled as they were by fanatical hatred of their occupiers and supplied  by arms from the British and through Beirut.  To the  east, King Faisal, recently ejected from Syria as part of the French mandate was very publicly holding a grudge against the French.

And all around was the growing realistion that the area was wash with oil. But where? Rival  German, British and American oil companies were rumoured to be bidding for franchises, and a clever man could make himself millions. Which was what you were in line to make in any event.  An old acquaintance from China, the mysterious and very wealthy Spanish book collector, Varo Borja, had hired you to help find all three remaining copies of 'Regnum Umbra porta Nona' or The Ninth Gate of the Kingdom of Shadows. He has offered 1million francs for finding all three copies, and once you have all three you are to meet up with him at Megiddo. It smells of brimstone, but a million francs is a million francs, n'est pas?

However, before all that, France's hour had to be restored.  The Druze must be crushed, the British undermined, and France's 1000 year right to a Middle East kingdom be made permanent.

Objectives

1. Crush the Druze uprising

2. Drive the British out of Palestine.

3. Find all three copies of The Ninth Gate.

4. Grow the prestige, wealth and influence of France in the region.

A decisive victory would be any three objectives out of four, but must include number two.
A major victory would be any three objectives out of four
A marginal victory would be any two objectives from four, but must include one of numbers 1 and 2.

Forces: L'Armee du Levant - 15,000 strong

Organised in five divisions of three Brigades, each division 3,000 men strong. Includes three mechanised brigades (mixed tanks and armoured cars, 36 tanks and 48 armoured cars), four cavalry Brigades, and eight infantry Brigades. Includes 3,000 locally raised troops. 100 field guns and heavier artillery, and 48 aircraft, a mixture of fighters and light bombers.

In addition, there are elements of the French Med fleet stationed at Beirut (1 destroyer, three patrol boats and one submarine).

Intelligence

- The Turks have a field army of c.30,000, supported by Bolshevik 'advisors'

- The British have c.25,000 troops in Palestine.

- Faisal's Iraqis have c.10,000 men supported by elements of the RAF.

- The Beast of Bukhara is rumoured to be deploying through Persia, with a large (25,000+) army, and to have signed an oil deal with Texas Ted.

-  Baron Ungern Von Sternberg is rumoured to have a copy of the Ninth Gate book.

- the Kingdom of Hatay has a small c.5,000 man army, as well as an unknown number of German and Austrian mercenaries under Von Stauffenberg and Schneiber.

- Cedric Van Der Suds III is rumoured to have a 'war chest' for oil franchises of £200m+

- The head of Haganah is known to be called Ze'ev Jabotinsky, a Russian born Jew.

- there is an ongoing international dispute about who owns the Mosul area of Northern Iraq.  It is rumoured to be very oil rich (the stuff bubbles up to the surface all over the place!). The Turks, French, British, Hatay and Bukharans all lay claim to it, whilst King Faisal of Iraq is adamant it's going nowhere!  You are considering whether to allow the Turks to send arms via your rail network to the Kurdish rebels , operating in the area to make mischief for the British and Iraqis. Better to fight a proxy war here methinks!


The legend that is Count Pierre Smirnoff


The French had landed with a variety of exotic troop types


Including some fierce some looking Amazons from the 'Joan D'Arc' volunteers

[Ignatieff]

Faisal's Brief

He said he would be here, but there was no sign.  The vast expanse of western desert shimmered and floated in the scorching heat. No sign. You waited another hour, and then, coming from the direction of Jordan you could swear you saw..no.  Another hour.  He never was any good on deadlines, but he always came through. Yes! There, a plume of dust, getting closer.  By Allah it was hot!  And then the noise, a motor cycle by the speed of the dust plume! It had to be, yes! a Brough Superior SS100 with that madman at the helm.

"Lawrence Pasha, you are late...as always, my good friend!" Lawrence grinned that distinctive grin of his.  "King Faisal, an honour, as always"

Lawrence brought you disturbing news.  The balloon was going up all over the Middle East.  The Turks, the French, the British were all up for a fight.  Der Baron was reportedly marching up through Arabia. Well at less that would keep that snake Ibn Saud busy, and away from Iraq which he coveted.  But most disturbing of all was the news confirmed that you already knew: The Beast of Bukhara had massed 40,000 men with tanks, artillery and aircraft near Piranshahr, just over the border from Mosul.  The fight for oil was getting real, sudden and nasty, and you were right in the middle of it.

