Description

By the beginning of October, 2014, the first set piece battle in the war with the radical ISIS terrorists occurred at Kobani, Syria, along the Syrian?Turkish border. ISIS intended to secure this border town to make it easier for their volunteers to enter Syria from Turkey. But, like many battles, it was a battle that need not to have occurred. ISIS volunteers had entered from Turkey from many crossing points but the one difference was its close proximity to the ISIS capital of Raqqa. It was that reason that ISIS decided to fight a more conventional battle this time. It seemed like a sure win as up to 4000 ISIS soldiers gradually descended upon the Kobani area along with some 25?30 AFVs from captured Iraqi booty when Iraq allowed the city of Mosul to fall. These AFV's, American M1 and T?72M were still formidable weapons even in inexperienced hands and add to this numerous artillery guns from war booty, and ISIS was almost assured a victory. But like at Stalingrad in WW2, where the Russians refused to be defeated, the Kurdish YPG (People's Protection Units) felt the same. Kobani had been in Kurdish hands and as ISIS swept many Kurdish towns into their hands and slaughtered them, the Kurds decided to make a stand.

A map hex is 550 yards across. Each unit represents a 100 men and each turn represents one week. The game lasts from Oct 1 to Jan 15. Leaders represent a single person, while AFVs represent 5 five tanks. Artillery units represent one battery of 4-6 guns.