- Yes
- No
Background:
More than a century ago, the Kagera region was the site of the battles between the Imperial German colonial troops and the British army during the East African campaign, with the Battle of Bukoba taking place there.
In 1978, war returned to the region, as Ugandan dictator Idi Amin declared the area of Kagera north of the Kagera River to be annexed, and launched an invasion of Tanzania. The small garrison of Tanzanian troops were forced to retreat, and for two months Ugandan troops ransacked the occupied territory. The TPDF reorganized, and quickly ejected the Ugandan army from Tanzania, defeating the Ugandan army and a Libyan expeditionary force, and reached the Ugandan capital of Kampala and overthrew Idi Amin. The rest of the country was quickly taken and a new government established.
During the initial stages of the war, the Ugandan Army Air Force, equipped with MiG-17s, 19s, and 21s, regularly launched bombing attacks against Tanzanian cities and military forces, albeit with little effect. Tanzanian air defences were able to effectively end these attacks in the later part of the war, and the UAAF virtually disintegrated, with desertions rampant and the main airbase at Entebbe captured. The Libyan intervention also came with their own heavy aircraft, mainly Tu-22 bombers, though even strikes with these heavy aircraft had little to show for.
The Tanzanian Air Force was also mainly equipped with Soviet and Chinese J-5s, J-6s, and MiG-21s. Its operations were more successful, but it did not have a meaningful impact on the war, which was mostly ground-based.
Map:
I propose an EC “Operation” map, that goes from Bukoba to Masaka, which is what I’ve tried to illustrate in the example picture. The map would be quite unique, set in the tropical Ugandan Bush and featuring the scenic Lake Victoria. I believe that none of the current maps are set in East Africa, and this could be a good and historical opportunity to add one.
The centre and eastern regions of the map is mostly flat, but the western side has a lot of terrain, with large hills on the Ugandan side. The main bunch of static AI forces would be along the Masaka Kakuto road from Lukoma to Sanje, and would stretch to the western hills and lakeside coast. Tank convoys can also go down this road, or the various ones leading west. I would’ve proposed putting the airfields beside Bukoba and Masaka, but it seems Gaijin doesn’t like putting airfields in cities, so I’d say just put them near the centre edges.
Bombing targets Gaijin also doesn’t seem to like to put in cities, so you can just scatter them wherever, that’s what it seems happens in most EC maps anyhow. IRL Bukoba, Kyaka, Lukoma, and Kakuto (well the Simba HIlls near it) were bombing targets, mainly from Ugandan aircraft. Tanzanian aircraft were used more in bombing during the later part of the war near Kampala.
A smaller low rank map could also be made, centred on the border town of Mutukula, going from the town of Lukoma in the north (where there’s an IRL airport) to Kabowa in the south.
Sources:
Avirgan, Tony., & Honey, Martha. (1982). War in Uganda : the legacy of Idi Amin. L. Hill.
Cooper, T., & Fontanellaz, A. (2015). Wars and insurgencies of Uganda 1971-1994. Helion And Company.