The Wells of Borgut E-AFR (id:#65708)
Prior Publication: ELR Soldiers of the Negus
See Also: The Wells of Borgut by Critical Hit
Borgut, The Ogaden, Ethiopia 1936-04-23 ()
Designer: Rick Thomas
Starter kit scenario?:    Deluxe scenario?:
 
Balance:
Italian/EritreanEthiopian
30.769230769231%

Overview:

After weeks of prodding from both Mussolini and Bodaglio, Italian General Rudolfo Graziani was prepared to resume his offensive on Eithoipia's "Southern Front". In the centre of the advance they encountered the Ethiopians of Ras Nasibu's army solidly entrenched near the wells at Borgut. The Ethiopians had carved numerous trenches and dugouts into the hard soil and were bolstered by the presence of two modern 37mm Oerlikon AA guns and a small contingent of the "Ethiopian Foreign Legion" who manned a nearby outpost. After an aerial bombardment, two assaults were made on the camp; the first by Somalis and Eritreans and the second made by the Blackshirts of Legion 221 supported by engineers with flamethrowers.
Attacker: Italian/Eritrean (1º Raggruppamento Bande (Italian), 221º Legione "Fasci Italiani all'Estero")
Defender: Ethiopian (Ras Nasibu's Army and "Terik Bey's Specials," Ethiopian Foreign Legion)  
7 turns
    Players: 2     OBA: None     Night: No
Unit Counts:
Squads: A:21.5 D:16.0
AFVs: A:4
Fiat 611B x 2
Lancia 1ZM x 2

AFVs: D:0
Guns: A:0
Mortaio da 45 Brixia x 2
D:2
Oerlikon 20mm x 2

Victory Conditions:

Exit VP: Building Control VC: Area Control VC:
Unit Based VC: LOS Style VC: CVP Cap:
Misc Rules: Scrub: Candelabra Trees (F13.7), Hammada: Brush, A: Air (E7)
Overlays: D2 D3 H2 H3 H4 H5 H6
Errata (source)
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Scenario info

Last Played:
DateReporterOpponentBal.ResultTimeComments
2025-08-29(A) Don Berg vs Solo Italian/Eritrean winEthiopians set up a trench-line near the west board edge. The Italians attacked from both flanks, two trucks on each flank. One Fiat survived to the end, overrunning the last AA gun. At the end every break was a lost unit for the Ethiopians for failure to route and the Italians reached the CVP victory condition by turn 5. It was surprising how much cover the hillocks, brush and candelabra trees provided.
2023-03-17(A) Jonathan Kapleau vs Duenskie, Ron Ethiopian win
2022-11-05(D) Dan Best vs Kermit Mullins Ethiopian win
2022-11-05(A) Kermit Mullins vs Dan Best Ethiopian winMy Italians failed to do diddly with the Planes and then got whacked going against the hill force. My flamethrower helped to take the hill. On Turn 1 Ethiopian, both my CMG armored cars were shot to pieces by the AA Guns. My infantry tried moving to contact with the Ethiopians...but couldn't pass morale checks as the Ethiopians rolled very well with -1 and -2 shots. I gave up on Turn 5 as it was clear that I had no chance.
2022-07-31(D) Jobbo Fett vs RootinPutin Ethiopian winSurprised to say that we have a fun, balanced scenario out of the old ELR->CH->ASL crypt!

Rootin' started the session well by failing both Sighting Task Checks, ruining my plans for the AA guns I had set up. My defenses were spread out as much as possible to take advantage of the defensible terrain (more like shrubbery) and to force as much movement over open ground as possible. The downside is that anyone that breaks will be eliminated, or at the very least easily isolated from the rest of the force.

Things were going well, bar a critical hit from a FIAT that managed to kill the crew of one of my AA guns, but the other did better than I could've hoped, burning one and wrecking two of the attackers rides. The scenario progressed with caution by the attackers, and the Ethiopians not giving an inch without spilling blood. As is customary, the FT was used once, the MMC using it was promptly eliminated, and nobody spoke of FTs afterwards. Of the 20 of so SAN numbers we rolled, only 1 sniper activated, causing the early break of one crew manning a Brixia mortar. CVP losses were mounting on both sides, and the Italian player refused to rally for fear of rolling boxcars and inching me closer to victory.

In the end, Rootin' was able to get into most of the necessary trenches (we failed to account for Berserkers not being Good Order, but that could've been fixed during play) as well as the necessary CVP! The final roll of the final CC (turned Melee turned Hand-to-Hand) killed a squad, bumping the Ethiopian CVP gains to 22 and netting themselves a brutally close game that could've gone either way multiple times.
View all or balance report
ActionDate
Guru Bob Added a playing2025-08-29 05:03:08
Guru Bob Rated the scenario2025-08-29 04:57:43
asloser Linked the scenario to ROAR2025-04-23 19:58:33
Hutch Modified the misc. rules2025-04-23 12:48:16
igycrctl Added a playing2023-03-17 20:05:55
FileDescriptionUserViews
(ital-ethiopia.png)Imagehoxson1783
(ethiopian_AA.png)Imagehoxson1725
(wells_borgut_map.png)Map Imagehoxson1750
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Statistics:
Avg Rating: 6.40Votes: 10
Views: 0
To-Play list count: 1
Estimated Play time: 7.5 hours
Recorded Games: 6
Archive recorded plays:
Italian/Eritrean2
Ethiopian4
Drawn:0

ROAR Data: (as of today)
The Wells of Borgut [Confirmed]
[A] Italian 2
[D] Ethiopian 5
All Rights Reserved. (c)2022 Dave Ramsey.