Grumble Jones August Scenario GJ110 Merdjayoun

Summer is full swelter here in Oklahoma. Endless days of blazing temperatures above 100 degrees Fahrenheit can wear you down. Heat stress is evident in the trees and plants as well as the people. But heat always reminds me of DTO scenarios and for the second time in a row, Grumble Jones is offering a scenario set in the DTO...although not really a DTO scenario. 

And yes, once again, I have shamelessly turned to my latest Osprey book for source material. This particular tome arrived in the March timeframe and provided much needed information on the 1941 campaign in Syria and Lebanon. 

I am woefully uneducated on this particular theater of operations, so have learned a great deal from this particular book.  

Selecting a scenario was a bit more problematic for me. A quick check of the ASL Scenario Archive showed that the primary actions were already fairly well covered by other scenario designers. But I was drawn to the fighting for control of Merdjayoun. The Vichy French had launched a major counterattack to unseat Australian forces. The battle was a bit of a see-saw affair with both sides knocking each other back here and there. 

I selected an event centered on control of a large cemetery in Merdjayoun. The defending Australians would put up a good fight, but ultimately be pushed out of Merdjayoun on this occasion. What intrigued me the most was the chance to play an attacking Vichy French force, which had combined arms and artillery at its disposal. The Australians were certainly a stout opponent, so the fact that the Vichy French were capable of driving home a coordinated attack against fixed defenses really intrigued me. So, I went with this concept and traded notes and ideas with Dan Best to come up with the finished version. I did deviate from Dan on what point regarding the number of 40L AT Guns for the Australians. Dan believed that one gun was sufficient, but I went with two. The Vichy tanks can play a big role in the scenario, and I was concerned that a MALF'd AT Gun would unravel the defense too much...so went with two. Of course, the danger in having two is the high rate of fire. A single 40L could go on a rate tear and knock out the armor in one fell swoop. The best scenario walk-through can't really answer that question. The Vichy OBA can also play a strong role in this scenario and with any luck be an effective answer to the Australian AT Guns.

So that's this month's offering. September will be a Stalingrad perimeter scenario involving the German 29th Motorized Division and of course October will be the annual Halloween scenario. It won't be anything too fancy this year and in fact will be a very small scenario set in the Artic. November and December are still in the planning stages but expect something from Operation Torch or early Tunisia. 

Here now is GJ110 Merdjayoun.

As always, these monthly "Basement Quality" Scenarios are offered for fun only and as a thank you to the readers of this blog.

Remember to open pictures in a new window in order to maximize the size. 

All Grumble Jones scenarios are available from the ASL Archive website. 

(Just search on Grumble Jones)

The PDF versions (courtesy of Frank Leitz) can be downloaded from the User Files Tab.