Lawrence held out his hand: "I am with you King Faisal, till the end of necessary"

Objectives

1. Defend Iraq from all comers.  The British, French, Hatay, Turks, Bukharans all covet Mosul and its oil wealth.

2. Cause trouble for the French.  They turned you out of your beloved Iraq, and you will not forget and you will certainly not forgive.

Forces

- 8,000 Iraqi irregulars.  Tough and patriotic tribesman.

- 2,000 British trained regulars with supporting heavy weapons and armoured cars.

- British allies: RAF squadrons throughout the country.  Have been principally focused on putting down revolts, but could be persuaded to support defence against an invasion from Bukhara.  Two heavy bomber squadrons (Handley Pages - 12 in all) and 36 fighter planes.  Based between Basra and Baghdad.

Intelligence

- you suspect you have vast oil wealth beneath the sands of Iraq. Extracting it will mean doing a deal with one of three players: Cedric van Der Suds III, Von Stauffenberg or Texas Ted.  The latter is working with the Beast, so that won't work, but the other two might be an option. Each have at least $100m to spend on franchises (rules to follow on this part)

- The Turks have a field army of c.30,000, supported by Bolshevik 'advisors'

- The British have c.25,000 troops in Palestine.


- The Beast of Bukhara is rumoured to have signed an oil deal with Texas Ted.

-  The infidels are obsessed by a book called 'The Ninth Gate of the Kingdom of Shadows' for some reason.  You know there are only thee copies. One in Mount Sinai monastery, one in the John Milton museum in England, and one in the hands of one of the other powers, but you cannot recall who.  This information may be important.

- Cedric Van Der Suds III is rumoured to have a 'war chest' for oil franchises of £200m+. Texas Ted is the other power in the region.  He is rumoured to be backing 'The Beast of Bukharas' franchise bid.

- The head of Haganah is known to be called Ze'ev Jabotinsky, a Russian born Jew.

- there is an ongoing international dispute about who owns the Mosul area of Northern Iraq.  It is rumoured to be very oil rich (the stuff bubbles up to the surface all over the place!). The Turks, French, British, Hatay and Bukharans all lay claim to it, whilst you are adamant it's going nowhere!

- The Beast of Bukhara has a rebellion going on in his back yard.  The Christian 'Gherkushian Liberation Organisation' seeks independence.  Maybe you can help them. They have offices in Beirut you hear.....

[Ignatieff]

Der Barons Brief

The massed bands and choirs of the Addis Ababa Boys Brigade bugles, Chahar Mongol nasal chanting and droning  good 'ole boy style , and Clarence 'Bun Man' Ukelele and his Loin of Juddah steel band, made a passable fist of 'Zaddok the Priest' as you strode down the aisle of Emperor Haile Selassie's mock gothic revival half-scale Cathedral.  The chain mail didn't hurt as much as you thought it might, and the visor in the helmet didn't restrict your vision half as much as you thought it might. You made for an impressive figure to the press ganged masses in the stalls, as you clanked down the aisle, followed by 12 Teutonic style 'knights'.  The pungent smell of weed hung heavily in the Royal Box and choir stalls.  Old Coconut Head (The Emperor) had obviously been upto his usual pre-match prandials, and by the look of it, he had also got the officiating priest in on the mind bending act as well. Mind you, getting a Pope turned out was pretty impressive, even if it was (only) Cyril V, the head of the Coptic church.  By now the longest serving Pope in any of the Christian religions (he had reigned since 1874), he was by this time well into his nineties (they think he was born in 1831). He looked like a little black hairy raisin, all white beard and wrinkled skin the colour of midnight, and wobbling like a drunk.

"Now 'dem Crusade is officially opun!" he bawled in a surprisingly loud voice, though several feet before you reached the altar. "Ah dis looking well forward to spending the birthday of de baby Jesus in the ancient cities of dem bible stories, and yuuus" he tottered unsteadily as he pointed his crozier at you" and yuuus is de Sword of Juddah who is gonna make dem happen!"  At this the band hit up, Haile Selassie skinned up, and the whole production dissolved into Gilbert and Sullivan farce.

