A Turkish Tale: Ottoman Sunset AAR (Complete)

[BanzaiCat]

Turn 10
Card Draw: 11 "Gallipoli Landings"

Hoping to break the stalemate in the war and knock the Ottoman Empire out quickly, young British First Lord of the Admiralty, Winston Churchill, conceived of a dynamic invasion of the Gallipoli peninsula. On April 25, 1915, the landings began, but incompetence, coupled with the resolute efforts of the Turkish defenders, bogged down the campaign for many months.

----
Event:
This is but one of many unsettling Events that occur in the game.

So far, I've managed to keep the Allied Powers at bay, and done so rather comfortably. The card draws have been in my favor. This one is not necessarily the final nail in the coffin, so much as it is one of the first ones. Things can only get more challenging from this point forward.

This Card instructs to place the Hamilton-commanded Gallipoli Front onto the map, in the 4 space of that track (Cape Helles); it is a 2-Strength Front, so it's not that strong, but it's just one more thing for me to worry about.

It also has the "added benefit" of destroying the Seddulbahir Gun Emplacement, one of the first points of defense in the Narrows. This will mean any British attempt there via sea will be that much easier. Good thing I spent some time reinforcing there early on in the game while things were quiet.


----
Advance:
This Card orders the Arab Front and the Caucasus Front to both move forward. Since the Arab Front is not yet in existence (though I'm sure its time is coming very soon!), those pesky Russkies advance to Space 3 (Van).


----
Actions: 2

I get two Actions this Turn. Right now I can't do anything about the Gallipoli Front appearing. The Russians in the Caucasus Front are the furthest advanced on the map, so I'm going to spend one Action trying to push them back. I have to roll a 4 or higher to succeed.

I roll a '4,' so the Grand Duke's troops are once again pushed back.

I have one more Action. With the destruction of that one fortress, I'm slightly paranoid (I did, after all, lose a game because the damned British got all the way through, by the skin of their well-manicured teeth no less), so I'm spending it to build the fortress of Yildiz.


----
National Will

This remains at a relatively solid +1. On a side note, last weekend I got home with my wife from a wedding; we had been out all day. When I got home, the board was half on the floor along with some of the game pieces. Apparently my son accidentally knocked it over the edge and then, of course, didn't notice what he did. As I have two dogs I was at first afraid of pieces going down their endless gullets, but it looked like all the pieces were present. I was, however, incorrect, as I've just realized my National Will marker is missing.

I swear, if it's not the Allied Powers, it's my dogs and my son's inattentiveness.

Such is life. The game shall go on!

[BanzaiCat]

I know I've been changing some of the formatting as I've moved along. I've not been as consistent as I'd like to be, though I'm pretty certain nobody really cares except me and other anal members of these forums that Shall Not Be Named^TM. :)

[BanzaiCat]

Turn 11
Card Draw: 10 "Second Battle of Ypres"
----
In November, 1914, German armies clashed with French and British forces at Ypres, a small Belgian town. In April of 1915, the Germans launched an offensive, regaining the high ground east of the town. The battle was distinguished by the first major use of poison gas. In the third offensive in 1917 (also known as the Passchedaele), armies clashed with a half million casualties for all sides.
----
Event:
This Event calls for me to conduct the Ypres battle in the Western Theater.



Apropos of nothing, my sense of history was ruined regarding Ypres the moment I saw this Monty Python sketch, back in the day:

In any case...

An Off-Map Battle is something slightly out of my control. I'm lucky that I invested in DRMs for each Theater, so I have a +1 DRM in each of them. As you can see from the Second Ypres marker, above, the Battle Value is 4. So I'll need a 4 or higher...a 50/50 chance that the Germans carry the day...

I roll a '6.' The DRM makes it a 7. Not that this is necessary as apparently the Kaiser's boys knock the Brits back and for a loop at the same time. This marker goes into my 'Victories' space and means another +1 to my National Will, for a total of 2.



...good thing I have that 'virtual' National Will marker. Puppies, sigh.
----
Advance:
This Card orders the (wait for it...!) Caucasus Front and the Sinai Front to both move.

The Caucasus Front, like a drunken prizefighter feeling no pain, lurches forward once again into space 3 (Van).

The Sinai Front, placed as it is in space 5 (El-Arish) and without the benefit (yet) of a fabled water pipeline, must make a roll less than their Battle Value to advance. The die continues to be my friend; I roll a '5' so the Sinai Front remains, once again, still due to thirst.


