The Near East
Europa IX: Turkey, Iraq, and Iran

• Year of Publication: 1983
  
• Publisher: Game Designers’ Workshop
  
• Design: John M. Astell

In April 1941, a coup d’etat in Iraq toppled the pro-British government and installed a nationalistic, pro-Axis regime. Britain, invoking its treaty rights, sent troops to Iraq in order to protect British oil supplies and lines of communication in the Near East. By May, tension between Iraq and Britain led to open conflict between the Iraqi and British forces. By the end of the month, the Iraqis were defeated, the leaders of the coup have fled the country, and Britain occupied Iraq for the rest of the war.

In the summer of 1941, Germany invaded the Soviet Union. By August, with the Soviets engaged in a desperate struggle against the invaders, British and Soviet troops invaded Iran in order to expel German influence there. The Iranians briefly resisted, but by September the Shah had abdicated and Allied forces occupied the country. The Allies had gained a secure transportation route for British and American supplies to be sent to the beleaguered Soviets.

The Near East, Europa IX, is a module of maps and counters covering the countries of the Near East. Three 21″ by 27″ maps cover Asiatic Turkey, Syria, Iraq, and western Iran, at the standard Europa scale of 16 miles per hex. They display the diversity of terrain in the region, from sandy desert to high mountain peaks, from the marshy lowlands of the Persian Gulf to the rugged, wooded coast of the Caspian Sea, from the wadis of Syria to the karst of Turkey. Counters cover the armed forces of Turkey, Iraq, Iran, and Egypt, at standard Europa scales of divisions, brigades, and regiments. Air units represent groupings of 40 to 60 aircraft, organized by type (such as fighters or bombers) and model (from Gladiator biplanes to 4-engined B-24 bombers). Naval units represent individual large warships or flotillas of smaller vessels. The counters also include British and Indian forces which do not appear elsewhere in Europa. The charts give the orders of battle for the countries of the Near East, and a set of guidelines for combining The Near East with Western Desert (Europa Game VI) is included.

• Three maps (20, 21, 22)
  
  
• One counter sheets with 240 counters (35)

Current Errata & Extras

Europa Games

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Drang Nach Osten!
Unentschieden
Narvik (1st ed)
Their Finest Hour (1st ed)
Case White
Marita-Merkur
Narvik (2nd ed)
The Fall of France
Their Finest Hour (2nd ed)
Western Desert
The Near East
Spain and Portugal
Fire in the East
Torch
Scorched Earth
The Urals
Balkan Front
First to Fight (1st ed)
A Winter War
Second Front
For Whom the Bell Tolls
War in the Desert
First to Fight (2nd ed)
Storm over Scandinavia
Wavell’s War
Barbarossa Unleashed

Errata & Extras
Index of Maps
Index of Counter Sheets
Index of Nations