It might have been 5 or 6 degrees outside,but inside the Garage this morning it was 30 degrees and rising ,in the Sudan where the British were about to face a Dervish Horde ....................
The scenario and table before any movement-Paul was British,I was the Mahdi(I must be mad!)
Detail of the British square,and detail of the Ansars position in EL SHOKAR.(note Palm Trees!)
Top photo shows the first wave of Hadendowah infantry and camels,which Paul's scouts "found", bottom photo shows the square's response to them-"right face,fire!"-you could tell from the outset that this was going to be bloody! The Hadendowah's advance was matched by a "sortie" from El Shokar by the Ansar infantry and cavalry.
Top photo shows the Hadendowah's three waves on the board and approaching the square at a rate of knots,bottom photo shows the Ansar infantry and cavalry also approaching the square. Paul had cleverly manoeuvered the square away from its original direction,moving it along the edge of the board,making me having to move farther,subsequently getting shot more-the swine!
Top photo shows the Hadendowah attack-awsome or what? Bottom photo shows the Ansars getting a taste of rifle fire from the front of the square.By this time Paul had dealt with my Camels with a combination of artillery,rifle and Bengal Lancers-has the man no mercy in his heart?-NO!!!
Bye,bye Ansars!! A cavalry battle developed on my right which I was confident that I would win,after all I had twice the number of figures in the melee that Paul had- but guess what,the "diabolical demon dice thrower" bloody well won,throwing high dice to my low-how does he do it???
Look,he's outnumbered,and even out-flanked,and he still won!-I challenged his officer to fight mine,one against one,and he won again (I think I'll take up knitting instead of wargaming!)
This shot shows the state of my "army"-all is lost,apart from one major success..........................
On the last throw of the dice,I broke into the square-to no avail,of course,I was faced with a whole side of the square that hadn't been involved in any fighting!! The whole game was absolutely great,spectacular,colouful and exciting-what more could you ask for?(well a win would be nice!) Roll on next week-possibly an Ancients game using the same terrain.
Great looking game. Really need to give serious consideration to a golf-esque handicap system... just for Paul! Shame the Imperial scouts spotted your tribesmen so soon. Nice palms ;-)
ReplyDeleteChris,Brian and I have come up with a cunning plan-chop his hands off!!-I should have down-graded the Sudanese/Egyptians so I could get into melee-after thoughts are great aren't they?
Deletejohnc
Well lessons learnt are important. I take it that the Imperial troops were still in good enough nick to take out the Ansar riflemen dug in around the village?
ReplyDeleteHi Chris,yes I think they would have just bombarded the "town" and then walked in!!
Deletejohnc
That massed attack looks superb, as you say.
ReplyDeleteBreaking into the square should have been an automatic victory; game over. Who wrote the scenario conditions?!!
Regards, James
Hi James,I wrote the scenario,but in retrospect I should have down-graded the Egyptian/Sudanese troops-woe is me!-good to hear from you.
Deletejohnc