By the last days of March 1936, Ethiopia's northern front had been shattered.
Ras Mulugeta, Ethiopia's war minister, had fallen during the retreat after Amba Aradam. The northern commanders Ras Kassa and Ras Seyoum had seen their armies broken in the Second Battle of Tembien. Ras Imru, commanding farther west, had been driven back from Shire.
Near Maychew, Emperor Haile Selassie had gathered an army for a counterattack. Within its ranks stood the Imperial Guard: Belgian-trained, better equipped than most of the Ethiopian army, and among the Empire's finest troops.
In the mountains above Maychew, the Italian commander, Marshal Pietro Badoglio, is waiting. Italian and Eritrean troops are holding prepared defences. Above them, Italian aircraft rule the sky, giving them an advantage. Warned that an attack was coming, Badoglio halted preparations for his own advance and started preparing for the Ethiopians to come to him.
Haile Selassie has made the decision to strike. At dawn on 31 March 1936, his army is to launch the offensive against the Italian lines.
The plan is set: you are tasked with preparing the Emperor's offensive. With the resources available to you, assemble your army and turn the tide. History has already recorded what happened at Maychew. Now it's your chance to write a different ending.