----
Actions: 1
That's hardly enough to get anything done, but fortunately, there's not a target-rich environment right now except for...yeah, the Russians. Time to give them another 'Ottoman Meathook' uppercut and hope they stagger back.

However, this time luck is not with me. I roll a '3,' which means the Grand Duke stays in Van. That's not too bad, but it's not good news either...

The map doesn't change significantly as a result.
----
National Will
Thanks to our German brothers from other mothers, we've increased the will of the Ottoman people to a +2, giving us a bit more breathing room. We'll need it, because there's only two cards left in the deck for this 'Morning' set; that means the 'Mid-Day' set will be coming soon, and there's a 50-50 chance I will draw it for the next Turn.

Thank you for reading. I will update this again in a few days.  O0

[BanzaiCat]

Heck with it, I'm onna roll, let's keep going and see where this takes us!  O0

Turn 12
Card Draw: 03 "Jihad Declared"
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On November 14, 1914, on behalf of the Sultan, the religious leader Sheikh-ul-Islam declared Jihad (holy war), urging all Muslims, including those in Allied countries, to take up arms. The appeal had a limited effect in Muslim lands under British rule. Sheik Hussein ibn Ali, the Emir of Mecca, refused to endorse Jihad, saying that it was incompatible with an aggressive war.
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Event:
Shuffle the Mid-Day cards into the deck.

Well...finally. I guess? Ha...in a few of my previous games, this was the %*@#% card that showed up within one or two draws of game start. Things will decidedly get hairier now (not literally, unless these pretend soldiers answering this pretend call have lots of pretend beard face going on, but I digress).

As there is only one remaining card from the Morning deck, it's rather easy to shuffle everything. I guess that's something. We'll see next turn how this pans out. For now, though...
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Advance:
The Allied Powers make three pushes via the Caucasus Front (of course), the Mesopotamia Front, and the Sinai Front.

Ouch. The Russians are pressing way too close to our capital. One can almost smell the vodka and military failure in the air...

The Caucasus Front moves to space 2 (Erzurum), which also happens to be a Strategic Site. If I cannot kick them out of it, their occupation of it will cost me -1 National Will, and that's absolutely unacceptable.

The Mesopotamia Front under Townshend moves to space 3 (Kut), which is one space from Baghdad, and yet another Strategic Site.

The Sinai Front is, of course, only allowed to move if they can roll under their Battle Value (3). Well, I mean, *I* have to roll under 3 to move them. A 4, 5, or 6 means they stay right where they are. Fortunately, I throw a '4,' so they at least don't move. Again.


-----
Actions: 3
+1 to All Offensives
This is good. Three Actions and a +1 to my offensives. Guess who I'm going after first?

Yep. Russkies. Hold on to your vodka, boys...my first Action is an offensive against the Caucasus Front. With a +1, how can I lose?

Well...apparently, very easily. I roll a '1.' My luck fails. +1 to that means a dismal 2, and the shoddy Russians manage to hold on to Erzurum.

I cannot let that stand! I have to spend another Action to try again to kick them out. This time it's better - I roll a '2!' Welp, that stinks too, because even with the +1, that means a result of 3, which is equal to their Battle Value. So they STILL remain in Erzurum.

This is one very annoying thing about the dice...when they want to hate you, they REALLY will hate you.

So I have no choice now. Well, I mean, of COURSE I have a choice, but the biggest threat to the Ottomans right now is the Caucasus Front sitting in Erzurum. And the fact that two easy rolls have just been blown. Seriously, failure can ONLY occur this turn on a 1 or 2, and those are the exact results I've gotten thus far.

Okay...one more try. The third Action goes to yet another offensive against the Russians. I roll a...

Okay, interesting story time. I rolled, and the die almost went off the table. I used my catlike reflexes to stop it, and it bounced off my hand, and resulted in a 1. Not having any of that, I re-rolled...and got another 1. I rerolled AGAIN...and got a 2. I then, in frustration, bounced the die off the table, and it graciously rewarded my feeble effort at punishing it by bouncing off the table and underneath it. When I got down on the floor to get it, the result was...a 1.

I think my die is haunted.

Nevertheless, I knew I'd have to go with the first roll, but it's interesting how it absolutely refused to be bullied into rolling better.

The Ottoman Army really sucks. Have I mentioned that yet? I can't believe three Actions were just wasted, but that's the way the Jihad crumbles, I guess.


-----
National Will: +1
Our NW has dropped one point...the people at home apparently don't like Russians in their midst. Not this far inside the Empire, anyway. And I can't blame them...that was a truly awful performance by their Army.