No matter. You had your Papal blessing, you have your mission and you have your men, money (how good a decision it was to place the looted wealth of your former empire into oil shares, and what with all the major powers now converting their fleets from coal to oil, you were rapidly becoming one of the richest men in the world!) and munitions.  Those bastards are really going to pay for the humiliation at Urga!  And you also had 'that' book, the 'Regnum Umbra porta Nona' or 'The Ninth Gate of the Kingdom of Shadows'. It had been in your family for generations.  The story goes that you could summon Lucifer with it, but try as you - and your ancestors before you did - might, no show from the Big Man.  Pity, as you always fancied testing the Kipper of Destiny on him. Two things had brought it back to mind.  There were rumours associating it with the ancient site of Megiddo, 'Armageddon' as it is referred to in the Bible, which was in the direction you were headed. And you had read in the Illustrated Sporting Kashgar Pink that an international archeological expedition was digging there for the first time.  Then there was that bizarre offer from the slimy Spaniard Borja, Varo Borja.  Had offered you half a million Mexican silver dollars for it, an astonishing amount.  Told him to bugger off mind you.  The book had been in the Sternberg family since it was printed. One of only three copies left apparently.  No, you think you'll figure out what the book is what it is, and why it is in such demand.

Objectives

1. Capture the main cities of Outremer: Tyre, Antioch, Jerusalem, Acre

2. Figure out what the book means and act upon it.

3. Exact as much revenge as you can on the bastards who betrayed you in Mongolia.

Forces

The good news is that you salted away many millions, and invested wisely.  You therefore have been able to assemble a surprisingly powerful 'armada':

- 10,000 Ethiopian and Somali tribesman. Cavalry and infantry. Fierce warriors, but likely to melt away in an extended campaign a long way from home.

- 2,000 Ethiopian regulars, with artillery and machine guns. All infantry.

- 4,000 of your fiercely loyal 'Asiatic Cavalry Division', with artillery, machine guns, trucks, AA guns, etc. All re-equipped and ready to go again. Veterans to a man. Includes a heavily armed company of bodyguard Rastafarians.

- Imperial armoured Brigade: 24 armoured cars (tanks aren't much use in the desert)

- The Imperial Air fleet: six string-bags of varying vintages. Experienced mercenary Russian, German and Chinese pilots.

- The Imperial Undersea Fleet (surface ships are soooo last century): Six attack submarines. Brand new, state of the art, German built and engineered.  The new right wing German government was keen to restart military R&D, but obviously the Versailles treaty meant it couldn't do it for itself.  A friendly foreign power was however a different kettle of (steel) fish.  You pay for the R&D, they get the technology, and you keep the subs. These are currently stationed in the Mediterranean, along with two surface resupply ships.

Intelligence:

The Turks have a field army of c.30,000, supported by Bolshevik 'advisors'

- The British have c.25,000 troops in Palestine, but are under pressure stopping the Jews and Arabs killing each other

- Faisal's Iraqis have c.10,000 men supported by elements of the RAF.

- The Beast of Bukhara is rumoured to be deploying through Persia, with a large (25,000+) army, and to have signed an oil deal with Texas Ted.

-  There is another copy of The Ninth Gate somewhere in England.  It was previously owned by John Milton, the 17th century poet and proselytiser.

- Cedric Van Der Suds III is rumoured to have a 'war chest' for oil franchises of £200m+. Texas Ted is another power in the region.  He is rumoured to be backing 'The Beast of Bukharas' franchise bid.  The other 'oil baron' is rumoured to be Von Stauffenberg.  Obviously you wish them all well due to your investment portfolio.

- The head of Haganah (Jewish resistance) is known to be called Ze'ev Jabotinsky, a Russian born Jew.

- there is an ongoing international dispute about who owns the Mosul area of Northern Iraq.  It is rumoured to be very oil rich (the stuff bubbles up to the surface all over the place!). The Turks, French, British, Hatay and Bukharans all lay claim to it, whilst King Faisal of Iraq is adamant it's going nowhere!



Der Baron's hordes advance just outside the ancient city of Antioch

[Ignatieff]

Mad Bob's Brief

The giant shimmering  sun drifted high in the morning sky as you watched from your mountain fortress in the far eastern approaches of Syria.  The ancient order of hashashins, or the Assassins as they were better know in the west, had long been thought to be a myth. It was a confusion you were keen to continue, as attention was something the ancient order recoiled from.

