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Slouch Hats & Eggshells
Operation Exporter, June 8 - July 14th, 1941
by Vance von Borries
When Free French leader Gen. de Gaulle visited the Middle East in April 1941 he forced a political crisis by demanding the occupation of
Syria. As a result
London ordered an offensive to place all of
Syria and
Lebanon under Free French control. Sadly, such posturing caused Allied command staffs to hold unrealistic views of what the ensuing occupation would look like. Certain authorities believed the Vichy French in
Syria would offer only token resistance and their defense would collapse like an eggshell. The thinking held that
Vichy forces could be won over with wine and coffee along with displays of the Australian slouch hat. Instead, the Vichy-led troops fought ferociously from the start.
Playtest Map & Counters
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Slouch Hats and Eggshells recreates the World War II campaign in French-held
Syria and
Lebanon, historically from early June 1941 through mid-July 1941. One player will control the Axis forces, Vichy French, French colonial troops, and Germans, while his opponent controls the Allied forces, Australian, British, and French.
Players should feel free to combine play of this game with that of Rommel’s War, (RW), scheduled to be published by L2 Design Group. Both games include the same historical moment, have identical scales, and have some of the same historical units. It is natural that players would want to explore more historical alternatives with combined play. To facilitate such game play, this game uses many of the same rules, charts, and tables found in RW.
First Draft Map Artwork (click for high resolution image)
ConsimWorld Discussion Folder
Here is a link to the CSW discussion folder where you can ask the designer questions, see what others are saying, and get progress updates on the release of the game. |