As you can see, the Russians are now only two spaces from Constantinople and causing the game to end by default. They of course can only advance one space per Turn, but it's pretty much a guarantee (if past performance is any indication) that they are going to move again the next Turn. I can only hope the generals whip the Ottoman troops into a lather and kick the Russians' hineys back to the Caucasus Mountains, where they belong.

[BanzaiCat]

That was a pretty awful showing in Turn 12. Let's see how much worse it can get!

:))

Turn 13
(oh, great...'13')
Card Draw: 45 "Sykes-Picot Agreement Divulged"
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Between November 1915 and March 1916, the governments of Britain and France reached an agreement on the division of the Middle East in the aftermath of an Allied victory. The tsar of Russia subsequently ratified the text; however, int he aftermath of the Bolshevik Revolution, Lenin revealed the plan. Arab nationalists and Zionists were outraged because the Allies had given them contradictory promises.
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Event:
No Event this turn.
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Advance:
The Salonika Front and Mesopotamia Fronts are both ordered to advance. Since the Salonika Front is not yet in the game, we move to the Mesopotamia Front to space 2 (Baghdad). And, as a Strategic Site, that means our National Will drops yet another point, to zero. Things are not going well.


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Actions: 2
+1 to all Offensives on Sinai or Arab Fronts
Great. Two Actions. I have to try to split them between the Russians and the Brits. However, the Arab Front is not on the map so I cannot use it against them. The Sinai Front is indeed one space along its track, but its track record thus far (ba-dum-tisshhhh!) is somewhat unimpressive, so an attack there would be useless I think. No, I have to try my luck (such as it is) against the Caucasus Front and Mesopotamia Front.

Deep breath...here goes...

The first Action is spent in an offensive against the Caucasus Front. I need a 4 or higher to push them out, so it's a 50-50 shot. Worse odds than in the last turn. I roll a '2.'

Great. Of course.

Welp, so much for that. Now I'm in a quandary...which Front do I fail in attacking, now? Do I fail against the Russians or against the Brits?

I'm going to go for the Russians again. They seem to get more movement orders than anyone else. Hopefully this is the right call. And it's pretty moot now as I still have to throw a good roll...you know, like I used to do a few turns ago.

Anyway. I roll a '5.' FINALLY. Some good news. The Russians are finally dislodged and fall back to Van, space 3.


-----
National Will: +1
We're back up to +1 as the Russians have been pushed out of that Strategic Site, but the Mesopotamia Front is still dug-in at Baghdad, another Strategic Site.

Things COULD be a lot worse. But they suuuure could be a lot better. Still, I'll take what I can get. And you'd be right, I was indeed lamenting earlier that things were kind of slow, wasn't I? Not so much now.

[BanzaiCat]

Turn 14
Card Draw: 41 "War Weariness Sets In"
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The massive suffering caused by the war undoubtedly took a toll on the Central Powers and the Allies as well. Of the 60 million European soldiers who were mobilized from 1914-1918, eight million were killed, seven million were permanently disabled, and 15 million were seriously injured. Germany lost 15.1% of its active male population and Austria-Hungary lost 17.1%.
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Event:
Place the War Weariness marker in its box on the map.
Well, this kinda stinks, but there's rarely good news for the Ottomans. It's not about success...it's about how you deal with defeat, ultimately.

The -1 DRM that the War Weariness marker affects is against all off-map battles. So, the +1 DRMs that I've worked to cultivate are now pretty much a wash. I have to invest another two Actions if I want to add another +1 DRM, and as I indicated before, only two +1 DRM markers are allowed per Theater. And with the Allies so close to the capital, that's a luxury I cannot afford right now! So, it is what it is.


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Advance:
This Card orders that one Front move, but the Front that moves is chosen by the roll of a die.

I roll a '4,' which means the Arab Front is selected to move. Fortunately...it's not on the map. So I get a bit of breathing room.
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Actions: 0
You got that right, folks...no Actions allowed this Turn.

Everything's coming up roses...

[BanzaiCat]

Okay, now I'll take a break. I'll post again in a few days. I mean it this time.  O0

[BanzaiCat]

As a side note to everyone: if you were wondering about why the cards are numbered, it's because there is an optional rule in the game to play them in order. So, you'd draw Card 01 on turn 1, Card 02 on turn 2, and so forth. This is modeled to follow the historical course of the war.

