Sons of Ataturk
Over the years, variant counters for John
Prados’ Third
Reich and its earlier siblings have
been very popular with gamers. One of the
last sets of variant counters deleted from
the Third
Reich Player’s Guide was a
more powerful Turkish Army, allowing replacement
along the lines of the French in the standard
game of John Prados’ Third Reich
and the Poles and Italians in the variants
provided in the Guide.
When Mustafa Kemal founded the modern Turkish
Republic in 1922, one of his lessons was that
Turkey must have strong, modern armed forces.
While he and his successors tried to implement
this goal, it proved very tough to manage.
As a dependent economy, Turkey had to buy
all of her weaponry and other equipment abroad.
Efforts to establish a local industrial base
had mixed success; Turkey lagged in production
of armored vehicles, but by 1938 was producing
licensed aircraft.
The Guide covers the Turkish armed
forces, but does not add any new pieces. We
can rectify that here, with some you can download
and cut-and-paste. Note that Turkey would
have to be an active minor to undergo these
changes, unless the variant player rules from
the Guide are in use.
Ground Units
The new set has eight 3-3 INF. Two can be
added to the force pool at a cost of 2 BRP
each (in addition to the cost to build them;
this is just to get them into the force pool).
Each turn, one 1-3 INF can be upgraded to
3-3 at a cost of 3 BRP. The Turkish special
lower cost for INF does not apply to these
units and if eliminated they may only be rebuilt
at the cadre level (return the corresponding
1-3 unit to play in its place).
The set also has two 4-5 ARM units. Remove
the 2-5 ARM from play. Each turn, one of the
1-4 CAV units can be upgraded to a 2-5 ARM
cadre at a cost of 6 BRP. It may be brought
to full strength later.
Flying Turks
Turkey now has two 5-4 TAC units and some
breakdown counters for them. One TAC can be
added to the force pool each turn, at a cost
of 2 BRP (plus the cost to build).
Alternatively, the controlling major power
can return one of its TAC factors to its force
pool and add one Turkish TAC factor to the
Turkish force pool.
There’s also a single Turkish jet factor.
If the controlling major power has Jets, it
can return one of its JET factors to its force
pool and add the Turkish JET factor to the
Turkish force pool. There’s no logical
reason a player would do so, but the Turkish
jet looked very, very cool.
Sword of the Sea
With eight submarines, Turkey deserved a
SUB factor in the original game. Add one to
the Turkish At Start forces, and one to the
force pool.
More Politics
We’re also adding a new political event
to help hamper Turkey. Note that this also
dilutes the pool of available markers, changing
the dynamics of game play.
Kurdish Revolt
Kurds rise against the Ankara government.
If Turkey is an active minor, one Turkish
ground unit must be placed in Diyarbakir (4318).
Turkey loses 5 BRP each turn the Kurds are
in revolt and Diyarbakir is unoccupied. At
the end of each turn, the player controlling
Turkey rolls one die. On a result of 6, the
revolt is crushed. Add one to the result for
each Turkish ground unit within Turkey, east
of hexes numbered 43xx.
If Turkey is not active when this marker
is drawn, return it to the container and draw
another. |
