Lion of Judah: The War for Ethiopia, 1935-1941

Lion of Judah: The War for Ethiopia, 1935-1941 is a two-player wargame simulating two campaigns located in the Horn of Africa - Italy vs. Ethiopia in 1935-1936, and the British Commonwealth and Ethiopia vs. Italy in 1940-1941. The scenarios use a common rule set combined with scenario-specific rules. Regular units are mostly divisions, brigades and regiments, while irregular units include warrior levies and tribal bands. Armor, transports, air power, and headquarters (which represent corps-level artillery assets, engineers, and administrative and command centers) are also represented. Lion of Judah has one large-hex map and approximately 400 counters representing Italian, Ethiopian, Commonwealth, French and German units. In addition to the military units, there are markers to track game and unit status, as well as several Random Event markers used in the historical scenarios for added historical flavor.

Colonial Warfare in Unforgiving Conditions.

The campaigns for Ethiopia were fought in extremely inhospitable terrain. Logistics was one of the key issues of these battles. This is simulated in Lion of Judah by supply counters: everything a modern army requires to operate, from replacements to ammunition to artillery, has to be moved across the harsh terrain. Western units have far more firepower that the Ethiopians, but much lower movement rates. This simulates the “safe” rate of movement for western units when moving across difficult terrain. They had to move through jungles, mountains and marshes, relying on local guides to move through this mostly-unmapped terrain. Supplies often had to go by air due to lack of a road network. Western forces may attempt to move at a more “normal” movement rate (using the “Forced march” table), but this entails risks: units may get lost, run out of supply, lose their pack mules, or even be ambushed. Unlike the Italians, the Ethiopian army of 1935 was a medieval-style collection of warriors, with little or no central command. This is simulated through activation rules: Ethiopian forces are activated randomly, and some may end up not activating at all during an entire turn! The Italian player may also “bribe” certain Ethiopian formations into inactivity, as they did historically.

Conventional and Guerrilla Warfare.

Both historical campaigns, have conventional and unconventional warfare. In 1935-36, the Ethiopian army engaged a conventional Italian army in the north and south, while at the same time fighting rebels and tribal guerrillas in the far off corners of the Empire. In 1940-41, it was the Italian Army who had to face both a conventional, professional enemy (the Commonwealth forces) and Ethiopian guerrillas and Commonwealth special forces operating in its rear.