I'm obviously doing it in a random order, as the main game suggests one do, though there is some order to it in the form of the Morning, Mid-Day, and Dusk decks. Each of those decks are shuffled in when a card tells you to, as you've seen above, so the events in each of those decks are randomized, but the period of the events (early war, mid-war, late war) are followed.

[Barthheart]

Have you tried playing the cards in order? I'm curious if it makes the game harder or easier....  ???

[BanzaiCat]

I have not played it in a historical (card order) fashion. At least, not yet.

The rule book states that drawing the cards in numerical order is a "Neutral" and therefore neither a handicap nor an advantage, but there's talk over in the BGG forums where several people state that going the historical/card number order path is much more difficult than random:

https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/1295388/random-or-historical

[BanzaiCat]

Turn 15
Card Draw: 39 "Allenby Takes the Helm"
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On June 27, 1917, Edmund Allenby was made the commander of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force. Allenby quickly won the respect of his troops by frequent visits to front line units and by setting his HQ outside comfortable Cairo. After breaking through the Turkish lines at the First Battle of Gaza, his army became unstoppable, conquering Jerusalem and Damascus.

Wonderful! Just what I need, an "unstoppable" army in the Sinai.
-----
Event:
Flip the Sinai unit to its Allenby (4) side.

So, the incompetent Murray (3) is replaced with the historically awesome Allenby (4). Obviously, the British were rather cheesed off at Murray's lack of progress in the Sinai. (Meanwhile, I was perfectly fine with their immobility.) This gives the Sinai Front a 50/50 shot at advancing as opposed to a one in three shot. Not good. Especially not good considering its increased Battle Value will also make it that much harder to push them back.


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Advance:
Both the Arab Front and the Caucasus Front (arrrg!) are called on to advance this Turn.

Of course, the former will not as it does not exist (yet), while the latter continues to be a pain in my headquarters and advances to space 1 (Ankara). This is yet another Strategic Site, and means another -1 to my National Will. Technically I do not record this until the National Will phase at the end of the Turn, but I go ahead and record the hit now because I don't want to forget.

I might have been recording this wrong previously, so I do a spot check and note that the two Strategic Sites (-2 total) in Russian hands and the one Strategic Site (-1) in British hands means a -3 to National Will, but two Victories from off-map battles brings it back up to -1. I was thinking it was equal to zero. Sorry for the error in the below screenshot. I will rectify this later.


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Actions: 2
Gee, what do you think the Ottomans are going to do here?

Yep. The pesky and potentially game-threatening Caucasus Front is one card draw from ending the game for me. I have to kick them out of Ankara. Hopefully, all the way back to Van. I have little choice in the matter.

For my first Action, I choose an offensive against the Caucasus Front. I have to roll a 4, 5, or 6 to push them back. Let's see if my luck from last turn continues or if I can make this bleak situation better...

YES! I roll a '6.' The Russians are pushed back into space 2 (Erzurum).

I'm spending my second Action to push back the Russians once again...I hope. Here we go...

Well, apparently, the Ottoman general facing the Russians is making amends. I rolled another '6.' The Caucasus Front is pushed back to space 3 (Van). This gives me a great deal of relief, not to mention breathing room!


-----
National Will: +1
Okay, so I'll start counting everything that affects the Ottoman's National Will here, as I should have been doing.

Two Off-Map Victories = +2
One Strategic Site Occupied = -1
Total National Will: +1

Our victories against the Russians this turn were spectacular, and desperately needed to stave off utter defeat, which easily could have come on the next Turn with a Caucasus Front advance. The game is starting to get more tense now.

This playthrough has been rather fortunate, actually, because the 'quiet time' in the first 10 or so Turns gave me a chance to build up DRMs for the other Theaters, and to build defenses for the Narrows. The game could have hammered me right out of the gate, as it does in so many other playthroughs, but this time, I was very lucky.

We are now 15 turns in. There are 49 total cards. How far will we go?

[BanzaiCat]

Turn 16
Card Draw: 17 "King Constantine Flees Greece"
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King Constantine of Greece was favorably inclined toward the Germans, while his subjects and Prime Minister, Eleftherios Venizelos, were oriented toward the Allies and against the Turks. Conditions became increasingly uncomfortable for the King and his family when arsonists torched his palace, Allied forces occupied the country's second largest city (Salonika), and a coup was launched.
-----
Event:
Despite the rather dire flavor text associated with this Card (which seems to indicate the Salonika Front opens up), there is no Event here. so no Front appears.
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Advance:
The Caucasus Front (of course), the Gallipoli Front, and the Salonika Front are all called on to advance.