You are known by many names, and unknown by all.  The fear you create reaches around the globe: from the ancient civilisations of Mexico and China, to the back streets of Greenock, across the desert wastes of Central Asia to the jungles of darkest Africa.  Some call you El Mariachi, most call you Mad Bob, but when you are here, in your eagles nest, in the most remote corner of Syria, you are Hassan Ibn Al Sabbah, leader of the Assassins Creed....

"They call him Shaykh-al-Hashishim.  He is their Elder, and upon his command all of the men of the mountain come out or go in...
they are believers of the word of their elder and everyone everywhere fears them, because they even kill kings."

Murder is  your game, and the new Great Game being played out in the Middle East will give plenty of profitable opportunities to hire your men's skills out to the highest bidder.

There is however an even greater game afoot, one that piques even your jaded and sated curiosity: the search for the three remaining copies of the most blasphemous book every written: 'Regnum Umbra porta Nona' or The Ninth Gate of the Kingdom of Shadows.  There is a riddle in these books, which if solved will conjure up the Devil himself and, so the legend goes, end the world. And as Old Nick is 'the Boss of Bosses', you are curious to see what the End of Days actually looks like.

Objectives:

- kill as many of the players (actuals and NPC's) as you can by hiring yourself out to the highest bidder. Might be worth a 'try before you buy' high profile assassination of a NPC.  General Gouroud, Sminroff's boss in Syria might be a good one to start with.

- find the three copies of the 'Ninth Gate', solve the riddle, meet the boss and, if he wants, end the world.

Forces:

-the most feared assassins network the world has ever known

- an extensive network of criminal associates.

Intelligence

-  The Turks have a field army of c.30,000, supported by Bolshevik 'advisors'

- The British have c.25,000 troops in Palestine, but re struggling to keep the Jews and Arabs from slaughtering each other.

- The French have c.15,000 men in Syria, but face a serious challenge with he Druze revolt.

- Faisal's Iraqis have c.10,000 men supported by elements of the RAF.

- The Beast of Bukhara is rumoured to be deploying through Persia, with a large (25,000+) army, and to have signed an oil deal with Texas Ted.

-  There is one copy of the book somewhere in England.  It was previously owned by John Milton, the 17th century poet and proselytiser.

- the Kingdom of Hatay has a small c.5,000 man army, as well as an unknown number of German and Austrian mercenaries under Von Stauffenberg and Schneiber.

- Cedric Van Der Suds III is rumoured to have a 'war chest' for oil franchises of £200m+

- The head of Haganah is known to be called Ze'ev Jabotinsky, a Russian born Jew.

- there is an ongoing international dispute about who owns the Mosul area of Northern Iraq.  It is rumoured to be very oil rich (the stuff bubbles up to the surface all over the place!). The Turks, French, British, Hatay and Bukharans all lay claim to it, whilst King Faisal of Iraq is adamant it's going nowhere!

[Ignatieff]

he Beast of Bukhara - Brief

It was as fine a sight as you could recall.  40,000 of the devout, the sun rising at their backs, all praying to the one true God. A sea of desert khaki stretched as far as the eye could reach. The only sound was the call of the imans and the low murmur of the devout. The tanks and guns stood silent and shimmered in the already baking heat.  Everything was now ready for your biggest throw of the dice yet.

Operation 'Sword of Saladin' was lined up on the Persian/Iraqi border near  Piranshahr. Your staying out of the recent 'unpleasantness' in Mongolia had allowed you to rearm and re-equip, and spend your time in the more profitable pursuit of diplomacy with your near neighbour and now very good friend, the Shah of Persia.  On the pretext of 'summer training', and in return for half the oil revenues from the Mosul area, he had allowed you to ship your field army through his  country and upto the Iraqi border. You, and your army, had never been so ready or better equipped.  However you were not underestimating the difficulties of logistics so far away from home, and so a decisive and quick campaign was needed.  This would not be your 'march on Moscow'.

Your key objectives were twofold: oil and prestige.  For the first, you have 40,000 men, guns and munitions.  You also have $100m dollars and the expertise of Texas Ted and his rig teams. Them boys could smell oil 100miles beneath the sand!  There is to be an oil auction for the main regions coming up, and you are sitting down at the table with the big boys (oil bid rules to follow).