The Salonika Front of course does not move, since it is not in existence yet.

However, both of the other Fronts advance one space, putting more pressure on me as the Strategic Site of Erzurum falls, giving my National Will yet another hit.


-----
Actions: 3
Wow, three Actions? I have a bit of room to maneuver, here. I could add another DRM to one of the Theaters, and since the Kaiserschlacht battles are coming eventually (basically, think of the massive German effort made on the Western Front near the end of the War), adding another +1 DRM to the Western Theater to help bring that back into a positive light (no thanks to the War Weariness -1 DRM now in effect).

But, I really want to push the aggravating Russians back, so I will spend my first Action on attacking them, hoping to recover the Strategic Site they occupy now.

For my first Action, I conduct an offensive against the Caucasus Front. I roll a '4,' which pushes them back to Van.

I probably should buy that DRM for the Western Theater, but the Russians are really annoying the crap outta me. I'm going to spend another Action to push them back yet again. I roll another '4,' pushing them back to space 4 (Sarikamish), where they've not been in a while.

Enjoy the view, vodka-swillers!

So, one more Action. I could build the last fortress in the Narrows, and consider everything in that area done. Or I could try to push back the Gallipoli Front, which is one space from a Strategic Site. Decisions, decisions.

I think I'm going to go ahead and spend the last Action on building that fortress, which is Nagara. I can no longer do anything in the Narrows and have to wash my hands of it. If I draw the Card that has the Royal Navy forcing the Narrows, I can at least know I've done all I can there to prevent them from winning the game in one fell swoop.


-----
National Will: +1
Two Off-Map Victories = +2
One Strategic Site Occupied = -1
Total National Will: +1

In hindsight, I probably should have spent that last Action in pushing the Mesopotamia Front out of Baghdad. Maybe even one of the Actions I spent on the Russians. As you can see, though, the Russians get a lot of play...at least for now. Often you cannot do everything you want to do and the game has you juggling, while throwing more and more things in for you to juggle, until you collapse and drop everything.

So far so good though. I will probably focus on the Mesopotamia Front in the next Turn, depending on what happens next.

[BanzaiCat]

Turn 17
Card Draw: 38 "U-boat Campaign"
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Since Britain had naval supremacy at the start of the war, the Central Powers looked at a way to level the playing field. Advances in submarine warfare allowed Germany a chance to interdict supplies to Britain in retaliation for the effects of the blockade. While effective at first, the policy of unrestricted submarine warfare caused American entry into the conflict.
-----
Event:
Conduct this Naval Theater Battle.



It's time for another off-map battle, and this time, the Atlantic War in WWI is to be decided on my die roll! Success means a +1 to National Will, while failure means a -1. A stalemate result means no effect...at least for now.

So with trepidation I roll yet again. Normally I'd have a +1 DRM to my die roll, but the War Weariness marker ruins that advantage. I need to roll a 5 or 6 to make this a success.

I roll a '3.' Unfortunately, this is a dismal failure and the Germans are losing in that theater, as they did historically more or less. Not good news for our National Will.


-----
Advance:
The Arab, Sinai, and Mesopotamia Fronts are all ordered to move out this Turn.

The Arab Front of course does not move, as it's not there. Yet.

The Sinai Front and Mesopotamia Front, unfortunately, are both there. So they both move one space. The Mesopotamia Front is now in a position to win the game for the Allies on the next turn, if I do not do something immediately about that.

The Sinai Front has to make a roll to advance through the scorching desert, of course, and of course as it has improved its Battle Value by 1, I roll a '3,' which would have caused a failure with the last commander. This one, though, manages to push the Brits to the next space. Wonderful.


-----
Actions: 3
I have little choice but to face the Mesopotamia Front head-on and pray I can turn them back. I'm not so much worried about failing to do so, as burning all three Actions to do so.  :-[

So of course, it makes perfect sense that my first die roll is a '1.' An utter and total failure.

With visions of a cascading failure this Turn, I decide to burn my second Action to push them back again - or try to. Fortunately this time I roll a '4,' which is over their Battle Value of 3, so they are forced back to Baghdad (space 2).

With my final Action, I'm going to once again push against the Mesopotamian Front as they seem to come up almost as often as the Russians do. I roll a '6' and we push them back to space 3 (Ket). Whew...some breathing room! And both Strategic Sites along their track are liberated from their fish and chips oppression!


-----
National Will: +1
Two Off-Map Victories = +2
One Off-Map Defeat = -1
Strategic Sites Occupied = 0
Total National Will: +1

Our two of three successful offensives against the Mesopotamian Front really helped us claw back into the positive National Will zone. With the German defeat in the U-boat Campaign, our prospects are a bit bleaker, but things could MOST definitely be worse at this point.

The Gallipoli Front is a concern, only because I'll likely have to spend an Action to move them back if they advance to the Strategic Site on their track (Chunuk Bair, space 2). Their low Battle Value (2) would make it very easy to do so...then again, it is possible to roll a '1' on a die, as I've proven time and time again in this AAR.

The Sinai Front's resurgence is another concern. You can see how 'upping' a Front from one Battle Value to one just +1 higher can be a big deal - it's advance this Turn was only because of that upgrade, otherwise it would have failed. Now I have to contend with that, not to mention the Front itself being much harder to push back. I'm going to hope it remains relatively immobile for now. Unfortunately, the 'thirst roll' is no longer necessary for them at this point, unless I push them back again (and the card for their pipeline doesn't get drawn, of course).

Note: Somehow, my +1 DRM for the Intelligence Bureau in Afghanistan disappeared from these images. I rectified that for the future.

[BanzaiCat]

Well, I just realized I royally screwed up back on Turn 12. For some reason I shuffled the Dusk deck into the card draw pile and not the Mid-Day deck. So the last five turns have been the 'tougher' Dusk deck cards. Great.

Since there have been a lot of views I think I'm just going to go ahead and remove the Dusk deck cards, keeping the results I've done thus far, and set them aside. Then I will go ahead and shuffle in the CORRECT freakin' cards.

Sorry about this, everyone. I can't believe I totally missed this. Though to be fair, a lot of my Ottoman Sunset games rarely got so far that I included the Dusk deck cards. 

[BanzaiCat]

Again, sorry for screwing up and shuffling in the wrong deck. I'll just move forward with the Mid-Day deck shuffled into the Morning deck (though you might recall there is but one Morning card left). I'll just pretend some tougher later-war-years events just happened, but to be honest, things are overall pretty decent for the Ottoman Empire. I just hope I didn't break the game, but I will keep going as long as you guys are still reading this.

-----
Turn 18
Card Draw: 14 "German U-Boats in the Mediterranean"
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On April 25, 1915, the same day as the Gallipoli landings, the German government dispatched U-boat 21, under the command of Lieutenant-Commander Otto Hersing. After clearing the Straits of Gibraltar and stopping in the Austrian port of Cattaro, the submarine made its presence felt in the Mediterranean. On May 25, the U-21 sunk the British battleship Triumph.
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Event:
This Card heralds a total and utter protection from the Forcing the Narrows card (number 8 ). I have not drawn that card yet obviously so the British have not challenged my full fortifications and minefields I spent a good part of the early game in building. Now, all that work is pretty much out the window, though I can't look a gift U-boat in the torpedo tube. This eliminates one of many ways the Allies can win this game, so I won't have to worry about the Narrows being forced and having my game come to an abrupt end (which has happened before!). There are other ways the game can come to an abrupt end, though.

Note: I missed the one battle marker...I didn't see it was above the 'fog' layer, so sorry about that.


-----
Advance:
Both the Caucasus Front and the Sinai Front receive marching orders. While the Caucasus Front's move simply moves it into space 3 (Van), the Sinai Front's move pushes it into Jerusalem, which is a Strategic Site. Not good for my National Will.


-----
Actions: 2
+1 vs. Gallipoli and +1 vs. Salonika
Too bad that's not a +1 vs. Sinai. I don't have much choice but to try to push the Sinai Front back.

"Try" being the operative term, as it has a Battle Value of 4 and that means I have to roll a 5 or a 6 to succeed.

My first roll is a '1.' Of course it is! Nothing says "Ottoman Empire Offensive" like something totally opposite than that. I don't have a choice now but to roll against them again.

My second roll is another '1.' That's about a 3% chance of doing that. God hates the Ottomans, apparently, and the Sinai Front stays right where it is in Jerusalem. This is not good.

Since the status of the game did not change thanks to the 'glorious' Ottoman army, I've not included an update screenshot for this section.
-----
National Will: 0
Two Off-Map Victories = +2
One Off-Map Defeat = -1
Strategic Sites Occupied = 1 (-1 to National Will)
Total National Will: 0

The Sinai Front's advance into Jerusalem is a very worrying thing. Pushing them out is going to be tough and two '1s' in a row is a hideous thing. I might exercise the demons from this die by burning it later. For now I will stick with it.