The second was much more important however: your legacy.  That bullying little bastard Kemel Attaturk (you were at staff college together) has disrespected you in the Press by saying you were 'not a proper Muslim' as you had no access or ownership to any of Islam's historic holy places. Well that was about to change.  You were going after one, and hopefully all of them: Damascus, Aleppo, Jerusalem and Mecca. That would show 'Camel'!  This had the approval of your influential Spiritual leader, Mullah Onan, who harbours not very secret ambitions to be the new Grand Mufti of a reconstituted Caliphate.  You will restore the sword and Koran of Islam in one unified Arab and Turkic brotherhood!

Mullah Onan had another concern: that it was told in the holy book that when the Crusaders return to the sacred places then The Great Satan himself would return to haunt the land and bring eternal darkness to the earth.  And while normally you would have taken this with a pinch of snuff, Mullah Onan talked of a book that would summon the darkness. The  'Regnum Umbra porta Nona' or, in English, 'The Ninth Gate of the Kingdom of Shadows' was written by an unbeliever in the 17th century.  The Christian Pope of the time ordered the books destroyed, but three survived.  And intelligence from the Holy Places suggests that many of the infidels are looking for the books to summon up the End of Days.  This you cannot allow to happen. And destroying the books would bring you the greatest of prestige and a legacy that would be honoured and revered for as long as Islam walked the earth.

The only irritation in all this was that remote Christian enclave of Gherkush.  They were getting arms and logistical support from both the Bolsheviks and the British, twin devils of the old and new empires.  The revolt was being contained, but you had to find a way to crush it, or at the very least cut off its supplies until you could turn your full attention to it.  As a student of the Great Napoleon, you did not want this to become your 'Spanish Ulcer'!

Objectives

1. Capture Mosul

2. Maximise your revenues from the forthcoming oil auction

3. Take at least one of the Holy Places

4. Locate and destroy the three books of the Devil

5. Contain the Gherkushian revolt.

A decisive victory would be achieving 3 & 4 and any one of the others.
A major victory would be achieving either 3 or 4, and at least two of the others.
A marginal victory would be achieving 1,2 and 5.
Anything less would be a defeat and serious blow to your prestige.

Forces

40,000 in Piranshahr.  Combined arms, infantry, cavalry, artillery, heavy guns, aircraft, tanks and armoured cars. Organised into 40 Brigades of ten divisions of 4,000 men each.  You have 60 tanks in three Brigades. 40 armoured cars in two Brigades. Two towed heavy artillery Brigades, each of 24 guns. Four cavalry Brigades (three regular and one irregular), each of 1,000 sabres. And 29 Infantry Brigades, 10 of which are motorised and all of which have attached field artillery and machine guns (60 field guns and 180 heavy machine guns). In addition you have one squadron of heavy bombers (six planes), one of medium bombers (six planes) and four fighter squadrons (24 planes).

Intelligence

-  The Turks have a field army of c.30,000, supported by Bolshevik 'advisors'

- The British have c.25,000 troops in Palestine, but are struggling to contain the Arabs and Jews who are at each others throats.

- The French have some 15,000men in Syria, but are under concerted attack by the Druze.

- Faisal's Iraqis have c.10,000 men, mostly irregulars, supported by elements of the RAF. Estimated that there are 12 Handley Page bombers  and six fighters based in Basra and 18 fighters based around Baghdad.

-  There is one copy of the book you are looking for in England.

- the Kingdom of Hatay has a small c.5,000 man army, as well as an unknown number of German and Austrian mercenaries under Von Stauffenberg and Schneiber.

- The other oil franchise bidders are known to be Cedric Van Der Suds III and Von Stauffenberg (closely aligned to the Sultan of Hatay). Their financial resources are not known, but are thought to be similar to yours.

- The head of Haganah is known to be called Ze'ev Jabotinsky, a Russian born Jew, who has begun to make life difficult for the British in Palestine.

- there is an ongoing international dispute about who owns the Mosul area of Northern Iraq.  It is rumoured to be very oil rich (the stuff bubbles up to the surface all over the place!). The Turks, French, British, Hatay and Bukharans all lay claim to it, whilst King Faisal of Iraq is adamant it's going nowhere!

- Gherkush is being supplied directly from Russia, via India and you believe through Beirut.

- Der Baron is rumoured to be in Addis Ababa

- Cedric Van Der Suds III is based out of Cairo.


The mighty Bukharan army awaits the British assault on Baghdad